Summary of work carried out during the reporting period and main results
Secondments and Researcher Exchange (WP3)
6 Secondments and 6 Junior Researcher Exchanges have been concluded with European and worldwide institutes during the period.
Horizon 2020 training related outputs (WP3):
A TEAMING proposal (BIOPLOLIS) and an ERA Chair (TROPIBIO) proposal were approved and initiated by InBIO. Moreover, entitled EuropaBON was also approved and initiated (InBIO partner)
Building of partnering Networks (WP3)
A large number of networking activities performed and expanded, e.g. with Metabarcoding.org DNAqua-Net EU COST Action, LTER – Europe and ILTER, BOL – Barcode of Life, GBIF and the BOLD database, LifeWatch ERIC, University of Montpellier/AGROPOLIS International, EMBL-EBI, UNESCO and USDA Forest Service (USA).
Deployment of an eDNA laboratory and Building capacity for eDNA analysis (WP4)
The Publicly available Field, lab and computational protocols developed during the previous reporting period by the EnvMetaGen team have been extensively used and cited research community in the field.
Development of technical skills and best practice (WP4)
7 field work activities & training courses have been performed.
Corporate Affiliates Program (WP5)
The establishment of a Corporate Affiliates Program was achieved & engagement with a wide range of business corporations were made.
Communication and Dissemination Plan (WP6)
The C & D plan was further developed & specific actions were outlined (in the final Technical report) to reassure further dissemination and exploitation of the EnvMetaGen results beyond the conclusion of the project.
Media Clipping and InBIO and EnvMetaGen impact (WP6)
Media attention in both national and international journals regarding 6 events and published results.
Participation in Workshops and Conferences (WP6)
EnvMetaGen Team members have participated and given both oral and poster communications at 26 of workshops and conferences.
Organization of Conferences/Seminars, Meetings, Workshops and schools (WP6)
Conferences/Seminars:
10 conferences and seminars were organized by the EnvMetaGen team.
Meetings and Workshops:
Two Round-Table meetings, 3 Workshops, 1 Spring School and 1 conclusive EnvMetaGen meeting were organized.
Publications – Open Access (WP6)
32 Open Access scientific papers were published directly supported by EnvMetaGen. 2 additional papers have been submitted and 15 additional publication manuscripts are being produced.
Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation for the entire project duration
These activities focused on maximizing the impact of the EnvMetaGen project output, as well as more widely regarding the output from InBIO, at the regional, national and international levels, spanning over a range of activities for dissemination of knowledge, networking, and raising international awareness of their research and innovation potential and achievements.
The Communication and Dissemination (C&D) Plan was one of the initial key outputs and was revised halfway through the project so that the C&D strategy and activities were fully adjusted to the project needs and objectives. The Plan was also adjusted to take into account the synergies with those of the BIOPOLIS/TEAMING project, and the integration into this long-term Teaming project.
The EnvMetaGen team has been very active with regards to participation and organization of workshops, conferences, seminars schools, as well as networking and partnership buildup in the area of Environmental Metagenomics.
