Roundtable Discussion “Changing Biodiversity” – May 22, 2023

On the occasion of World Biodiversity Day and the recent exhibition at CNR “Anthropocene: Earth on Fire,” seven national experts will come together to discuss one of the most dramatic transformations characterizing our era. Their aim is to stimulate reflections on the critical relationship between human activities and the marvelous diversity of life forms on our planet. The event, open to all, will take place in the courtyard of Palazzina Canonica (Riva dei Sette Martiri 1364/A, Venice). No reservation is required, but inquiries and communications can be directed to biodiversity@cnr.it. Following the roundtable discussion, interested participants will have the opportunity to take a guided tour of the Anthropocene exhibition.

 

The live streaming of the event will be available from 2:30 PM on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP_HyIwb4LU

Click here for further information and to download the event poster.

*In case of bad weather, the event will be held at the CNR-ISMAR headquarters (Tesa 104 – Arsenale, Castello 2737/F, 30122 Venice, Italy).

 

Photo by canmandawe on Unsplash.

EcoLogicaCup: National Ecology Competition for Primary and Secondary Schools – 2023 Edition

EcoLogicaCup is a national team-based ecology competition, organized by the University of Salento – Museum on Ecology of Mediterranean Ecosystems and LifeWatch Italy. It aims to make ecological and Environmental Education and Sustainability topics accessible, in the context of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030, and is aimed at primary and secondary school students.

Participation is completely free. Teams, guided by a teacher tutor, participate in the final competition after passing the selections through a series of online training sessions with multiple-choice quizzes.

The initiative aims to support science education in schools by leveraging the cooperative and competitive spirit of students through game dynamics, offering additional motivation to approach the study of natural sciences and ecology. The best teams from the training sessions and the overall winners of the final competition receive prizes in an official ceremony.

All information to participate in EcoLogicaCup is available at the following link https://training.lifewatchitaly.eu/education-and-schools/ecologicacup/

EcoLogicaCup has officially entered the national calendar of the 2023 Sustainable Development Festival! https://2023.festivalsvilupposostenibile.it/cal/894/ecologicacup-competizione-nazionale-di-ecologia-per-le-scuole-primarie-e-secondarie#.ZF1erqTOM0E

EcoLogicaCup 2023 has the official patronage of the Network of Universities for Sustainable Development: https://2023.festivalsvilupposostenibile.it/eventi-rus/

LifeWatch Italy at the ENVRI week – Lipsia, 30 January – 3 February 2023

After two years of online meetings, the last ENVRI Week of the ENVRI-FAIR project was held in person from 30 January to 3 February 2023 in Leipzig, Germany.




ENVRI Week is the annual meeting of the ENVRI-FAIR project which brings together the ENVironmental Research Infrastructures – hence the acronym: ENVRI. The aim of the project is to provide access to digital data and services in a sustainable, transparent and reliable manner, and in compliance with the FAIR principles. The process will support the integration of services offered by the ENVRI community into the European Open Science Cloud.

ENVRI Week 2023 hosted the sessions related to the ENVRI-FAIR project, during which the working groups were able to report on their progress and receive indications on future developments, several workshops, and the meeting of the Board of European Environmental Research Infrastructures (BEERI ).

The manager of LifeWatch Italy and Director of the LifeWatch ERIC Service Center Alberto Basset presented the developments of the Biodiversity and Ecology subdomain of ENVRI-FAIR and the final results of the four Use Cases.

The project is in the closing phase but leaves a solid legacy on which the next European and national projects will be able to build the future of Research Infrastructures.

ITINERIS project – 16 new open positions, deadline 9th of February

In November, a new big Italian project “ITINERIS” started, and it will build the Italian Hub of Research Infrastructures in the environmental scientific domain.

For this project, the National Research Council of Italy is recruiting several positions (fixed-term technologists and researchers).

All the positions are available at this link.

In particular, at the Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems seat of Lecce (Italy) we are seeking:

  • 2 technologists

    with a minimum of three years’ experience in management of Research Infrastructures and/or in organization and management of training programs.

  • 4 technologists

    with a minimum of three years’ experience in the development, enhancement, and management of European Research Infrastructures and/or in the management of digital resource platforms and/or in the implementation and adoption of FAIR-enabling best practices in the field of RIs and digital objects (atmospheric, bio-geosphere, marine fields).

  • 4 technologists

    with a minimum of three years of experience in research and development activities in the field of Knowledge Organization and representation for data interoperability, in the scientific field and/or the Semantic Web and Linked Open Data and/or methods and technologies for ontologies designing and knowledge graphs and/or techniques and methods for analysing and extracting patterns from knowledge graphs.

  • 1 technologist

    with a minimum 3 years of experience in laboratory and field experimental research activities, in the collection, analysis and modelling of ecological data on functional traits of aquatic plant and animal species and/or on biodiversity and ecosystem processes, also in relation to global warming, for their use in virtual research environments.

  • 2 technologists

    with a minimum of three years’ experience at least three years of experience in Project management and/or Financial and Budget management and/or HR management or possession of the title of Research Doctor or a PhD relevant to the field of experience requested.

  • 1 technologist

    with at least 3 years of experience in project management and/or experience in economic and financial management and/or in personnel management and organisation.

  • 2 researchers

    one with at least three years of experience in laboratory and field experimental research activities, in the collection, maintenance and analysis and modeling of ecological data on functional traits of species on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. A second with a minimum of three years of experience on ecosystem responses to climate change through laboratory and field studies with observation, monitoring and modelling approaches in relation to abiotic and biotic forcings and with applications in Virtual Research Environments designed to address scientific questions that require a significant commitment to the harmonization and interoperability of data and the required computing power.

Suitable candidates are encouraged to reach out to alberto.basset@unisalento.it and  ilaria.rosati@cnr.it  for informal inquiries.

The deadline for the submission of the application is the 9th of February.

Kick-off meeting of ITINERIS, the Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System

Yesterday, 19 December 2022, the kick-off meeting of ITINERIS, the Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System, was held in Rome. The project, funded with €155 million from the PNRR and coordinated by the CNR (the Italian National Research Centre), involves 22 European and Italian research infrastructures.

Gelsomina Pappalardo, CNR researcher and Italian delegate at the ESFRI Forum, who chaired the event, highlighted that: “this is a unique project of its kind, even if it has a formal duration of 30 months, it will change the future of Research Infrastructures in Italy with an impact on research for at least the next ten years”. The project aims to establish an Italian hub for accessing data, services and facilities for interdisciplinary study in the four environmental domains: atmosphere, marine, terrestrial biosphere and geosphere.

Work Package 2 of the project, presented by Carmela Cornacchia (CNR-IMAA Potenza) in collaboration with Ilaria Rosati (CNR-IRET Lecce and LifeWatch Italy) is in fact dedicated to “access”. Access to research infrastructures refers to the regulated use of research infrastructures, and to the services offered by them, be it physical, remote, or virtual access – as in the case of data and digital services. With WP2, ITINERIS aims to ensure the FAIRness of the access as well (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reproducible). The challenge is to coordinate the 22 infrastructures towards alignment with the requirements set by the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

WP3, coordinated by Alberto Basset, Director of the LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre and Manager of the LifeWatch Italy Joint Research Unit (JRU), will take care of training internal staff and future users of the infrastructures. More than 60 training courses are foreseen for the next 30 months.

After the presentation of WP4, 5, 6 and 7 dedicated to the four domains, each with the development of specific case studies, Antonello Provenzale, CNR-IGG and Coordinator of the LifeWatch Italy JRU, presented WP8. This WP will develop the Virtual Research Environments for data analysis and modelling of future scenarios in ITINERIS’ domains of interest. “Having a central hub that functions as a gateway for users to the infrastructures” said Provenzale, “will make us an example at a European level”.

LifeWatch Italy hosted the ParAqua Workshop “Expertise catalogue and Parasites Database-Online platform” – 12th December 2022

On the 12th of December, the first session of the two-days WG1-WG3 joint workshop took place online – the second part will be held on the 16th of December from 13.00 to 15.00 CET.

The first part was hosted by the WG1 Italian partners Andrea Tarallo and Ilaria Rosati from LifeWatch Italy and CNR. The main activity was focused on the in situ and experimental data mobilisation and to the collaborative drafting of the first Data Management Plan of our Action.

During the workshop, the participants had the chance to actively work on their own datasets, harmonising them with world-recognised standards, and thus setting the basis for the building of the ParAqua database, in which all the data will be accessible and reusable.

To ensure the preservation and reusability of the data, the participants drafted a Data Management Plan. In the next weeks, the document will be polished, and upon approval by the Action members, it will be published as a public document. The document will serve as an internal guideline, but also for external researchers that want to understand how we manage our data.

On the same day, Albert Reñé (WG1 leader) led a session dedicated to the paper on parasite occurrences. The meeting was the occasion to share the responsibilities around the data collection for zoosporic parasites on algae and to make a decisive step forward for the advancement of this activity.

More information and how to become member of ParAqua at the following link https://paraqua-cost.eu/

LifeWatchPlus Call for applications “Semantic technologies” at UniSalento

The University of Salento has published a call for applications for a research grant entitled “Semantic technologies for biodiversity and ecosystem research to support the LifeWatchPlus distributed Data Center and the LifeWatch ERIC community” for LifeWatch Italy in the framework of the LifeWatchPlus and CIR01_0028 projects (Scientific Adviser, Prof. Alberto Basset).

The deadline for applications is 05/11/2022.

Minimum admission requirements:

1) Degree (course of study lasting at least four years, provided by the teaching systems to DM 03/11/1999, n. 509), Master’s degree (art. 3, paragraph 1, letter b, DM 03/11/2009, n. 509; Art. 3, paragraph 1, letter b, DM 22/10/2004, n. 270). The Selection Committee, for the sole purpose of selection for which it was established, recognizes the equivalence of the qualification (degree and / or PhD) obtained abroad.

Criteria of evaluation:
1. Proven competence in conceptual modeling;
2. Knowledge of languages, methods and tools for the design of ontologies, controlled vocabularies and linked data (eg SKOS, XML, OWL, RDF, SPARQL, Virtuoso, D2R, Protégé);
3. Knowledge of open access digital archives for research products (publications, data, software, etc.) and knowledge of the OpenScience paradigm (https://ec.europa.eu/research/openscience/index.cfm) and the FAIR principles, (https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/);
4. Knowledge of English, written and spoken.

The following skills will also be evaluated:
a) Knowledge / specialist skills acquired and relevant to the achievement of the objectives that the Research Infrastructure intends to achieve
b)  Relevance of the activity carried out in the last 2 years with the priority areas identified within the National Strategy of Intelligent Specialization (SNSI) and the ministerial planning for research in the period 2014-2020;
c) Previous collaborations with public and private scientific institutions.

Click on the button for more information.

Info

LifeWatch Italy invited to the first OntoPortal Workshop in Montpellier

Ilaria Rosati from LifeWatch Italy has been invited to the OntoPortal Workshop (Montpellier, Fr – 26,28 September) as a panelist to represent EcoPortal, the repository of semantic resources developed by LifeWatch ERIC and co-managed with the Italian national node. During the session, together with the representatives from the other anthologies repositories, will provide feedbacks on how they use or plan to use the ontology repositories provided by the alliance.

The development, promotion, and sharing of semantic resources to support scientific research are some of the activities in which LifeWatch Italy is most active. The synergy with other global realities, such as OntoPortal, are fundamental to ensuring the coordination of the development of such digital resources. All those interested in the development and management of semantic resources (ontologies, vocabularies, thesauri, etc.) are invited to participate in the public online session on Wednesday 28 September from 14:00 to 18:00 (CET) by filling in the registration form.

LifeWatch Italy takes part in the 31st Conference of the Sea, 6-9 October

Next month, LifeWatch Italy and DiSTeBA (the ecology laboratory of the University of Salento) will be taking part in the 31stConference of the Sea (Rassegna Del mare) organised by Mareamico, an environmental protection and ecological agency. Together, they will be putting on an educational session for students aged 11–14, coordinated by Franca Sangiorgio of the LifeWatch Italy node. The Conference will take place in Gallipoli in the province of Lecce in southern Italy, and this year will revolve around the theme of ‘Safeguarding Biological Resources and the Blue Economy’. In order to increase their awareness and understanding of sustainability issues, the students will be involved in tournaments focused on marine ecosystem protection and sustainability. LifeWatch Italy has for many years been working on the creation and implementation of scientific content for so-called “serious game” competitions, using the Ecologicamente platform. The initiative aims to contributing to raising awareness of sustainability issues, so that future citizens will be more conscientious when it comes to the environment. All the students taking part in the competition will receive a participation certificate and the schools which perform the best will receive a prize.

You can find the full programme for the event on the Mareamico website.

LifeWatch Italy in ParAqua Action to investigate algae-parasite interaction

In May this year, LifeWatch Italy was invited to join the COST Action CA20125 – Applications For Zoosporic Parasites In Aquatic Systems – in short: ParAqua.

The main aims of this project are to organise and coordinate an innovative and dynamic network of academia researchers, industries, and water management authorities to advance and apply knowledge and expertise on zoosporic parasites (i.e. aquatic fungi and fungi-like microorganisms) and the relation with their hosts in natural ecosystems and industrial algal biotech production.

Among the ParAqua objectives, specific task of WG1 and WG2 is to compile and integrate a database on zoosporic parasites across Europe and inventorise parasite effects on algal hosts in algal biotech and natural systems.

Ilaria Rosati and Andrea Tarallo, from the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and in charge of several management aspects within LifeWatch Italy, joined the Action as members of WG 1 and 2. They led the workshop to kick off the activity, held in Larnaca (CY) on 5July  2022, and will coordinate the actions to collect and manage the data provided by the project participants that will be hosted on the ParAqua database.

The final goal is to build the database and use it in order to provide a tool to help researchers and companies to take early data-informed decisions for algae cultures and parasite recognition.