Category: News

The 2021 ENVRI Community International Winter School on Data FAIRness will be offered online from 11 to 22 January, 2021. Developed around the theme of “ENVRI-FAIR Resources: Access & Discoverability”, the programme will cover a range of topics including semantic navigation, Jupyter environments for visualisation and data discovery, resource access tools and cloud computing.

In acknowledgement of the demands of online learning, the Winter School is staged over two weeks, for a total of around 40 hours, including participants’ final presentations. Daily activities will consist of scheduled lectures and presentations in the mornings followed by time for individual and group work. See here for the complete programme.

With a focus on supporting end users in making the best use of data, developing user-friendly interfaces and providing services to facilitate their interact with data, the curriculum will cover:

• state-of-the-art technologies relevant to FAIRification of services
• real-life use cases, to encourage adoption of new technology and enhance data centre functionality
• enabling new knowledge-exchange networks for ENVRI data professionals.

Applications are invited, primarily, from ENVRI data centres staff, researchers and PhD candidates, and offers will be restricted to a total to 30 participants, to ensure high quality outcomes. The selection process will be based on a mix of criteria, including motivation and use case descriptions.

Please register here. Applications close Thursday 17 December 2020.

The Italian National Research Council Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems (CNR-IRET) has issued a call for applications for a new Senior Fellowship with PhD position, based at the Research Unit (URT) CNR-IRET at the University of Salento in Lecce, under the supervision of professor Alberto Basset. Applications close on 30 November 2020.

With an initial research grant for two years, the successful candidate will conduct research activities within the Internal Joint Initiative of LifeWatch ERIC, on the topic of: “Short- and long-term responses of aquatic ecosystems to alien species colonisation and invasiveness”. The research program covers:

1. Data mining on species and ecosystem responses to alien species patterns of ecosystem colonisation and invasion,
2. Data aggregation, curation, analysis and modelling using the LifeWatch ERIC virtual research environments, and
3. Developing models required for the scenario development of species and ecosystems responses to recent and growing Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) invasion on model aquatic ecosystems.

Applicants must have a Master’s and PhD in an appropriate discipline – Biology, Physics, Chemical Sciences, Sciences and Technologies Forestry and Environmental, Sciences and Technologies for the Environment and the Territory, Mathematics, Statistical Sciences – and two years of professional experience, documented with scientific publications. Knowledge of ecological theories, open access digital archives, a good command of the English language and proficiency in Italian (for overseas applicants) are also required.

Please refer to the official Selection Procedures in English document and its Italian original. Look for Bando IRET162020LE on the CNR site here. Applications will not be accepted after 30 November 2020.

LifeWatch ERIC is delighted to announce its participation in the Science Digital @ UNGA 75 (24 September – 2 October), an online event organised by Intelligence in Science (ISC), with the presentation of a dedicated session LifeWatch ERIC in support of the SDG 2030 accomplishment, on Monday 28 September, 12:00-14:00 CEST. 

As the United Nations turn 75, mitigating the effects of climate change on the planet’s biodiversity and ecosystems is becoming more and more central to achieving and securing Sustainable Development Goals.  Science and research have a pivotal role to play, not only in measuring the impact of these changes, but also as a strategic resource providing policy makers with the scientific and nature-based knowledge needed to tackle these societal challenges. LifeWatch ERIC is at work to achieve this mission by providing access to a multitude of data sets, e-Services & e-Tools that enable the construction and operation of Virtual Research Environments, which in turn provide the mechanisms for integrating data, software and computation developed in pan-European cooperation, by means of the use of state-of-art ICT: Big Data, Deep Learning-AI and Blockchain (“LifeBlock”), among others. 

The heart of Science Digital @ UNGA 75 consists in the role and contribution of science and digital technologies to the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this framework, LifeWatch ERIC proposes a rich agenda spanning across different disciplines, from biodiversity and ecosystem research to computer and data sciences, law and economics, and provides innovative approaches and frameworks to assist the accomplishment of the SDG 2030 targets.

Don’t miss the LifeWatch ERIC Session at Science Digital @ UNGA 75!

Description of the session, agenda and registration link are available here. 

The University of Salento is resuming activities after the summer break, and embraces its students and current realities for a recovery in the key of greater understanding and sustainability.   

‘Kayaking Ecologists’ (L’Ateneo in Canoa) is an orientation and career development activity, in the broadest sense of the terms, organised by the University of Salento with the support of LifeWatch Italy and other partners, including WWF Oasis, the Environment League (Legambiente) and local institutions.

The plan is for lecturers and their students to travel slowly along the Salento coastline, in kayaks, a truly ancient and sustainable means of transport. The objectives are twin: to investigate the ecological mechanisms that regulate the health of ecosystems and test for potentially epidemic species; and to explore practical study methods and trial various methods of monitoring the health of ecosystems along the Salento coast.        

In accordance with COVID-19 regulations, the Kayaking Ecologists have started to wind their way down from the nature reserve at Le Cesine (Vernole, Lecce) to Tricase Porto, a route that passes through the foreshores of Meledugno and Otranto. However, as anticipated, the wind and wave conditions have not been ideal and the sampling of the whole coastline might not be completed before the end of September. 

This fleet of students, teachers and researchers left Roca, just south of San Foca (Melendugno, LE) , on Tuesday 15 September and padded their way down to Torre Sant’Andrea, taking samples from close to the shore and out a a distance of about 75 metres, to be able to compare results.

“For a real recovery, we need sustainability,” said Alberto Basset, Professor of Ecology and Manager of the Joint Research Unit at LifeWatch Italy. “Ecology is a theoretical discipline, which needs to be applied at the times and in the ways required by the study of ecosystems and biodiversity. This is an invaluable occasion for our students, who are moving slowly down the coast in kayaks, to put into practice the knowledge they have acquired in the classroom and the laboratory.”

Four Post-Doc Positions just opened at URT-CNR IRET in Lecce for research activities in the framework of LifeWatch Italy.

The deadline for all the calls is 30 September 2020.
Check the attached documents for more information.

Calls

 “Development of data quality control and data analysis services in the context of e-Science”

” Semantic technologies to support the distributed data centres of LifeWatch in biodiversity and ecosystem research”

” Development of a Virtual Research Environment for the implementation of scientific applications in a distributed cloud infrastructure”

 “Harmonisation and analysis of morpho-functional trait data and the organisation of phytoplankton guilds” 

 

 

LifeWatch Italy, together with the Italian Society of Ecology (SItE), University of Salento and other national and international organization, is at work to mark the upcoming Ecology Day on 14 September 2020 with two activities.

LifeWatch Italy is supporting the organisation of a Round Table Event hosted online by SItE on 14 September 2020. The Round Tables will gather researchers and scientists to discuss climate change, sustainable landscape management, ecosystem health, risk assessment and management, and their services for human well-being. The event is free and open to the wider public, also aiming at involving policy makers, environmental managers, students and citizens.

Programme, registration and information are available online https://www.congresso.ecologia.it.

The publication of the LifeWatch ERIC 2019 Activities Report, today, 15 July 2020, marks a mighty milestone. The 36-page document is a record of the LifeWatch ERIC’s operations and accomplishments, clarifies what we do and why, and lends greater visibility to our position in the European and global landscape of Research Infrastructures, an invaluable reference on the organisation’s mission and vision, its staff and achievements, financial performance and governance.

Whist chronicling the establishment of LifeWatch as a fully functional ERIC, the report already looks at the future, as Gert Verreet, Chair of the LifeWatch ERIC General Assembly, says in his foreword: “We are living in interesting times and, surely, the research goalposts are moving. LifeWatch ERIC, the e-Science Infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, helps those who want to meet these challenges”.  

LifeWatch CEO Christos Arvanitidis reinforces that positivity: “We’ve certainly come a long way from our establishment as an ERIC in 2017, but the excitement of meeting our challenges is just beginning. We’ve put our ICT team and biodiversity experts together, and they are building the next generation of Virtual Research Environment”.

Giving thanks to staff, acknowledging the support of institutions and representing entities, the 2019 Activities Report demonstrates the alignment that has been created between Common Facilities and Distributed Centres.

High Definition 2019 Activities Report:  download.

Light Version 2019 Activities Report: download.

The hard-copy will be printed on 100% recycled paper.

For two years in a row already, the ENVRI Community International Summer School on Data FAIRness has been assembling in Lecce, in the middle of the summer season, those researchers, experts and technical staff from different environmental and research infrastructures who want to deepen their knowledge on this topic. Unfortunately, the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions have ordained the postponement of the current edition until the beginning of next year, when the ‘ENVRI Community Winter School on Data FAIRness’ will take place, always in Lecce. The delay has created the opportunity to enrich our training offerings on the subject, with a series of online webinars dedicated to data management, leading the way ‘Towards the ENVRI community Winter School’

Three webinars on Data FAIRness have been jointly organised by ENVRI-FAIR and LifeWatch ERIC from July to September 2020, with a focus on helping end users, particularly ENVRI-FAIR project partners and data centre staff, make the best use of their data. Registration for the webinars is free and anyone working in environmental and Earth science research is welcome to take part.

Under the heading of ‘Towards the ENVRI Community Winter School’, the online training series debuts on Monday 13 July 2020. The first broadcast is presented by Zhiming Zhao, from the University of Amsterdam, and will go to air from 9:30 to 12:00 CEST, providing ‘An introduction to Cloud Computing’. 

The second webinar on ‘Workflows Orchestration and Execution’ will follow on Tuesday 14 July, from 10:00-12:00, presented by Nicola Fiore and Lucia Vaira, both from LifeWatch ERIC. 

The third webcast is scheduled for 22 September and will feature Claudio D’Onofrio and Karolina Pantazatou, both from ICOS ERIC, with ‘An Introduction to Jupyter’.

Dates for the ENVRI Community Winter School on Data FAIRness, still to be hosted by the University of Salento in Lecce, will be available soon. In the meantime, check out the programme and the video here. To register for the webinar series, bookable as a bloc or individually, click here. 

LifeWatch ERIC is looking to hire a Project Manager for ENVRI-FAIR Project.

• LOCATION: LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre premises in Lecce (Italy) and LifeWatch ERIC Statutory Seat in Seville (Spain)
• POSITION: Full-time, 12 months with the possibility of renewal on a yearly basis for a maximum of 36 months in total
• DEADLINE for applications: 30 June 2020

Information is available on www.lifewatch.eu website, in the Work with us section.

LifeWatch ERIC CEO Christos Arvanitidis has welcomed the release today, 20 May 2020, of the ‘European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030′, a blueprint that sets out targeted actions to preserve and restore European ecosystems in recognition that humanity’s relationship with nature is much in need of repair. 

Recognising that climate change, unprecedented decreases in wild species populations and the recent pandemic are the result of unsustainable human activity, the strategy will dedicate €20 billion to restoring degraded ecosystems, increasing protected forest and wetland areas, and creating green spaces in cities to achieve the climate change mitigation that is needed by 2030.

The strategy will support recovery in a post-pandemic world by restoring biodiversity for the benefit of people, climate and the planet, on the basis that nature not only provides the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe, but accounts for over half of global Gross Domestic Product. It is central, in fact, to the European Green Deal for sustainable prosperity.

Specific targets include establishing protected areas for 30 percent of land and sea in Europe; restoring degraded ecosystems, increasing organic farming and biodiversity-rich landscape on agricultural soils, halting and reversing the decline of pollinators, reducing the risk and use of pesticides by 50 percent, restoring at least 25,000 km of EU rivers to a free-flowing state, and planting three billion trees by 2030.

“It is essential to reverse the decline of the biodiversity that is essential for life,” said Dr Arvanitidis. “It is clear that biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and the climate crisis are organically connected and this is where LifeWatch ERIC can play a pivotal role in supplying evidence-based synthetic knowledge and nature-based solutions to societal challenges, not only for decision-makers in government, but also to ordinary citizens. To achieve this goal, LifeWatch ERIC offers facilities, open data, web services for reproducible analytics and a vast network of scientists all over Europe. We all have our part to play in turning this around”

All these points are of a key importance also in economic terms, as biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation have clear economic and social costs cost. More than half of global GDP – about €40 trillion – depends on nature, and its restoration is part of the EU’s recovery plan from the coronavirus pandemic. New opportunities for business and growth will arise in sectors like construction, agriculture and food and drink, which could produce, according to the European Commission’s estimation, up to 500,000 jobs. 

The new biodiversity strategy will make the EU a true leader in addressing the global biodiversity crisis, and in global negotiations at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, China, in October 2020. Documents:

• Communication: EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 – Bring nature back into our lives

• Factsheet: EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030

• Factsheet: The business case for biodiversity