NEWS
NEWSLETTER ISSUE 3
March 2024
The Third Newsletter is out!
The latest edition of the PIGWEB Newsletter is here! Click below to dive into the March 2024 issue and discover our latest activities, updates, and much more!
NEW PIGWEBINAR APRIL 2024
‘‘Tip and Trix to SOP development in PIGS’’
We are excited to invite you to our upcoming Pigweb webinar, which will focus on the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for pigs. Our experts, Rebecka Westin and Anna Wallenbeck will share valuable insights and practical tips to streamline your SOPs. This is a fantastic opportunity from the best!
Topic: Tip and Trix for SOP Development
Date: 3rd of April
Time: 15:00 to 16:00
Speakers: Rebecka Westin and Anna Wallenbeck
EAAP 2023
We are glad to announce that the H2020 project PIGWEB will host a scientific session at the upcoming EAAP conference titled: “Is there a future for experimental animal research in Europe and, if so, what is it?”, on Tuesday, 29 August in Lyon, France.
During this meeting, we will dive into the future of experimental animal research with the presentations of scientific abstracts followed by a round table discussion with the future of animal research: the early career scientists.
We will discuss the future of sustainable animal research, and foster dialogue and collaboration among experts in animal welfare, animal health, and biodiversity.
The session will conclude with an engaging round table discussion, where we would like to discuss the future of animal experimentation with early career scientists to foster a multi-disciplinary and species-overarching exchange of ideas.
Let's foster dialogue, advance research, and shape the future of sustainable pig research!
Our Second Newsletter is out!
The PIGWEB Project Newsletter of May 2023 is available online. We talk about our Annual Meetings, updates on webinars and WP activities, and much more!
PIGWEB Summer School 2023
From 24th to 28th of April, the PIGWEB Summer School on responsible animal experimentation in pig research at the Research Institute of Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf, Germany, close to the city of Rostock, took place. The Summer School contributed to spread new concepts in pig research and results of the joint research activities in the PIGWEB project to a new generation of pig researchers. The 15 attendees, consisting of young post-docs and PhD students, were selected from a larger group of applicants for on-site participation and came from 12 countries, such as e.g. Portugal, Czech Republic, Brazil .
Parts of the lectures and discussions were offered as a hybrid-event and more than 80 persons from 27 countries worldwide had been registered for online participation. The online-participants selected the lectures according to their interests. The presenters from seven partner institutions of PIGWEB provided a multifaceted programme including lectures, group discussions and practical demonstrations on animal ethics and welfare, nutrition and energy requirement, non-invasive sampling techniques and measurement techniques such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and the use of stable isotopes tracers to analyze metabolic traits. An important aspect was also communicating the need to create standard operation procedures for all research activities as well as the presentation of the principles of FAIR data (findable, accessible, interoperable, re-usable), which will be more and more important in the future. The lessons were rounded off with a visit to the pig facility of the FBN in which a visitor corridor exists. In addition to take up the pure factual knowledge new contacts were made by the participants during this week. At a get-together evening with lecturers and organizers in a brewery in Rostock experiences were exchanged away from daily work. We hope that the experience and spirit of the meeting will help the new generation of pig researchers to expand their professional and perhaps friendship network.
PIGWEB AGM 2023
The second PIGWEB annual meeting was held on the 21st and 22nd of March. Partner IRTA hosted this year’s edition at their facilities in Monells, Spain. Both meeting days were packed with updates from the research activities and tasks and room for discussion.
With refreshed energy, the project enters the third year, where new findings will be published; discussions will be held and most importantly, where we will be in dialogue with you!
Please stay in the loop to be updated on all our activities.
Take part in the PIGWEB Stakeholder event 2023!
We invite you to PIGWEB Stakeholder Meeting (in person) to discuss sustainable pig production in Europe!
This event will take place at the Auditorium Josep Tarragó, located at the IRTA Torre Marimón (Ctra C-59, Km 12.1, Caldes de Monbui), on March 23, 2023.
We can’t wait to see you there!
Register for the PIGWEB Summer School online!
In-person registrations are closed, but you can still join our PIGWEB Summer School online!
Don’t miss the date and register before 15th March 2023
Why is Pig Research important?
Meet Giuseppe Bee from AGROSCOPE, the WP7 leader at the PIGWEB project, who will explain to us more about the science applied to pig research and its benefit during PIGWEB's first Annual Meeting in Uppsala, Sweden, in 2022.
PIGWEB Summer School 2023!
Participating in the PIGWEB Summer School will help you expand your professional network with international contacts involved in swine research and will facilitate your contacts with the most important European institutions in swine research.
The 2nd TNA call is open!
We are delighted to announce that the 2nd Transnational Access Call is open!
The transnational access (TNA) program of the PIGWEB project allows external teams (both academic and private researchers) to access the partners’ infrastructures via the submission of research proposals. Through the TNA calls, PIGWEB offers a range of scientific facilities, tools and expertise to the European community of pig research with the aim to address issues related to animal welfare, environmental impact, resource utilisation and production and product quality.
The applications are open from the 1st of September until the 1st of December of 2022.
Visit the dedicated page on the website for more information about the TNA call process. If you have any questions regarding the TNA call, don’t hesitate to participate in our online TNA helpdesk meeting next 3rd October 2022 14:00-15:00 CEST.
Join to TNA Helpdesk Meeting here.
First Annual Meeting of PIGWEB
On June 14-15 of 2022, PIGWEB held its first Annual Meeting in Uppsala (day 1) and Lövsta (day 2) in Sweden. The meeting was attended by 54 participants where project partners had the opportunity to show the progress and the upcoming activities in their work packages.
The meeting started presenting SmartCow project (An integrated infrastructure for increased research capability and innovation in the European cattle sector) which has many similar activities with the PIGWEB project. Then partners presented project activities as mapping of research infrastructures, MAP, 2nd TNA call in September 2022, training on FAIR data and new blood sampling techniques. We had also a very interesting interactive session with a roleplaying activity and partners were challenged to convince policymakers/citizens that animal research is necessary.
On the second day, the discussion was focused on EU legislation on research in pigs, best practices, protocols, ethics and community building. By the end of the meeting, PIGWEB’s Stakeholder Advisory Board members evaluated the progress of the project and provided a comprehensive and constructive feedback and recommendations for each WP. In general, the activities and the progress of the project were found very good and effective!
We will continue to work effectively and enrich our activities to fulfil the objectives of PIGWEB. Stay in touch!
PIGWEB at DPP 2022
PIGWEB took part the 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs (DPP) in Rotterdam on the 18th of May 2022.
The project coordinator Jaap van Milgen presented the PIGWEB project to the audience, explaining the project’s main goals, structure and vision, and remarking its aim and challenges ahead.
PIGWEB joined SmartCow’s final event
PIGWEB’s project coordinator Jaap van Milgen joined the final event of the H2020 SmartCow project on 6 April 2022 in Brussels. Jaap van Milgen was a panelist in the round table session titled “Industry and academic needs for research infrastructures in animal science” together with Arnaud Bouxin (FEFFAC), Ana Granados (EFFAB/ATF); Sven Dänicke (FLI); Nicolas Friggens (INRAE - GENTORE); Marc Vandeputte (INRAE – AquaExcel). The session was moderated by Florence Macherez (IDELE).
Van Milgen said:
“Communication about research in animal production is very difficult, we need to communicate openly with society about what we are doing”
Interested? You can watch the discussion session here.
PIGWEB WEBINAR: Who needs experimental research if we have Big Data?
Livestock production systems are often under scrutiny, and this is even more so for experimental animal research.
On 21 March 2022 at 14:00-15:00, the PIGWEB project organizes a webinar titled “Who needs experimental research if we have Big Data?”. We will try to answer in close collaboration with a high-level panel and their insightful presentations in our first stakeholder webinar.
Throughout the webinar, we will address animal experimentation and the benefits of knowledge software. We will also be introduced to testimonials from the pig industry and discuss the different ways to work towards minimizing experimental research using Big Data.
Our audience will be free to ask questions throughout the webinar. The speakers and the agenda of the meeting will be announced soon. Registration is mandatory, so secure your virtual spot today!
Register here.
Jaap van Milgen at ATF and FEFAC Horizon 2020 Projects Stakeholder event
PIGWEB Project Coordinator Jaap van Milgen joined the Animal Task Force (ATF) and The European Feed Manufacturers' Federation (FEFAC) Horizon 2020 Projects Stakeholder event on 18 November 2021 in the beautiful Foundation Universitaire Stichting, located in the heart of Brussels.
Jaap presented the aim of PIGWEB:
”We want to provide a policy brief on the ethical aspects of animal experimental pig research and identify the needs for future infrastructures on pig research. For the society at large, we want to open up and organize a constructive debate on experimental pig research”.
You can watch Jaap’s presentation here.
PIGWEB at EAAP 2021
This year at the EAAP 2021 in Davos, PIGWEB’s project coordinator Jaap van Milgen (INRAE) presented the project’s aim, structure and announced the transnational access calls. Van Milgen also invited the audience to PIGWEB’s stakeholder platform by subscribing to the project’s emailing list.
The presentation reached out to 50 participants present at the event, which was also streamed online. Jaap van Milgen underlined in his presentation that "Sustainable pig production requires that its research is carried out in a responsible way.”
During the EAAP Conference, Jaap van Milgen received EAAP Leroy Fellowship Award 2021, with a comprehensive presentation by PIGWEB’s WP1 leader Sam Millet (EV ILVO). We would like to congratulate Jaap van Milgen for his outstanding scientific contribution to animal production!
PIGWEB Kick-Off Meeting
The Horizon 2020 PIGWEB Project (“An infrastructure for experimental research for sustainable pig production”) started with its virtual Kick-off Meeting on 3 March 2021.
The meeting started with the introduction and presentation of the project coordinator Jaap van Milgen (INRAE). At the meeting, the project’s objectives, aim and impact were highlighted and leaders of the 7 work packages explained their roles and responsibilities.
Word cloud activity at the KoM on describing the PIGWEB project with one word
The core aim of PIGWEB is to strengthen the pig research community. PIGWEB aims to do this by providing and facilitating access to research infrastructures, reinforcing a culture of cooperation between the research community and industrial and societal stakeholders. It is important to underline that PIGWEB and all partners fully embrace the European Green Deal and the “Farm to Fork” strategy to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. PIGWEB will play a key role in identifying the levers that can be used to attain the goals of the Green Deal to produce safe, nutritious, high-quality food with a minimum impact on nature. It will also address citizens’ concerns about the welfare of farmed animals. PIGWEB contributes to all these aspects by a “Pig to Pork” approach.
We hope to meet in person at our next meeting!
