LEarning GenOmics for food safety Erasmus Project

Project Title

LEarning GenOmics for food safety

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Recognition, transparency, certification; Open and distance learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The advent of the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) is revolutionising research on Food Safety and Public Health protection (EC, DG SANTE, 2017, 1901701), gradually substituting traditional genotyping used in surveillance, outbreak investigation and microbial risk assessment. Moreover, the new “omics” –Genomics, Proteomics, Transcriptomics, Nutrigenomics, and Metabolomics– have deeply transformed biological sciences.
The decrease in costs and the increase in the analytical and procedural speed of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) for WGS in the field of food safety is leading to new genomic analyses in the public health microbiology for surveillance, control and research activities. Data analysis through the most recent genome-engineering technologies is the challenge of the present as well as of the near future. Conversely, knowledge and competence of scientists, bioinformaticians and recent graduates are not growing at the same speed.

The missing of specific, transversal and multidisciplinary university programmes merging classical food microbiology education with advance training in Statistics, Epidemiology and Bioinformatics is hampering the establishment of a professional profile able to meet the new challenges. Given this background and need analysis, LEGO aims at reaching the following specific objectives:
To design and develop an ad hoc profile – the Food Microbial Bioinformatician – that meets the learning needs of post-graduates students that are relevant to the labour market and societal needs, including through new assessment models and an open and online multi-disciplinary learning course enriched by the possibility of a work-based experience;
To provide a system to assess competence and promote transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications through “Open Badges”;
To provide an innovative and attractive OER based course, equipping post-graduates students with the necessary relevant and high-quality competencies to analyse WGS data for investigating food-borne outbreaks, identifying strains of food-borne bacteria with high virulence potential or resistance to antimicrobials and satisfying the needs of and opportunities offered by labour markets;
To increase synergies and share innovative practices – also through collaborative platforms – between HEIs, research institutes, VET providers and private companies adopting trans-disciplinary approaches and ensuring that education and research are mutually reinforcing;
To encourage learning, professional development, employability, entrepreneurship, mobility, innovation, research, competitiveness, and synergies among public and private sectors;
To support the transfer of latest research outputs back into education as input for teaching, to enhance Master and PhD students working opportunities and to help them exploring contemporary research problems.

Four Intellectual outputs will concretely realise the project objectives:
IO01: The “Food Microbial Bioinformatician” (FMB) – A new Professional/Research Profile
IO02: Elearning pathways for Food Microbial Bioinformaticians
IO03: Startupper’ bricks
IO04: LEGO IT PLATFORM
Project participants and beneficiaries will be engaged by exploiting innovative methodologies, such as gamification and role playing (IO02) and project platform (IO04).

Direct participants/beneficiaries will be:
– Enrolled HEI’s students with a I level degree (Bachelor) in one of the following disciplines: Veterinary Sciences, Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, (Micro)Biology or Biotechnologies;
– Enrolled HEI’s students with a I level degree (Bachelor) in one of the following discipline: Biomedical Engineering, Statistics, Informatics,Mathematics, Medicine plus 3 or more year research or work experience in the field of Microbiology in either private or public institutions.
– Personnel working in Genomics labs (Microbiologists, Bioinformaticians, Epidemiologists, Veterinarians, Statisticians, etc), aiming at entering the circuit of formal education.

LEGO will directly produce an impact in the 4 geographical areas represented by the partnership: Italy, Finland, Poland and Spain. A solid Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation plan will be drafted, stating activities, targets/audiences/stakeholders, means and channels, messages and strategies, resources, objectives, expected results, timeline of the foreseen activities, success indicators, monitoring and evaluation. The project will also exploit the e-Pale and the Erasmus+ result platforms to maximise its communication effort.

Project partners are:
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e Molise (IZSAM, IT, project leader), University of Helsinki (FIN), University of Life Science and Technology (PL), AINIA (ES), University of L’Aquila (IT) and Remedia IT (IT). The partnership was established identifying complementary organisations within the solid network that IZSAM – National Reference Center for Whole Genome Sequencing of Microbial Pathogens – has in the EU.

Project Website

https://www.learngenomics.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 310650,7 Eur

Project Coordinator

ISTITUTO ZOOPROFILATTICO SPERIMENTALE DELL’ABRUZZO E DEL MOLISE G CAPORALE & Country: IT

Project Partners

• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DELL’AQUILA
• REMEDIA ITALIA SRL
• POLITECHNIKA BYDGOSKA IM. JANA I JEDRZEJA SNIADECKICH
• AINIA
• HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
• UD’ANET SRL