| 3rd ISEKI_Food Conference |
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Conference Report The 3rd ISEKI_Food conference, promoted by the ISEKI_Food network via the Erasmus Thematic Network project ISEKI_Food 4 with the support of the ISEKI Food Association (IFA) and organized in collaboration of the National Technical University of Athens, was held in Athens, from the 21st to 23rd of May. Almost 300 participants attended, from 39 countries, with 51 speakers and 240 poster presentations. The conference had 10 endorsing institutions and 18 sponsors that enabled the conference to award 12 posters. Two ISEKI_Food pre-conference workshops on “State of Research in Europe in the Field of Food Science and Technology” and “Industry meets Academia and PhD programmes” warmed up a large share of the participants. An overview of research topics ranging from food safety to nanotechnology, and an overview of publishing ethics and of business development on technology transfer from research, were highlighted by participants as of great interest. Additional workshops organized by the Greek Lipid Forum and the Connect4Action project were also available to the conference participants. With the conference title “Food science and technology excellence for a sustainable bioeconomy”, the opening session commenced with Veerle Lammens speaking about bioeconomy, referring to the need to use natural and renewable resources to ensure the sustainability of the planet, and by Petros Taoukis identifying innumerous possibilities of research in food science and technology, with a group of suggestions, also related to the bioeconomy, later reinforced by Dietrich Knorr. The first session, on education, started with Silvia Travella highlighting the importance of the plant sector in the bioeconomy and its central role, and the need to attract students to this sector and improve training. It was followed by a series of presentations on good practices on curriculum design, new degree programme structures and skills and competences for the future. Special attention was given to the online and interactive systems, where the blended learning modality appeared as a main way forward for teaching and learning. The session was closed with a focus on teacher training and teacher career development. The second session, on research, had 27 oral presentations, in three parallel sessions. Developments in bioactive compounds from new sources and bioavailability, developments on new processing technologies and the production of biomass and fuel from waste, gave participants an actual overview of research and useful hints and use for future research. The third session, dedicated to the food industry, was an excellent event for the interaction between researchers and industry. Both challenges and solutions to be adopted by the food industry were addressed. The global trends of rising prosperity, increasing urbanization and the ageing population, with the stress put on the environment, were pointed out as major challenges to food industry today. Industry representatives claimed their main role in the food chain and their successful efforts to decrease waste and energy consumption, directing the attention to the primary production sector and to the consumer where the biggest share of the losses and production occur. Finally, IFA acknowledged through its ISEKI Academy awards seven prominent scientists and teachers, well known in our network, which have significantly contributed to the ISEKI networks and its association. IFA has the pleasure to announce the 4th ISEKI_Food Conference, to be held in Vienna, on 6-8 July 2016 where the connections between education, research and industry in the food area will continue to be promoted. We look forward to welcoming you in Vienna! ____________________________________________ The International ISEKI_Food Conference series The ISEKI_Food network, through the ISEKI_FOOD 4 supported by the European Commission under the Erasmus programme, in collaboration with the ISEKI_Food is organising the 3rd International ISEKI_Food Conference to be held in Athens, Greece, May 21-23, 2014. The general aims of the ISEKI_Food conference series are to contribute to the creation of an "open" international forum for researchers, education scientists, technologists and industry representatives as well as food consumers, to promote constructive dialogue and collaboration on topics relevant to Food Science and Technology, Industry and Education and to present and disseminate the results of the activities developed by the ISEKI_Food network projects. This conference will be focused on Food Science and Technology for a Bioeconomy 2020. Among a wide number of conference topics, the re-thinking of education in terms of strategies and methods for higher education and continual professional development, the most recent research innovations and emergent requirements, and developments and needs for an industry sustainable food supply, will be on top of the agenda. Several pre-conference events are also included and organized: The final session of the pilot "Summer School" for teachers in Food Science & Technology, and two workshops on European PhD research and involvement and role of industry. We look forward to welcoming you to Athens in 2014. The Executive and Organising Committees
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