1. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from 10 members of the Section
2. Minutes of the 2001 Open Meeting held during the symposium Physiology of Yeasts and Filamentous Fungi, Hindsgavl Castle, Denmark, on Thursday 5 July 2001.
The minutes were accepted, and signed by the Chairman.
3. Matters arising from the Minutes.
Some of the matters arising were substantive items later in the agenda of this meeting, and are reported below. No other matters were raised.
3. Report from the Section Chairman.
Jeff Cole reported on following items:
(i) Invitation to the Section to contribute to the scientific programme of the 11th European Congress of Biotechnology in Basle, August 2003, and of the 1st FEMS Congress of European Microbiologists, Slovenia, June 29 – July 3, 2003. Members of the Section had organized two symposia entitled “Stress in Microbes” and “Microbial Physiology and Biochemistry” for the FEMS Congress. These invitations are regarded very positive, as they strengthen the links of the Section to ECB and FEMS (who supported several Section meetings with travel grants for students in the past).
(ii) Vacancies on the Section Board.
The Section is keen to identify a Section Treasurer who will work with other members of the Section Board in developing a sound financial strategy. Nominations (including self-nominations) are invited. The Section Board would also welcome other volunteers to join the Board to organise specialist meetings, or help with the general running of the Section.
Members are also invited to help with the organisation of the Section’s contribution to future European Congresses of Biotechnology, including ECB11 to be held in Basle next year.
Mhairi McIntyre, the organiser of the Section Meeting on Single Cell Analysis II, was proposed as a member of the Section Board. The nomination was agreed unanimously.
(iii) Cost of participation in future section symposia and scientific meetings: a proposal from the Section Board.
The per diem cost associated with organising a scientific meeting depend critically on four factors:
(a) The local costs in the country selected for the meeting;
(b) Whether the meeting is organised by a professional agency or by local volunteers;
( c) The type of accommodation booked for the meeting;
(d) The policy regarding payment of registration, accommodation and especially travel costs of invited speakers.
Our last three meetings have been held in expensive countries, so despite all of the hard work being completed without incurring professional fees, the registration fee for participants has been higher than normal. In contrast, our next two symposia will be held in Italy and Germany at locations specially selected so that the cost of participation will be minimised.
· PROPOSAL.
The Section Board proposes that:
a. The locations for the majority of our future meetings should be selected so that the INCLUSIVE cost of participation for registrants will be in the range 120 to 150 Euros a day at current prices (to include registration, meals an accommodation). At most 1 meeting in 3 will be arranged at a location where it is not possible to work within this guideline.
b. As a matter of Section policy, travel costs of invited speakers will not normally be passed on to registrants.
c. Any surplus arising from a meeting sponsored primarily by the Section will be split equally between the Section and the local organisers. Funds accrued by the Section will be used to subsidise attendance at Section meetings of young biotechnologists, and to provide a safety net for those organising subsequent meetings.
The proposal was accepted as a general point of principle, with the caveat that some discretion must always be left to the local organisers.
4. Secretary’s report.
The secretary, Diethard Mattanovich, asked members to update their data with the chairman, and invited them to present items related to the Section’s business on the Section webpage. In order to do that, Jeff Cole or Diethard Mattanovich should be contacted.
5. Report from the EFB Executive Board.
The EFB ExBo had met on Saturday 1st June 2002. Danilo Porro reported that the following topics had been discussed: Organisation of EFB; European Focus on Biotechnology in China (EFBIC); the new Task Group on Innovation (TG-INN); activities of the sections; EFB webpage; new membership; ECB 11; the articles in the series “Made by Genetic Engineering”; should the EFB run a journal?
More detailed information and contacts related to the topics can be obtained from Danilo Porro (email: danilo.porro@unimib.it ).
6. Web Master’s report
The webmaster, Christine Lang apologised for being unable to come. Jeff Cole presented the new web address: http://efbweb.org/mip . The section members expressed their thanks to Christine for developing and maintaining this efficient website.
7. Report from the organisers of the current meeting.
Mhairi McIntyre reported that around 100 participants were registered for the meeting. 24 lectures and 34 posters would be presented. The participants were appr. 1/3 from industry, 1/3 PhD students and 1/3 senior academics. The meeting was supported by FEMS and the ECB5 fund (students grants). Special thanks goes to the American colleagues for organizing a NSF travel grant for young US participants.
The Section thanked Mhairi McIntyre and her colleagues for the excellent arrangement of the meeting.
8. Future meetings of the section.
a. Second symposium on Recombinant Protein Production, Italy, November 2002
Danilo Porro reported that this meeting will be held in Cernobbio near Como from November 14-16, 2002. All current details on the meeting are available under www.efb-112.org . Scholarships for young researchers are under negotiation with the EC.
b. Section contributions to the First FEMS European Congress of Microbiology, Slovenia, June 2003: contributions are planned in a session on physiology and a session on genomic/proteomic research.
c. Section contribution to ECB11 in Basle in July 2003: no definite programme has yet been distributed. The section members are invited to suggest topics of interest for sessions.
d. Section symposium on Physiology, Biochemistry and Genetic Regulation of Electron Transfer Reactions in Bacteria. Walberberg, Germany, October 12-16 2003
Fritz Unden and Jeff Cole have booked the renovated monastery at Walberberg, where there are comfortable accommodation and excellent conference facilities for 80 to 100 people at a cost of about 100 Euros a day. Ample space is available for posters, and there is a large, informal bar. Food is simple, but high quality. A light and airy location, with most helpful staff.
e. A second symposium on Physiology of Yeasts and Filamentous Fungi will be held in April 2004 in Toulouse, France, organised by Jean-Marie Francois.
f. In autumn 2004, a meeting on Functional Genomics of Pathogenic Bacteria is planned together with the Section on Functional Genomics.
g. Due to the success of the 2nd Meeting on Analysis of Microbial Cells at the Single Cell Level, the Section decided to organise a third meeting on this topic. Nicole Borth from Vienna volunteered to organise this meeting in Austria in 2005, probably May.
In this context, Howard Shapiro called the attention to the Meeting of the International Society for Analytical Cytology (ISAC) in Montpellier, France, in 2004.
9. Any other business
none
10. Date of the next Section Meeting
The next meeting will be held in Cernobbio, Italy on 15 Nov. 2002.