CAnMove Spring Newsletter 2014

Swedish Research Council visit to CAnMove – midterm evaluation

We have recently arranged a site visit at which six international experts visited CAnMove at the Department of Biology for the Midterm evaluation performed by VR. The expert panel consisted of five experts in Natural Sciences, and one member from the generalist panel. The visiting experts were: Prof. Helmuth Möhwald (head of committee), Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany; Prof. John M. Fryxell, University of Guelph, Canada; Prof. Candace Galen, Univeristy of Missouri, USA; Prof. Kathy A. Hibbard, Pacific Northwet National Laboratory, USA; Prof. Jeffrey A. Hutchings, Life Science Centre Dalhousie, University of Halifax, Canada; Prof. Stig Slördahl and Dr. Winnie Birberg, Swedish Research Council. 

At the site visit lasting a full day, we presented the program organization, actions and plans as well as what changes we have made since the previous evaluation. The CAnMove research were also presented, our initial plans, what we have been able to perform so far, but also what we intend to do in the next few years. The expert panel also interviewed the currently active PhD students in one session. We are very grateful for the interest the expert panel showed in our research and for very constructive discussions during the evaluation. Information on the outcome and decision on what consequences the decision will have on the future budget will be communicated by VR in June 2014 in a written report. Prior to this date we will be able to correct any mistakes in the written report. We wish to thank all CAnMove members who in different ways contributed to a very successful site visit. We hope for a positive outcome in June.

Start of Board instead of Steering committee from 1 January 2014

From 1 January the new Board members started their work for CAnMove, involving six PIs and a PhD student’s representative with a deputy member; Prof. Susanne Åkesson (coordinator), Prof. Staffan Bensch, Prof. Lars-Anders Hansson, Prof. Anders Hedenström, Assistant Prof. Maren Wellenreuther, Prof. Dennis Hasselquist, PhD student representatives Kaj Hultén and Cecilia Nilsson (deputy).

The Board now has the responsibility to lead and take decisions on strategy and budget for the CAnMove program. Prior to Board meetings all PIs and the Board members will be invited to a pre-meeting at which the current agenda on the Board meeting is discussed, and information will be given on program progress. The idea with this procedure is to invite comments and ideas from a larger group including all PIs to the decision process, but also to limit the time spent on information points during the following Board meeting. The Student representative will communicate decisions relevant for PhD students and postdocs to the group after each meeting.

Database development meeting

On February 28, Mats Svensson gave a presentation on the CAnMove Database. Mats is creating the CAnMove database for storage and retrieval of research data.

The main messages was the benefits of using database technology, how that affects the way to handle data, the plans for the database development and that the researchers contribution in the form of input to the database design and provision of data sets is vital to the success of the project.

The meeting attracted a diverse group of over 20 people from CAnMove reflecting the interest and importance of the database; 10 PI:s, 7 PhD students and the technical staff.

Lightlogger analysis meeting in Lund.

A group of CAnMovians met up with people from Linköping University (Prof. Fredrik Gustafsson at Dep. of Electrical Engineering) and LTH (Prof. Bo Bernhardsson & PhD student Jakob Antonsson, Dep. of Automatic Control) to discuss possible improvements in accuracy of lightloggers. Most lightloggers of today use a fixed threshold in light intensity to determine the sun angle. That, together with the time of day, makes it possible to calculate the position of the logger. However, also the rate of change in light intensity is dependent on the position (or rather the latitude). We are now discussing how to make use of this information in order to improve the accuracy of the position. This method is also possible to use at the time of the equinoxes.

New staff member – Caroline Bolmeson, project administrator 

From January 2014, Caroline Bolmeson entered CAnMove as a new employee, working 40%. She is assisting Prof. Susanne Åkesson in coordinating projects and finding opportunities for funding among other things. Caroline has previously been working with diabetes research, and has a PhD in molecular biology at Lund University. Caroline happily says: “Coordinating and facilitating projects is my thing. Being a part of CAnMove is a dream job because of the openness for outreach and exciting projects that extends outside of the university borders.”