Innovation from the sea: MICRO B3 Kick-off meeting

Innovation from the sea: MICRO B3 Kick-off meeting

The Micro B3 project - the name stands for microbial biodiversity, bioinformatics and biotechnology - was started officially with a Kick- off meeting from the 1.-3 February. The meeting was hosted by lead partner Professor Frank Oliver Glöckner from Jacobs University Bremen. More than 70 scientists from 14 countries came to officially launch the project.
Frank Oliver Glöckner explained: „The project's main objectives are to create an integrative database for marine ecosystems biology, which is open to researchers worldwide and features many innovative tools for data analysis, and to develop a legal framework for genome-based environmental research." He further pointed out that these tools will be applied in the blue biotechnology sector to clarify the function of yet-unknown genes, which is of great commercial potential.
During the meeting, key elements of the project's implementation were discussed as well as hearing presentations from the responsible partners, including what needed to be done, how and by when, the
partnership agreement, the budget, communications and the nomination of the steering group.
We would like to thank all participants for their contributions to the conference and the lively discussions during the work package meetings.