To all European members of the list I would like to draw your attention to
the following letter from the Director of the Institute of Aquaculture. I
think this opens up a hole new area for research and teaching collaboration
and I hope that some of you can take a few minutes to fill in the specimen
letter.
Brendan

> Dear Colleagues
> 
> The Institute of Aquaculture is a major international centre for research
> on most aspects of aquaculture science.  An important part of its success
> is its excellent laboratory and extensive fish holding facilities, many of
> which are new or recently redeveloped and which allow the use of the most
> modern research methodologies.
> 
> The Institute will apply to the EU Fifth Framework Programme "Improving
> the Human Research Potential and the Socio-Economic Knowledge Base.
> Access to Research Infrastructures" to achieve Large Scale Facility
> status.  This will enable us to offer our facilities to European
> scientists working in aquaculture and related sciences.  If the proposal
> is successful it will be possible for scientists from your institution to
> visit the Institute for up to 4 months to carry out research using our
> facilities.  All the costs of such research, including travel and living
> expenses will be paid by the EU.  A file "Facilities" is attached which
> gives further information on the facilities of the Institute and on some
> of our research activities.
> 
> If you are interested in using the facilities of the Institute for
> research under this Programme we should be most grateful if you could send
> a letter confirming your interest.  A file "letter" is attached which
> gives a suggested  format for such a letter.  Please note that it is
> important you give some indication of the areas of research you might wish
> to pursue.
> 
> Your letter can be sent to me by mail, fax, or email but must show the
> letterhead of your institution.  Please send any reply by 28 April.
> 
> I hope your institution will be able to participate in this proposal if it
> is successful and I look forward to hearing from you.
> 
> Yours sincerely
> 
> 
> Professor R H Richards
> Director
> 
> Address: Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9
> 4LA
> Fax:        01786 472133
> e-mail	   [log in to unmask]
> 
> Research Facilities at the Institute of Aquaculture
> The Institute of Aquaculture is an international centre offering a wide
> range of biological, technical and veterinary facilities for research on
> temperate and tropical, freshwater and marine fish and shellfish.  Its 5
> research divisions comprising disease, environment, nutrition,
> reproduction and genetics and aquaculture systems, comprise over 100 staff
> and 70 post-graduate research students working in purpose built well
> equipped laboratories and  using excellent field facilities, including a
> large tropical aquarium and dedicated disease aquaria on campus, a large
> flow through freshwater system at Buckieburn, near Stirling, and a
> dedicated marine research facility at Machrihanish on the coast of Argyll.
> In addition the Institute runs a large commercial freshwater salmonid
> hatchery and farm for research and training purposes.  The Institute acts
> as host institution for the UK Department for International Development's
> Aquaculture Research Programme and maintains collaborative links with
> laboratories in over 20 countries and hosts numerous visiting scientists.
> A major part of the Institute's research budget is derived from
> competitive research grants and contracts involving research and  advisory
> work in a wide range of countries, systems and environments.
> 
> The Institute of Aquaculture hopes to be able to offer to European
> researchers through the European Commission Programme "Improving the Human
> Research Potential and the Socio-Economic Knowledge Base.  Enhancing
> Access to Research Infrastructures" acess to its facilities for a wide
> variety of research topics in aquaculture related sciences.
> 
> Available Facilities Include:
> *	Dedicated disease aquaria capable of handling notifiable pathogens
> *	Large warm water freshwater aquarium
> *	Large flow through freshwater system
> *	Commercial hatchery and farm
> *	Marine research facility for large scale experiments and trials
> 
> Dedicated laboratories for:
> *	Virology
> *	Microbiology
> *	Parasitology
> *	Mycology
> *	Immunology and vaccine development
> *	Histopathology
> *	Electron Microscopy
> *	Ecotoxicology
> *	Chemical and biological analysis of water
> *	GIS
> *	Nutrition
> *	Lipid biochemistry
> *	Crustacean biology
> *	Radioimmunoassay
> *	Reproductive physiology
> *	Gene cloning and sequencing
> *	Genetics
> 
> Full University information services, including computing and library
> facilities are available.
> 
> Research Areas
> Environment: Qualitative and quantitative aspects of water use:
> environmental impacts of resource use and waste production; modelling of
> impacts; EIA techniques; remediation; impacts of aquaculture on
> biodiversity; sustainability and biodiversity issues.
> 
> Ecology: Ecology of lakes, reservoirs and ponds and their management for
> aquaculture, feeding behaviour of food fishes; effects of phytotoxins on
> grazing.
> 
> Ecotoxicology:  Effects of poorly water soluble compounds on crustaceans
> and early life stages of fish; development of through-flow test systems
> with artificial sediments; development of physiological models to predict
> impacts of toxicants; molecular toxicology of xenobiotics.
> 
> Aquaculture Production: Design of production systems, economics and
> resource use in aquaculture, environmental sustainability of aquaculture,
> manpower planning, technology transfer.  Use of Geographic Information
> Systems; satellite imagery in facility planning and natural resource use;
> remote imaging and biomass measurement.
> 
> Aquaculture Nutrition: Fundamental and applied nutrition of finfish and
> crustacea; use of wastes and other products as substitutes in diets;
> nutrient requirements in relation to digestible energy intakes; lipid
> biochemistry of fish with particular emphasis on PUFA; development of
> larval diets for marine fish larvae.
> 
> Reproductive biology: reproductive strategies; environmental and hormonal
> control mechanisms; biological rhythms; fecundity; gamete quality; induced
> spawning; sex reversal.
> 
> Genetics: androgenesis; gynogenesis; hybridisation; sex determination;
> chromosome manipulation; inbreeding; transgenics; selection and management
> of broodstocks; genetic markers; genetic regulation; taxonomy and
> conservation.
> 
> Microbiology: Viral diseases of fish and shellfish, culture methods,
> characterisation of viruses.  Bacterial diseases of fish and shellfish,
> pathogenesis, microbial ecology, disease prevention and therapy,
> development of novel therapeutic agents and methodology of administration,
> safety and efficacy studies.  Ecology of fungal diseases of fish,
> molecular characterisation of fungal pathogens.
> 
> Pathology: Histopathology of fish and shellfish and crustacean diseases,
> pathophysiology, ultrastructural studies.  Primary, secondary and tertiary
> referral diagnostic histopathology.  Interpretation (semi-quantitative)
> and integration of histopathology with microbiology, haematology and
> ultrastructural findings.
> 
> Parasitology: host/parasite interactions, pathology of parasitic
> infections and parasite population dynamics in relation to culture
> conditions.  Development of therapeutic agents and other control methods.
> 
> Immunology: Development of fish vaccines and rapid diagnostic tests.
> Production of monoclonal antibody probes and molecular probes against the
> causative agents of fish bacterial and parasitic disease.
> Immunomodulation studies.
> 
> Shellfish culture: Marine and freshwater prawns, nutrition, disease,
> genetics, water quality and toxicity effects.  Culture of  molluscs.
> Environmental impact of shellfish culture systems.
> 
> 
> SPECIMEN REPLY LETTER
> PLEASE USE HEADED NOTEPAPER
> 
> 
> 
> Dear Professor Richards
> 
> The -----------------(name of your Institution or Research Group) is
> interested in participating in the proposal by the Institute of
> Aquaculture, University of Stirling to the European Union Programme
> "Improving the Human Research Potential and the Socio-Economic Knowledge
> Base.  Enhancing Access to Research Infrastructures".  The
> -----------------(name of your Institution or Research Group) is concerned
> with research on ---------------------- (please give one or more research
> areas) and would be very interested in using the facilities of the
> Institute of Aquaculture to pursue this research.
> 
> Yours sincerely
> 
> The countries most likely to be involved are EU states, Norway, Iceland,
> Israel, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovinia,
> Bulgaria, Rumania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
> 
> 
>  <<LETTER>>  <<Facilities>> 
>