BIODAQUA Meetings
- Official Agenda for BIODAQUA Startup Meeting, Athens February 2002
- 2nd project meeting, 17-19 February 2002, Athens, Greece
- BIODAQUA Partners Ancona Meeting
Report from Canadian Coordinator – Dr Ben Forward
Overall, Canadian students have greatly enjoyed their exchanges as have the hosts of EU students. The past year has seen the largest number of students move since the project’s beginning (see Table). Increased recruitment efforts appeared to have paid dividends. In the case of the Ireland exchange, I think having a defined exchange to market to students resulted in the large interest (~37 applications). It is possible that leaving it up to the students to find their own exchange is too daunting. Developing a more structured list of exchange opportunities (dates & deadlines) may help to generate more applicants. Generating an online database of hosts and research projects could be a component of a grant proposal to obtain new project funding.
The presence of a local champion within a department to assist in promoting the project as well as finding exchange opportunities for incoming students is a key ingredient. Unfortunately, the number of faculty reps on the Canadian side has seen a high rate of turnover. This appears to be due in large part to high workloads and other time commitments. International office contacts have been instrumental in assisting with promoting exchange opportunities as well as assisting both outgoing and incoming students.
Numerous reports have been submitted to HRDC Canada from June 2003 through February 2004 including a revision of the project work plan, student mobility matrix and budget. The project funding was suspended as of October 22, 2003 by HRDC setting a deadline of November 19 th to show proof that we had recruited sufficient numbers of students to meet our mobility targets. A financial audit of the project was initiated following this deadline. With much effort and cooperation among the Canadian partner reps and international offices, we succeeded in recruiting a surplus of applicants. The suspension was subsequently lifted in February 2004 allowing exchange preparations to proceed. Special thanks and recognition to UNBSJ (Deb MacLatchy & Phyllis Power) for leading the charge for the joint field course and to UCC (Gavin Burnell & staff) for making the arrangements on the receiving end.
With the completion of the Ireland exchange, we have effectively met our mobility target as set out in the revised work plan. However, we have been able to reallocate funds to provide an additional 10 student travel awards during this final year. Recruiting students for these awards is one of the immediate focuses in the coming months.
The project has developed much in the past year and is growing in popularity within the Canadian institutions. There are numerous benefits and strengths that we can build on for the future and I look forward to discussing these further.
Ben Forward
BIODAQUA Coordinator
