IVVN Annual Report 2022
The past year has been a positive one for the IVVN. While the previous two years tested the limits of how a Network can bring people together while staying suitably apart, 2022 has brought some of that connectivity back.
Looking internationally, it is remarkable to see the way our members have overcome the challenges of the pandemic, and the work you have achieved despite these difficulties. Do continue to let us know about your achievements and publications and we will share with the community.
We are very proud to have been able to open a new call for laboratory exchange applications this year. This funding will allow members to visit another group to learn a new skill, use specialised equipment or complete a proof-of-concept. The call closed at the beginning of this month and we look forward to funding a new round of projects.
This new call was possible because of the additional funding we were recently awarded by UK Research and Innovation from the UK government’s Global Challenges Research Fund. As well as this new funding call, we are also planning new activities and opportunities for members, including training for early career researchers and new schools outreach activities. Keep an eye out for news in a future issue of the IVVN newsletter.
Another source of pride for us this year was the fantastic work of our first six IVVN Fellows. Amany, Angela, Laura, Mercy, Sreeja and Tanja all presented at the special dissemination event we held for the programme in July. All six have achieved tremendous success in a very short amount of time under challenging situations caused by the pandemic. It was a real pleasure to celebrate those achievements with members and the team from Canada’s International Development Research Centre, who co-funded the programme.
We have also seen some changes to the Network Management Team that administers the day-to-day activities of the IVVN. Professor Christine Maritz-Olivier from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and Professor Simon Graham from the Pirbright Institute in the United Kingdom, joined the team in May as co-directors. Our founding co-director, Professor Bryan Charleston stepped down at the same time and joined the Network Management Board. Anne Syrett, our Network Administrator, also left the team earlier this year. We offer our sincere thanks to Bryan and Anne for their years of dedicated support, and a warm welcome to Simon and Christine.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of our work over the past 12 months. Whether that has been through a funded project, attending our online webinars expertly chaired by Professor Brian Perry, completing our members’ survey or catching up with our monthly newsletter, we are glad to have you as part of our Network.
As ever, if you have any suggestions on how we can improve the Network, then please get in touch with the IVVN team at IVVN [at] roslin [dot] ed [dot] ac [dot] uk.
Tim, Simon, Christine, Carly and Mabon
