Description
Environmental pollution, including pollution of waters, is a topic of broad concern at governmental, public institution, research, and consumer levels due to the health risk posed to humans and animals. This project covers the training needs for PhD students and exchange of experience in training of teaching staff at the Veterinary Faculty in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where environmental and water protection against microbial and heavy metal pollution is the subject of several graduation works and PhD theses lately. The colleagues from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science have the expertise and know-how for surveillance technologies in the field of pollution of water with microscopic parasites and can train PhD students and teaching staff. The PhD student participants will obtain expertise in laboratory work needed for water born disease diagnosis and surveillance while the teaching staff will complete the expertise they already hold on microbial pollution with elements of diagnosis in parasitic water born diseases, thus being able to transfer this knowledge to broader categories of students and users. The partnership will initiate the cooperation between the two schools and will broaden the academic perspectives, allowing the creation of mixed groups of young researchers with potential to train target groups (students, PhD candidates, technicians, etc.).
Summary of project results
The need for this project was based on one of the most important issues nowadays, namely environmental pollution, including water pollution, and the severe health risks posed to humans and animals. The objective of the project was to exchange expertise and to identify laboratory methods for detecting water pollution and fish handling and treatment. The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science had the expertise and technology for surveillance and diagnosis of water born diseases and were able to ensure the training of the PhD students. During this mobility project were organized two mobility flows: one outgoing administrative staff to the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science and one incoming teaching staff mobility to the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca.The results of the research project are published in scientific journals, jointly elaborated by the involved institutions. The scientific papers highlight not only the real pollution level, but also the measures to be taken in order to avoid pollution or pollution increase. The final goal of obtaining this expertise was the ability of implementing preventive measures and also improving the capacity in designing control strategies. At the end of the project, there were several practical outcomes, such as acquirement of skills to apply technologies for detection of specific bacterial water born and fish born pathogens. Each partner contributed equally so that the beneficiaries of the project were actively involved in training, teaching job-shadowing. The main benefit was the improvement of the knowledge in the field.
Summary of bilateral results
The project was a response to the important issue of environmental pollution and the associated health risks posed to humans and animals The project focused on water pollution and related fish diseases. The project will be further sustained with the help of the scientific papers, presentations and practical scientific work with the PhD students The mobility enabled the beneficiaries to work in an international environment and observe the research skills of the partner university. Collaborating with the Norwegian colleagues proved efficient, with very well trained researchers that were open to establish collaboration in the research areas of fish pathology, environmental pollution and food safety. The universities are open to continuing the partnership, with the project opening opportunities to collaborate as research partners to publish scientific papers in an international forum. .