Hello everyone, Now I am finally writing this last blog as ESR of PROTECTED project trying not to feel too emotional, although not very successful I must say! From the very first moment I step onto a plane in Havana in 2017, I knew my life was going to change Read more…
Almost 2 months after the completion of my PhD studies I decided to sit down and write this, my last blog entry, to sum up my experience in the PROTECTED ITN network. My name is Maria Christou or as friends know me ESR8. Back in April of 2017 I moved Read more…
Hi, I’m Que, ERS9 of the PROTECTED project. I carried out my PhD at the university of Liege, Belgium. I have just finished my PhD during the pandemic COVID-19. I’m writing to share with you about my amazing PhD, I literally mean “AMAZING”. GAINS: I am one of the lucky Read more…
You know that feeling when you are so close to finish your PhD, you just need to write your thesis, the light in the end of the tunnel comes closer, you can start planning your Summer vacation…and a pandemic starts!? Well, now I know! 🙂 I spent five months almost Read more…
Does a biological cell strike you as something that has not only perfected making molecules and signals but has also developed a highly organized system for them to where they’re needed? It should because cells are unrivalled in this regard. This is accomplished in part through a system now regarded Read more…
Dear readers of the PROTECTED blog, It is great to see activities, such as our blog, starting again! We had a few weird months…like any other human being on this planet! We all know that this situation was/is awful for many aspects. I had ups and downs, of course. but Read more…
In my previous blog I was describing how my life had changed in a, relatively short time since I joined the PROTECTED ITN. WRONG! No matter how dynamic your life could be, nothing prepares you for a fast-spreading-global-scale virus. So… I was working as usual on my stuff at the Read more…
Because of “you-know-who” many international conferences events, including our final ProtectED conference, were cancelled. While many conferences were re-scheduled to the next year, the European branch of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) decided to transfer the conference to an online event. Bold move! The 30th SETAC European Meeting Read more…
Dear readers, Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to be invited to speak at the World Cancer Day event hosted by the Pink Ladies Cancer Support Group in Derry, Northern Ireland. The theme of the event was… “WHAT’S DISRUPTING US? CANCER PREVENTION, CLIMATE EMERGENCY & EXPOSURE TO TOXIC CHEMICALS” Read more…
Dear readers, Me and my fellow ESRs have entered the very last year of the project. Experiments, data, reviews, tables, statistics, papers, doubts… Yeah, doubts. Doubts and pressure have become my best friends for the past few(?) months. Will I make it? Am I good enough? How much time left? Read more…
Hello everyone! Maybe because I come from one of these places on the planet where there is sun 365 days a year, to the point that umbrellas have double function and we are always tanned even if it is December! or maybe because sometimes you don’t know how to appreciate Read more…
Hello everyone! During the last week of May I had the opportunity to attend and present a poster at the SETAC 29th European annual meeting in Helsinki. During this conference I also had the opportunity to attend a workshop in Statistical methods in Ecotoxicology using R. R is a very Read more…
Hello dear readers of the PROTECTED blog! Time to share with you the experience of my second secondment. Around mid June I moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland to work in the Institute of Global Food Security (IGFS), part of Queen’s University, supervised by Dr. Lisa Connolly. Even if I have Read more…
Hi everyone! Last week I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on “Social Media and Blogging for Impact” hosted by the Graduate School at Queens University Belfast. Since I am the ESR in charge of running the social media accounts for PROTECTED, I thought this could be a fun Read more…
Pretty sure by now, you have realized how much time we spend traveling, right? I remember that some time ago, some people used to tell me that the life of a researcher might be boring, locked inside a lab, no sunlight and basically no social life, well, the last part Read more…
Somewhere I call home doesn’t need to be my birth hometown, doesn’t need to be a beautiful or fancy place, but it’s where I want to come back after all my journeys. I’m leaving my hometown, Hanoi, to come to Europe first for my master and now for my PhD Read more…
Hi Guys! In the beginning of May I’ve had the opportunity to attend the 11th ICTC (International Conference on Toxic Cyanobacteria) in Krakow (Poland). This conference is every third year and all the biggest names of the field participate to it (I felt like meeting movie stars I only saw Read more…
Hello everyone, Last week I had the opportunity to start my sunny days attending to a Summer School organized by The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), which runs the EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM).Location: lost in the forest! And also…one of the headquarters of Read more…
Hello! I can’t wait to share with you my wonderful experience attending the Scientists Tales Training organized by the MCAA UK (Marie Curie Alumni Association United Kingdom). It was a full day storytelling (for scientists) workshop held on Saturday the 13th of April 2019 in London (HTA Design LLP). How Read more…
Hello everyone! Greetings from Belfast. Last week myself, Melissa and Tobi (ESR’s 13, 1 & 4) had an opportunity to participate in Northern Ireland’s biggest agri-food event called “Balmoral Show”. The very first show was held in Belfast corporation markets on the banks of River Lagan on the 23rd and Read more…
Here we go with a short update about my journey as an Early Stage Researcher of the PROTECTED Project. Finally, the moment has come for my first secondment to begin! As you may have read here on the website and on previous blog posts, PROTECTED is a large network comprising Read more…
A year ago, my life was completely different…I used to lead people around the coral reefs in what used to be my job in the Caribbean coasts of Mexico. Yes, you guessed right, I was a snorkel tour guide, funny isn’t? But first, hello everyone! my name is Gustavo, I’m Read more…
Hello!!!Some news from the cold North On the 31st of January I had the great possibility to participate to the Kjemi (it means Chemistry, in Norwegian!) Grand Prix! And what is that? Well, in my opinion, a wonderful way to help people falling in love with science and research. The Read more…
Hi all !! I think my fellows already described you over and over how lucky we are to be enrolled in this programme, quite some nice research, excellent teaching and good opportunities to discover new places. Therefore, I thought it would be nice to write about something that most of Read more…
Hola!!It’s me again. Basically, 2018 was an incredible year of good science, good trips and more than anything getting established within the consortium. I am thinking a summary of my year would be an interesting read. I resumed my position as an ESR in January and so began the first Read more…
Hello everybody!As an Early Stage Researcher on the PROTECTED (Protection Against Endocrine Disruptors) Project – I have come to appreciate the importance and value of communicating about science in a way that is more meaningful to the diverse range of audiences/publics we must engage with. Our international project ultimately is Read more…
It is almost the end of the year, and mid-term of the PROTECTED project. I have to admit that I struggled finding a topic for this ESR blog’s article. So I decided to take a look back at this first half of my PhD, to review everything I achieved, all Read more…
HI GUYS!It’s me, from the far North! I would like to tell you about my first Norwegian weekend outside Oslo! I joined the running group of my Institute (Norwegian Veterinary Institute, as you remember…maybe!) for something called “cabin trip”: it’s just run away from the crowded city to reach these Read more…
Hello! Here we are again! Some news from the PROTECTED family! We recently spent three amazing days in Toulouse (France) for a Food Toxicology course at INRA (National Institute of Agricultural Research).Researchers from Toxalim (Food toxicology group) shared their experiences and knowledge with us: another great step on our education Read more…
Hello everyone!My name is Oluwatobi Kolawole and I am one of the Early-Stage Researchers on the “Protection against Endocrine Disruptors” (PROTECTED) project.In August 2018, Pink Ladies Cancer Support Group hosted a science event for children as part of Gasyard Felie 2018 programme in Derry/Londonderry. QUB PROTECTED team participated in the Read more…
Hi all! My name is Mazia and I’m from Pakistan, working on “ProtectED” project at Queen’s University Belfast, UK. Being part of such a broad and multinational project constantly provides us with opportunities to attend conferences and meet experts from all around the world. A few weeks ago I had Read more…
¡Hola a todos!Last June, after the Summer School I stayed in Belfast for my first Secondment at Queen’s University. It was a great experience for me. I must say that I am deeply grateful with everyone there! Professionally it was a month of constant learning and personally it was great Read more…
The SQUARE – Brussels Meeting Centre ~ Rue Mont des Arts I am happy to share with you another great experience. After Liverpool and the Faroe Islands, this time I travelled to Brussels, Belgium where I attended the 54th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX 2018) from 2 Read more…
My name is Tarek LAHJOUJI from Morocco, member of the innovative training network (ITN) of the “PROTECTED” project. Currently, I have been living in Toulouse, capital of Occitanian, one of romantic and wonderful city, which is located in the South of France. It is known as the Pink City (Rose Read more…
Hola! I am Solomon Alhassan and an Early Stage Researcher with the PROTECTED consortium and currently realizing a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology at the Universidad Austral de Chile. Becoming part of a multidisciplinary, International collaboration with fifteen highly motivated early stage researchers and a network of very experienced Read more…
Goedemorgen! My name is Bérénice and I am based at BioDetection Systems (BDS) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I am an early-stage researcher (ESR) from the PROTECTED project but also a part of this big adventure common for all ESRs: expatriation. To pursue my scientific career, I decided to just turn Read more…
Hello! During the 1st week of June, our first Summer School took place in Belfast. Before the summer school and during the last week of May we had the chance to attend the ASSET summit which took place also in Belfast. It was the first time that all of us Read more…
Hi! PPTOX is a globally recognized conference that gathers together scientists from all over the world working in the field on Environmental Toxicology (from both basic science and epidemiological perspective) with a special focus on prenatal programming and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. This was a great opportunity for me and my fellow Read more…
Hoi iedereen! – Hi all! I’m Clémence, ESR14 of the ProtectED project and one of the two ESR based at BioDetection Systems in Amsterdam. It’s the first time I’m writing an article for the blog and I would like to present you some aspects of my life in the low-lands. Indeed, Read more…
Hello!I’m Que from Viet Nam, one of the early stage researchers in the PROTECTED project. One thing I really like from the project is the opportunity to go training and make connections with other people inside and outside the network. I have just completed my secondment in Valencia, Spain in Read more…
Hello!I am Vittoria Mallia, one of the 15 members of the PROTECTED family. I come from Bettona, a small pretty town in the green heart of Italy. I am working on my PhD project about endocrine disrupting compounds in cyanobacteria, based at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute of Oslo. This is Read more…
Hi all,I’m Que, from Vietnam. I am completing my PhD in the University of Liege, Belgium thanks to the Marie Curie grant in the Horizon’s 2020 Program on the Protection Against Endocrine Disruption (PROTECTED). I like toxicology and I am keen on working with toxic chemicals like dioxins. I am Read more…
Hello everyone! My name is Elizabeth Goya Jorge, and I am living in Valencia, working at ProtoQSAR company and developing my PhD at the Universitat de València thanks to the grant of the Marie Curie financial support offered by the European Commission in the Horizon’s 2020 Program on the Protection Read more…
Hello everyone! Greetings from sunny Liege where I am currently finishing my 3-month secondment. Three very exciting months, as the capital of the Belgian Ardennes has a lot more to offer than some might expect! After a short settlement period and after getting to know my new transitory team members, Read more…
Hello everyone, My name is Maria Christou and I am one of the 15 PhD students working on the ITN European funded network called ProtectED (Protection against endocrine disrupting chemicals). I am employed by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in Oslo. My research focuses on the effects of Read more…
Hello everyone,It’s the new ESR, Melissa! I am so excited to be a new member of the PROTECTED project and begin a new life and career in Belfast. Having lived here for almost 2 months, I feel as though I am finally (almost) settled in. After completing my MSc last Read more…
Hello everyone! My name is Alana Cutliffe and I am one of the Early-Stage Researchers on the “Protection against Endocrine Disruptors” or “ProtectED” Project. The Project aims to further research the effects of certain chemicals – termed “endocrine disruptors” – that have the ability to interfere with our hormones. I Read more…
Hello! This is Anteneh Desalegn, an Early Stage Researcher with the PROTECTED project. The PROTECTED project is one of the Innovative Training Networks (ITN) under Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) that received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The network is comprised of 12 training sites Read more…
I am a PhD candidate working at NMBU Oslo in collaboration with University of Oslo (UiO). My research focuses on the effects of defined realistic mixtures of POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) on neurodevelopment in a chicken embryo model. So far, I have done some pilot studies with POPs on forebrain Read more…
I had the great opportunity to attend The Fertility 2018 Conference (4-6 January) which took place in Liverpool. The Joint Fertility Conference is an annual event hosted by the Association of Clinical Embryologists, British Fertility Society and the Society for Reproduction and Fertility. The main topic of this year’s conference Read more…