Information on previous events

9^th BfR-Summer Academy 2020

We are pleased to announce the 9^th BfR-Summer Academy on Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in the area of Food Safety in Berlin, organised by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). From August 17 to 28, 2020 highly qualified and experienced BfR-scientists as well as external experts with profound and long standing experience in risk assessment of chemical or microbial risks will conduct the course. The 9^th BfR-Summer Academy is intended for members of staff of public organisations engaged in food and feed safety, who have already experience in risk assessment analysis. The participants will acquire practical risk assessment analysis and gain deeper understanding in risk communication measures. Consequently this BfR-Summer Academy is from professionals to professionals.

Please find more information about the 9^th BfR-Summer Academy 2020 on the website of the BfR Academy: http://www.bfr-akademie.de/english/events.html

If you have any questions regarding the 9^th BfR-Summer Academy, please contact the BfR-Summer Academy Team: summeracademy@bfr.bund.de.

Further information

38th animal protection research prize

Please visit our German website for further details.

BfR Academy Training School for experts: Transfer of substances along the food chain - part 2

Please visit our German website for further details.

Closing event of the BfR consumer conference Genome Editing

Please visit our German website for further details.

Further information

Final symposium "PIMONT"

Please visit our German website for further details.

Symposium - Research Funding in the area of 3R (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement)

Please visit our German website for further details.

BfR-Symposium "Benchmarks in consumer health protection"

Please visit our German website for further details.

Funding opportunities for third party projects - introduction of national and European funding programmes

Please visit our German website for further details.

Workshop Sensory Analysis of Consumer Products

The workshop is organised by the TU Dresden in cooperation with th German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment.

It will take place September 10th and 11th 2019 at the TU Dresden (Bergstraße 66, 01069 Dresden).

More Information can be found on the website of the Technische Universität Dresden and the programme flyer (both in German).

Further information

Building-up a Regional Approach: Latin American Risk Assessment Symposium on Food Safety Montevideo, Uruguay

For three days we will discuss current activities and future issues in Food Safety on regional and international levels and provide the opportunity to meet regional colleagues, exchange ideas and jointly shape the future and development of Risk Assessment in Latin America.

The programme will include lectures from highly qualified and experienced European and regional experts on the topics of Microbiological and Chemical Risk Assessment and Antimicrobial Resistance. Interactive workshops will further provide you with the opportunity to actively engage in the event.

The Symposium will be jointly organised by the Uruguayan Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) with the support of  the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Portuguese Economic and Food Safety Authority (ASAE), the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The MGAP is the Uruguayan National Governmental Authority, which is mandated to develop public policies related to Animal and Plant Health and Food Safety.

The BfR is a scientifically independent institution within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Germany. It advises the German government on questions of food, chemical and product safety.

IICA is a specialised agency of the Inter-American System for agriculture that supports agricultural development and rural well-being.

EFSA is an agency of the European Union that provides independent scientific advice and communicates on existing and emerging risks associated with the food chain.

ASAE is a specialized authority responsible for food safety and economic surveillance in Portugal.

AESAN is an autonomous agency within the portfolio of the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare in Spain, promoting and fostering consumer and user rights, food safety and healthy eating.

The PAHO is a public agency working with countries of the Americas to improve and protect people's health.


Durante tres días discutiremos temas de actualidad en inocuidad alimentaria a nivel regional e internacional así como ofreceremos la oportunidad de conocer e intercambiar ideas con colegas de la región, acerca de cómo podría desarrollarse a futuro la Evaluación de Riesgos en Inocuidad en Latinoamérica.

El Programa incluirá charlas de expertos Internacionales y Regionales altamente calificados y con amplia experiencia en Evaluación de Riesgos Microbiológicos, Químicos y en Resistencia Antimicrobiana. Se desarrollarán también talleres interactivos que brindarán la oportunidad de participar activamente en el evento.

El Simposio será organizado conjuntamente por el Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca de Uruguay (MGAP) y el Instituto Federal Alemán para la Evaluación de Riesgos (BfR); con el apoyo del Instituto Americano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA), la Autoridad Europea de Seguridad Alimentaria (EFSA), la Autoridad Portuguesa de Economía y Seguridad Alimentaria (ASAE), la Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (AESAN) y la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (PAHO).

El MGAP es la autoridad uruguaya que tiene dentro de sus competencias generar políticas públicas vinculadas a la sanidad animal y vegetal; y a la calidad e inocuidad de los alimentos.

El BfR es una institución científicamente independiente dentro de la cartera del Ministerio Federal de Alimentación y Agricultura de la República Federal de Alemania (BMEL). Asesora al gobierno alemán en cuestiones de inocuidad de alimentos, de sustancias y productos.

IICA es el organismo especializado en agricultura del Sistema Interamericano que apoya el desarrollo agrícola y el bienestar rural.

La EFSA es una agencia de la Unión Europea que proporciona asesoramiento científico independiente y comunica sobre los riesgos existentes y emergentes asociados a la cadena alimentaria.

La ASAE es una autoridad especializada responsable de la seguridad alimentaria y de la vigilancia económica en Portugal.

La AESAN es un organismo autónomo dentro de la cartera del Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social en España, que promueve y fomenta los derechos de los consumidores y usuarios, la seguridad alimentaria y la alimentación sana.

La PAHO es una agencia pública que trabaja con los países de las Américas para mejorar y proteger la salud de su población.

Further information

8^th BfR-Summer Academy 2019

Welcome to the 8th BfR-Summer Academy on Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in the area of Food Safety in Berlin!

The course will be conducted by highly qualified and experienced BfR-scientists as well as external experts with profound and long standing experience in risk assessment of chemical or microbial risks. The 8th BfR-Summer Academy is intended for members of staff of public organisations engaged in food and feed safety, who have already experience in risk assessment. The participants will acquire practical risk assessment knowledge and gain deeper understanding in risk communication measures. Consequently this BfR-Summer Academy is from professionals to professionals.

The first BfR-Summer Academy was held in 2012. In the last seven years more than 180 participants from over 50 different countries took part in this professional training. The BfR-Summer Academy will be open to participants from public institutes engaged in risk assessment of food and feed.

Further information

The BfR-Eiland - the fourth interactive plant labyrinth of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment on the topic of eggs and chickens

Please visit our German website for more details.

Symposium Microbiological NRL

Please visit our German website for further details.

19th BfR Consumer Protection Forum: Generation 65+

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

EsRAM closing symposium

Please visit our German website for more details.

18th BfR Consumer Protection Forum: Microplastics

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

Further training event for the public health service 2019

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

Foodborne pathogens and whole genome sequencing: impact on public health protection

The event will take place from 26 to 28 March 2019 in Paris, France.

The conference will bring together researchers, risk assessors and risk managers for an update on the impact that whole genome sequencing (WGS) approaches already have and will have in the near future in the food safety area. The joint conference will take place on the initiative of the four national institutions working on food safety and risk assessment in France - the ANSES, Denmark - the DTU Food, South Korea - NIFDS and Germany - the BfR.

The participation at the conference is free of charge, but requires prior registration by 22 March 2019.

Further information can be found on the event website http://ptolemee.com/wgs2019/.

BfR Academy Training School: Transfer of substances along the food chain for experts - part 1

Please visit our German website for further information.

19th Symposium on Meat- and Poultryhygiene

Please visit our German website for further information.

Workshop Sensory Analysis of Consumer Products

The workshop is organised by the TU Dresden in cooperation with th German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment.

It will take place March 5th and 6th 2019 at the TU Dresden (Bergstraße 66, 01069 Dresden).

More Information can be found on the website of the Technische Universität Dresden and the programme flyer (both in German).

Further information

International Conference on Uncertainty in Risk Analysis - Challenges and Advances in Assessing, Managing and Communicating Uncertainty

The International Conference on Uncertainty in Risk Analysis brings together internationally recognised leaders in theoretical and applied uncertainty analysis with a focus on the areas of food safety, environmental health, occupational health, animal health and plant health.

The conference will be a forum for discussing the science behind uncertainty analysis and show case of best practices in conducting and communicating uncertainty analysis as well as for addressing uncertainty in decision making.

Networking and sharing experience at the conference is anticipated to enhance the mutual understanding and interaction of partners in risk analysis and support and enhance the practice of uncertainty analysis.

The conference is a two-day event with preconference workshops and will be composed of invited and submitted talks, poster sessions and interactive sessions.

It will feature a wide range of topics including:

• Uncertainty from a cognitive science point of view (cognitive perspective on belief; knowledge and uncertainty; epistemic logic; cognitive biases; perspectives of philosophy and psychology)
• Methods for uncertainty analysis (judgements; subjective probabilities; qualitative, quantitative and tiered approaches; uncertainty in evidence from individual and aggregated studies; systematic review; publication bias; lack of reproducibility; weight of evidence; sensitivity analysis)
• Communication of uncertainties (documentation and visualisation of uncertainties; perception of risk and uncertainty; target-oriented communication; education; lessons-learnt; dealing with fear and mistrust; communication strategies)
• Accounting for uncertainty in decision making (impact on risk management and regulation; decision theory; lessons-learnt; precautionary principle)
• Dialogues on uncertainty in an open society (knowledge brokering; roles of players in science, management, politics, democracy, stakeholders; global governance; conflicting interests; instrumentalisation of uncertainties; reproducibility crisis)

Records of lectures:

• http://bfr.westream.biz/riskanalysis_en/

Organisers:

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)

Further information

Workshop on Science, Communication and Society

Please visit our German website for further details.

BfR-Forum Microplastics

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

Nutrient supply? Plate rather than pill! - The BfR at the International Green Week 2019

The BfR informs about food supplements at the International Green Week. Please visit our German website for further details.

9th BfR User Conference Product Notifications

On 19 November 2018, the 9th BfR User Conference will take place in the lecture hall at the BfR in Berlin-Marienfelde. The Conference will focus upon the implementation of the European harmonised notification obligations for products according to the new Annex VIII to the CLP regulation.

The new Annex VIII to the CLP Regulation, entered into force by Regulation (EU) 2017/542 last year, comprises a harmonised notification format for the submission of information on hazardous mixtures to the appointed bodies of the EU member states. The format will harmonise notifications, regarding both content and technical format, within the EU member states in a legally binding way and will come into force in a stepwise approach starting on EU level in 2020. The novel notification format is supposed to be implemented for national notifications in Germany already next year. It will result in altered notification requirements. Coincidently, the number of submissions will significantly increase as the national transitional provisions will expire stepwise from 2020. The BfR would like to inform on these imminent changes of legislative, contentual or technical kind and would like to discuss the challenges associated with this process with all involved parties.

Further information

7th BfR stakeholder conference: "Is it fake? Science in the age of multiple truths"

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

Avoid animal experiments: Berlin - capital of the 3R

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

BfR-Symposium "Antimicrobial resistance in the food chain"

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

4th BfR-Symposium "Food-associated Viruses"

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

BfR Workshop Assessment of residues and contaminants in processed food and feed

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

Symposium: Reduction of salmonella entry by slaughter pigs into the food chain

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

BfR-Symposium: "50 years of the Cosmetics Commission: Science in the service of consumer protection"

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

37th animal protection research prize

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

9^th Berlin Workshop on Developmental Toxicology

Satellite event to the 46th Annual Meeting of the European Teratology Society

Subsequent to the 46th Annual Meeting of the European Teratology Society the BfR invites the experts to discuss the classification of findings in Version 2 terminology (published by the official journals of the European, American and Japanese Teratology Societies) to improve the classification of findings and laboratory investigations.

The main goal of the 9th Berlin Workshop on DevTox Terminology is to evaluate external, visceral, skeletal and materno-fetal anomalies which can be classified either a malformation, a variation or a grey-zone anomaly according to their severity, size, persistance and grading.

The topics are grouped in three different main panels:

    •  The final update of the DevTox database
    •  A consideration of specific aspects in regulatory risk assessment
    •  The discussion of alternative strategies in testing developmental effects

During the 1st day of the Symposium (September 13, 2018) different aspects of developmental anomalies in laboratory animals compared to the updated devtox website will be discussed. Risk and hazard assessment in developmental toxicology will be presented and discussed in the second session with invited and interested experts.

During the 2nd day (September 14, 2018) International experts will present their views on alternative species in testing of developmental effects and methodology for the future.

The workshop addresses risk assessors, risk managers and stakeholders in order to support the progress towards a harmonised human health risk assessment of plant protection products, biocidal products and other chemicals.

The conference language will be English. More information will be presented on the DevTox Website (http://www.devtox.org). A Report of the Workshop will be published in a peer reviewed journal.

Further information

REACH Compliance - A workshop on data quality in registration dossiers

The REACH Compliance project is a joint project of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the German Environment Agency (UBA). It investigates the availability of human health and environmental data in the REACH registrations of chemicals.

During the workshop, the latest results of the REACH Compliance project on registrations of chemicals above the registration volume of 100 tonnes per year will be presented and discussed.

Further information

FENS Satellite-Event: How reproducible are your data?

The way out of the reproducibility crisis in neuroscience

The recurrent discussion on a reproducibility crisis has a strong impact on the neuroscientific research community. Scientists have to react in order to restore confidence in basic and translational research. However, which measures are the most effective to insure the robustness of published data is still a lively debate.

In this symposium the reasons underlying the reproducibility crisis but especially potential solutions will be presented. The influence of confirmatory replication studies, preprint publishing or study preregistration will be discussed. This meeting aims to show practical recommendations for neuroscientists to achieve high data quality and adopt best report practices but also reflect the role of other actors in neuroscience as scientific journals and funding organisations. We will bring together international experts from different fields of neuroscience reaching from human neuroimaging to behavioural animal research. Speakers will present their perspective as scientists, editors or member of funding organisations.

Organisers:
German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)
BIH QUEST CENTER for Transforming Biomedical Research

Further information

7^th BfR-Summer Academy 2018

We are pleased to announce the 7th BfR-Summer Academy on Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in the area of Food Safety in Berlin, organised by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR).The course will be conducted by highly qualified and experienced BfR-scientists as well as external experts with profound and long standing experience in risk assessment of chemical or microbial risks. The 7th BfR-Summer Academy is intended for the members of staff of public organisations engaged in food and feed safety, who have already experience in risk assessment analysis. The participants will acquire practical risk assessment analysis and gain deeper understanding in risk communication measures. Consequently this BfR-Summer Academy is from professionals to professionals.

Please find more information about the 7th BfR-Summer Academy 2018 on the website of the BfR Academy.

Interested in participation? Then please submit your application via the online application form of the BfR Academy of the BfR Academy by 15 February 2018.

If you have any questions regarding the 7th BfR-Summer Academy, please contact the BfR-Summer Academy Team: summeracademy@bfr.bund.de

Bf3R Seminar with Professor Malcolm Macleod

The Bf3R seminars address issues related to the use of animal experiments and alternative methods in basic research and toxicology, as well as the 3Rs.

Improving the ethical position of animal research by increasing benefit: Rationale for and features of a research improvement strategy

All research has costs and potential benefits. In research involving animals the costs include the ethical burden of causing harms to animals for the purposes of human benefit. There is general (but not universal) consensus that this ethical burden is acceptable to society, if it is as small as possible and if the prospects for human benefit are sufficiently large. Much attention has been paid to the minimisation of the ethical burden through refinement, reduction and replacement; but until recently there has been less focus on opportunities to improve the ethical balance by increasing benefit.

We and others have shown that the majority of reports of animal research do not tell the research user whether the study was randomised or blinded, reported a sample size calculation, was guided by an a priori study protocol, was selective in the reporting of outcomes measured, used their first choice of statistical test, reported data for all animals included in the study and even whether the hypothesis presented was the one they started with, or evolved in the light of the data presented in the paper in support of that "improved” hypothesis.

We have shown that studies at such risks of bias are associated with larger effect sizes, and that there is a substantial publication bias in most animal literatures. We have shown that journal-based improvement activity has only minor impact unless substantial resources are devoted to this.

Taking a lead from health care improvement activity, we are developing tools to allow the quality of reporting of animal research to be evaluated in real time across a range of stakeholder domains including by institution, funder, regulator, journal or nation. This measurement will provide data for research improvement activity, where for instance an institution might measure performance, implement strategies intended to improve performance, and then measure what impact has been made. Such information will allow much better targeting of, and greater efficiency in, research improvement activities. And by improving the credibility and validity of research findings, the ethical balance between harms and benefits will be shifted towards benefit. I will sketch out the rudiments of an institutional research improvement strategy.

Further training event for the public health service 2018

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

International Training for Safer Food 2019

Second BVL course on Food Safety and Risk Management

Duration: 5 days
Location: Berlin

For the second time, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) offers an advanced training course with the topic ,,Food Safety and Risk Management’’.

This training on Food Safety and Risk Management on European and national level in Germany will take place from 11 to 15 March 2019.

The BVL course addresses international experts from the fields of food/feed safety and risk management.
The participants in the practical training course will learn about the food safety system in the European Union by means of lectures, practical examples and exercises. They will find out how food surveillance functions in the European and national context.

This year the Max Rubner-Institute will organise a one-day programme as part of the International Training Course. The research focus of the Max Rubner-Institute (MRI), founded in 2008, is on consumer health protection in the food sector. It advises the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in this field.

The experts will provide participants with a wider knowledge about the following topics in English:

- Implementation of food safety regulations in the European Union and Germany

- Authorization procedures in the context of food safety

- Tools of risk management in official controls

- The network of Reference Laboratories in the European Union

- Poster session: Food, Feed, Fraud: Alert and information systems

- Prevention, incident & crisis management

- Current developments in food authenticity

Address
Hotel Courtyard Berlin Mitte
Axel-Springer-Straße 55
10117 Berlin

Further information

18th Symposium on Meat- and Poultryhygiene

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

Common mistakes in TV-cooking shows

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

How to handle germs, viruses and parasites - the BfR at the International Green Week 2018

The BfR informs about food hygiene at the International Green Week.

Please visit our German website for further information regarding the event.

Workshop: Mathematical modeling of metabolism and contaminant transfer in farm animals

Modern risk assessment of chemical and biochemical contaminants in food and animal feed makes use of mathematical modeling of the different stations in the food chain to understand the flow of undesirable substances. Whereas modeling of laboratory animals is pursued by many members of academia, modeling of farm animals has often been neglected. This type of modeling can only be successful in the context of cooperation spanning the fields of bioinformatics, theoretical biology, veterinary medicine and animal nutrition, to name a few. In this workshop, we will present interdisciplinary work covering modeling of contaminant transfer as well as different aspects of farm animal metabolism using mathematical approaches.

Venue: German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Max-Dohrn-Straße 8–10, 10589 Berlin, Germany

Further information

2nd BfR-Science Slam

Scientists of the BfR present their research in an entertaining and understandable way.

Please visit our german website for further information regarding the event.

Global Past, Present and Future Challenges in Risk Assessment - Strengthening Consumer Health Protection

From November 30th to December 1st 2017 a Joint International Symposium hosted by the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation (NIFDS, Republic of Korea), the Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES, France), the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU, Denmark) and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR, Germany) will take place at the BfR.

In an ever more interconnected world international cooperation is becoming increasingly important. In light of the BfR’s 15th anniversary, we therefore want to invite you to jointly look back on the last one and a half decades of risk assessment.

Furthermore, we want to discuss current activities and future issues in consumer health protection on national and international levels such as microbiological agents, chemical substances, methodologies and harmonisation.

Further information

Anniversary ceremony "15 Years of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment"

The BfR celebrates its 15th anniversary with invited guests from national and international sister authorities as well as national and international cooperation partners.

Further information

Workshop on the optimisation and harmonisation of the risk assessment procedure at the BfR: What does the future hold for harmonised human health risk assessment of plant protection products?

What strategies exist to ensure independent and transparent risk assessment? How can the scientific dialogue be improved between the various stakeholders? These and other questions were discussed by representatives of the EU Commission, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the EU member states, the industry and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) at a workshop on the harmonisation and further development of the risk assessment of plant protection products. The workshop was held at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin, Germany on 23 and 24 November 2017. About 100 participants followed an invitation of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the EU Commission to mainly discuss topics that triggers controversial debates within the society. The workshop was a follow-up event organised by the EU Commission in 2015.

Further information

Current situation and perspectives of breastfeeding monitoring in Germany

The one-day conference is planned to give a general overview about breastfeeding monitoring in Germany. The free event includes lectures by experts, discussions, as well as open contributions on the topic.

Please visit our german website for further information regarding the event.

8th BfR User Conference on Product Notifications

On 20 November 2017, the 8th BfR User Conference will take place in the lecture hall in Berlin-Marienfelde.

The Conference will be focused - again - on the state of the harmonization process for product notifications at European level this year.

The 8th BfR User Conference on Product Notifications addresses to representatives of industry but also to representatives of the competent federal authorities as well as national and European poisons centres.

Further information

Awarding of the BMEL Animal Protection Research Prize 2017

Handing over of the 36th Animal Protection Research Prize by Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture Christian Schmidt.

Please visit our german website for further information regarding the event.

Bf3R Seminar - The future of regulation in animal testing

On November 8, Professor Nils Hoppe from the Leibniz Universität Hannover will give a lecture on the future of regulation in animal testing.

Venue
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Campus Charité Mitte (CCM)
CharitéCrossOver building (CCO)
Charitéplatz 1 (Virchowweg 6)
10117 Berlin

Further information

Workshop Exposure - Tiered Approach as determining feature for exposure assessment

This Workshop by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the working group "Regulatory Toxicology" of the German Society for Toxicology (GT/DGPT) will focus on the tiered approach in exposure assessment.

Please visit our german website for further information regarding the event.

BfR "Schools at University"

School children from Berlin discover consumer health protection in a university enviroment.

For further information please visit the german website.

Bf3R Seminar - Human pluripotent stem cells for modelling cardiac diseases and toxicity screening

On September 25, Professor Robert Passier from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, will present his lecture on "Human pluripotent stem cells for modelling cardiac diseases and toxicity screening".

Further information

6^th Summer Academy from 3^rd July until 14^th July 2017

We are pleased to announce the international BfR-Summer Academy on Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in the area of Food safety. The course will be conducted by highly qualified and experienced BfR-scientists as well as external experts with profound and long standing experience in risk assessment of chemical or microbial risks. The BfR-Summer Academy is intended for the members of staff of your organisations engaged in food and feed safety, who have already experience in risk assessment analysis. The participants will acquire practical risk assessment analysis and gain deeper understanding in risk communication measures. Consequently this BfR-Summer Academy is from professionals to professionals.

The Summer Academy 2017 is fully booked. Registration is no longer possible.

Further information

Bf3R Seminar - Studying sleep by using a worm

The Bf3R seminars address issues related to the use of animal experiments and alternative methods in basic research and toxicology, as well as the 3Rs. They take place four times a year and include a lecture of approx. 30-60 min, followed by a discussion.

On 16 June Dr Henrik Bringmann from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany, will give his lecture "Studying sleep by using a worm".

Further information

RESET & MedVetStaph - Final scientific Symposium

The research consortium RESET performs research on the resistance against the very important antimicrobial classes of β-lactam-antibiotics and (fluoro)quinolones in enterobacteria.

The relevance of antimicrobial-resistant livestock associated staphylococci including Methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) for the health of human beings and animals is investigated in detail in the consortium MedVetStaph.

In both consortia, financed by BMBF, scientists from human and veterinary medicine, basic and applied science as well as epidemiology work closely together.

In this final scientific workshop both consortia will present their results to the public, to stakeholders and to scientists.

The main topics presented are:

• Recent results from research on the zoonotic transmission of staphylococci and enterobacteria resistant to antimicrobials
• Consequences for the field work
• Future developments and research needs

On Wednesday, the meeting is held in German, the following two days in English.

The recognition of medical and veterinary education credits is being requested.

Organisation:
University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover,
German German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and
German Research Platform for Zoonoses.

Scientific Secretariat:
Prof. Dr Lothar Kreienbrock
(University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover)

Prof. Dr Annemarie Käsbohrer
(German German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment)

PD Dr Robin Köck
(University Hospital Münster)

Further information

Bf3R Seminar - Epigenetic Inheritance in Drosophila

The Bf3R seminars address issues related to the use of animal experiments and alternative methods in basic research and toxicology, as well as the 3Rs. They take place four times a year and include a lecture of approx. 30-60 min, followed by a discussion.

On 21 March Dr Adelheid Lempradl from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, Germany, will give a lecture on Epigenetic Inheritance in Drosophila.

Further information

Bf3R Lecture - Animal Welfare Risk Assessment

The Bf3R invites scientists and the public to take part in the dialogue related to the 3Rs. The events cover specific themes and topics and the format is chosen accordingly (e.g. lectures, workshops, round table discussions).

On 20 March Professor Linda Keeling from the University of Uppsala, Sweden, will give a lecture on Animal Welfare Risk Assessment.

Further information

International Symposium "Standardisation of non-targeted methods for food authentication"

Authenticity testing of food and feed – the detection of fraudulent or deceptive practices such as substitution of ingredients, adulteration and incorrect labelling – are important and challenging issues food surveillance and industry are confronted with. Therefore, research has been conducted worldwide on the development of rapid analytical approaches and procedures that can help to meet not only current threats but being advanced enough to address emerging challenges e.g. unknown adulterants. A recent strategy which is successfully applied for screening and authenticity testing is based on non-targeted analysis using at least one analytical technique, spectroscopic and/or spectrometric, for data acquisition and subsequently one or more chemometric methods for multivariate statistical evaluation. A lot of effort has been directed in the development of respective analytical procedures often in research and in feasibility studies, whereas further crucial issues such as standardisation and validation are not completely fit for purpose yet. That might be one reason why adaption of the procedure from research into routine application and food surveillance is processing slowly.

The symposium will provide a platform for promoting scientific exchange and discussing open questions in the research field of food and feed authentication using non-targeted methods. The exchangeability of data between laboratories, validation and standardisation of analytical methods and statistical models, as well as system challenges and quality assurance measures are among the key issues that require closer investigation and which will be addressed.

The symposium will be held in English.

Further information

6th BfR Stakeholder Conference on "Scientific political consulting in the area of conflict between politics, science and the general public"

On November 18th 2016, the 6th BfR Stakeholder Conference entitled "Scientific political consulting in the area of conflict between politics, science and the general public" will take place.

The event is to be dedicated to the question of which role scientific political consulting can and should play. If it wants to be scientifically upright, for example, should it see itself in the role of an "honest broker", who presents politics with all available scientific evidence in a well-balanced way?

To do so, the conditions under which scientific know-how can form the foundation of political decisions have to be identified along with whatever constraints there may be. In essence, it should be all about defining the role of scientific political consulting in and for society more precisely: What should it do and what can it do, as well as what can it not and what should it not do!

The conference will be held in German and interpreted into English.

Conference venue: http://www.bbaw.de/en/

Further information

Tropical Animal Diseases and Veterinary Public Health: Joining Forces to Meet Future Global Challenges
First Joint AITVM - STVM Conference

The conference will be organized by the Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine and the FAO Reference Centre for Veterinary Public Health of the Freie Universität Berlin, in close collaboration with five partner organizations.

Further information

5^th Summer Academy from 27^th June until 8^th July 2016

We are pleased to announce the international BfR-Summer Academy on Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in the area of Food safety. The course will be conducted by highly qualified and experienced BfR-scientists as well as external experts with profound and long standing experience in risk assessment of chemical or microbial risks. The BfR-Summer Academy is intended for the members of staff of your organisations engaged in food and feed safety, who have already experience in risk assessment analysis. The participants will acquire practical risk assessment analysis and gain deeper understanding in risk communication measures. Consequently this BfR-Summer Academy is from professionals to professionals.

Further information

Participation in Risk Assessment - Modes of Risk Governance in European Risk Assessment and Risk Management Institutions

This joint workshop on "Participation in Risk Assessment" on 2 and 3 June 2016 is organised by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) together with the Paris Risk Group (PRG).

Frameworks for risk governance have evolved through a variety of forms since the mid twentieth century, from a first simplistic "technocratic" model to a "decisionist" model including socio political and economic objectives in addressing risks, to a more sophisticated "transparent" model viewing those factors intertwined throughout the risk analysis process. Recently, proposals to reform the risk governance framework have emerged in order to address the specific challenges risk agencies are facing: interdisciplinarity, diversity of sources of information, uncertainties and evolutions in the distributions of roles and responsibilities. Public participation, stakeholder involvement and engagement have often been pushed forward as a key to address those specific challenges. They are well-established concepts in academia as well as being an integral part of the risk analysis framework that includes risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. Participatory and cooperative forms of communication have also been described as one characteristic of a new mode of governance, that takes into account not only scientific knowledge but aims at producing a robust knowledge base for policy decisions. Against this background, risk agencies have to varying degrees incorporated participation and stakeholder involvement, but these institutional answers differ, firstly, among countries as a result of different national regulatory styles. Risk - and its regulation - embodies the particular understanding about how a state should define and account for possibly adverse outcomes. Accordingly, risk agencies in different countries have employed participatory approaches differently. Secondly, different cases demand for different solutions, leading to different participatory answers.

Therefore, the workshop aims at bringing together not only the academic and the practical perspective but rather tries to firstly, provide an overview of theoretical approaches that strongly support participatory approaches and of approaches that tend to take up a more skeptical stance on participation. In a second step, real-life experiences from different countries and institutions will be introduced, aiming to provide an overview of already existing and established participation procedures at different levels of the risk analysis process. Finally, the experiences presented will be discussed with social scientists and risk assessors, risk managers and risk communicators to ensure a dialogue on the pros and cons of participation with stakeholders from all parts of the risk analysis process.

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SPICED Symposium "Spices and Herbs - A Risk Free Taste Experience?"

The international symposium will provide state-of-the-art data on food safety in the spice and herb chains.

The European Union (EU) market is one of the largest markets for spices and culinary herbs in the world. Mostly, these commodities are imported as dried raw materials from producing regions outside of the EU. Contaminations with microbiological and chemical agents can take place at numerous vulnerable points within production and supply chains and can pose a serious risk for farmers, processors, and consumers.

The identification of contaminated spices and herbs as a cause of a food-borne infection or intoxication would be difficult, because consumers and experts often focus on major food ingredients. Moreover, many detection methods are less suitable for the heterogeneous herb/spice matrices. Therefore, a special focus is set on the challenges in establishing and maintaining food safety in the spice and herb chains.


Stakeholder from industry, government, and academia are welcome to join the symposium. Talks will be given by external experts and by partners of the EU project SPICED (www.spiced.eu).

Attendees are invited to participate with poster contributions; abstract submission will close on 31 March 2016.

Students with poster contribution can apply for a Student Travel Award. You will find more information on the document linked below.

For questions, please contact spiced@bfr.bund.de.

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BfR Symposium - Insects as Food and Feed - Food of the Future?

In Europe, insects are generally not eaten by humans or used as feed for farm animals. But this is an area where a public debate is beginning to emerge - due to the claimed efficiency of production options and the favourable nutrient make-up of insects. The majority of insects consumed worldwide are currently taken from nature, but the aim now is to achieve industrial breeding under controlled conditions so that insects can be used as food or feed. There is a major need for research with regard to technological conditioning and processing, in particular as concerns safety aspects as well as in connection with risk perception among the population at large.

The BfR Symposium "Insects as Food and Feed - Food of the Future?" of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment will bring together the current state of knowledge on market relevance and regulatory aspects, nutrients and ingredients, and the production of food and feed from insects as well as possible health risks and acceptance by the public at large.

The symposium will be held in German and interpreted into English.

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BfR-Academy Training FoodChain-Lab

Foodborne outbreak and food tracing investigations are becoming increasingly complex due to changing patterns in the global food production and supply chain network resulting in more and more complex delivery chains. In 2002 EU regulation (EC) No 178/2002 was enacted to cope with the new requirements for food safety. By this regulation traceability of food is legally required in the European Union.

FoodChain-Lab is a free open-source software providing trace back and forward analysis for food items along food supply chains, e.g. in case of foodborne disease outbreak investigations. FoodChain-Lab was developed at the BfR in research projects and is now made available for everybody who is interested.

FoodChain-Lab provides integrated data management, validation, enrichment and visualization features as well as interactive analysis and reasoning methods. For each product (food item or ingredient) and each station (e.g. food producer, restaurant) scores are computed to estimate the likelihood that the product/station is related to a contamination event (e.g. causing an outbreak). The software also allows to run simulations based on cross contamination during production, processing or geographical parameters.

In this workshop we will demonstrate specific applications of the software and provide hands-on training for interested users. Therefore it is necessary to bring own laptops. The laptop must be able to connect to Wi-Fi via WPA2.

The target audience of this workshop is employees of risk management and assessment authorities from the European member states with IT-application experience. Ideally, the participant will be a contact point in future international tracing investigations and for their respective countries.

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14^th International Conference on Trichinellosis

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the International Commission on Trichinellosis the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment invites to the 14^th International Conference on Trichinellosis (ICT-14) in Berlin from 14 to 18 September 2015.

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4th BfR-Summer Academy on Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in Food Safety

We are pleased to announce the international BfR-Summer Academy on Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in the area of Food Safety. The course will be conducted by highly qualified and experienced BfR-scientists as well as external experts with profound and long standig experience in risk assessment of chemicals or microbial risks as well as in risk communication. The BfR-Summer Academy is intended for members of staff of your organizations engaged in Food and Feed Safety, who are already experienced in Risk Assessment analyses. The participants will acquire advanced knowledge in practical Risk Assessment analyses and gain deeper understanding in Risk Communication measures. Consequently, this BfR-Summer Academy is dedicated to knowledge transmission from experts to experts.

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1^st BfR-Academy Training School on Nanotechnologies for Risk Assessors

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) organizes the first training school on nanotechnologies, which is specifically dedicated to persons involved in risk assessment and regulation of nanomaterials (NM).

This training school will give a state of the art overview on NM characterization, NM toxicity testing, exposure assessment as well as NM risk assessment and will also discuss methodological limitation and future needs and challenges.

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Workshop on data availability in REACH registrations
"Mind the Gap - Data Availability in REACH Registrations"

The workshop presents the results of a project reviewing more than 1800 registration dossiers of high tonnage chemicals. In addition, it aims to provide a forum to promote dialogue among all stakeholders with an interest in the data quality of REACH registrations.

The workshop is organised by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and will take place on 2nd March 2015 at the BfR, Diedersdorfer Weg 1 (Marienfelde), 12277 Berlin.

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15th BfR Consumer Protection Forum "Aluminium in Everyday Life: A Health Risk? Intake of Aluminium from Food, Cosmetics and other Consumer Products"

Aluminium in food and products used in everyday life, for example antiperspirants, are currently the focus of scientific risk assessment, and they get high attention from consumers. There is need for research and information in this area. How much aluminium do we intake via food, drinking water, drugs, packaging and cosmetic products? Are there reasons to believe that aluminium intake is a cause of Alzheimer's disease or breast cancer? Should contact with aluminium be reduced, and if so, what are measures that individual consumers can take?

These and other questions are to be debated at the 15th BfR Consumer Protection Forum. The BfR Consumer Protection Forum is a two-day event during which experts provide information on the current state of research. Together with stakeholders from the worlds of politics, business, consumer associations, non-government organisations, the media and the public, possible conclusions will be discussed.

The event will take place on 26 and 27 November 2014 at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin-Marienfelde.

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Conference on Botanicals in Food

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Application of Omics Data in Regulatory Toxicology

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Brucellosis 2014 International Research Conference

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the International Brucellosis Society the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment invites to the Brucellosis 2014 International Research Conference in Berlin from 9 to 12 September 2014.

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European Conference on Safe Use of Plant Protection Products

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5th BfR Stakeholder Conference "Food Safety and Globalisation - Challenges and Chances"

On 2nd and 3rd June 2014, the 5th BfR Stakeholder Conference entitled "Food Safety and Globalisation - Challenges and Chances” will take place.

The event will focus on the question how, against the background of increasing liberalisation of the global trade, it will be possible to guarantee food safety in future.

Taking cultural peculiarities in the area of nutrition as a starting point, the discussion shall straddle such issues as different regulation systems and resulting risk, safety and prevention concepts and even include questions of risk perception and risk communication in comparative international perspective.

Conference venue: www.quadriga-forum.de

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International Symposium on Developmental Toxicity including the 8^th Berlin Workshop on DevTox Terminology

The main task of the International Symposium on Developmental Toxicity including the 8^th Berlin Workshop on DevTox Terminology is to evaluate external, visceral, skeletal and materno-fetal anomalies which can be classified either a malformation, a variation or a grey-zone anomaly according to their severity, size, persistance and grading.

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50 Years BfR Committee for the Assessment of Poisonings

On 29th April 2014, the National Committee for the Assessment of Poisonings at BfR will celebrate its 50th anniversary. A ceremony will be held in the BfR auditorium in Berlin-Marienfelde to recall important results and achievements of the Committee’s work, particularly in the field of prevention (including the introduction of the EU standard on child-proof fastenings, changes to formulations and warnings on the labels of corrosive products, the EU ban on dangerous lamp oils and grill lighter fluids). By considering the topics of poisonous plants and the German national monitoring scheme of poisoning incidents, the event will also provide a prospect of the Committee’s work in the near future. For this reason, the Committee is pleased to extend an invitation to attend the celebration of its 50th anniversary.

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European Conference on MRL-Setting for Biocides

This expert conference is designated exclusively for invited participants of the European Authorities as well as Member States Competent Authorities. The results of the conference will be published in a volume of conference proceedings and will be made available in due time on the homepage of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR).

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Chemical mixtures: challenges for research and risk assessment

A cooperative event organised by ANSES (France) in collaboration with DTU Food (Denmark) and the Federal Institute for Risk Assesment with the title 'Chemical mixtures: challenges for research and risk assessment', which deals with the toxic effects of chemical combinations, is to be held in Paris on 10 and 11 Dec. 2013.

You will find more information and the registration form at External Links.

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BfR-Symposium: Principles and measures: How to overcome a life-threatening crisis in the food chain

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4. BfR User Conference on Product Notifications

In Germany, the notification procedure of product information for purposes of emergency health response is provided on the legal basis of §16e Chemicals Act and of §10 Detergents and Cleaning Agents Act. The Chemicals Act was introduced in 1990 and has since undergone continuous further development in dialogue with the notifying manufacturers, distributors and chemical safety service providers. There has been need for advice above all among companies having to notify products for the first time. The questions considered in this context may often be helpful to other users as well.

In addition to representatives of industry, the BfR User Conference is expressly addressed to representatives of the responsible authorities of the German Länder and the staff of national and international poison information centres. Also importing companies are most welcome to attend the conference since products are marketed both nationally and internationally.

In this year, the current stage of the harmonization process for product notifications will be of particular importance.

The language of the workshop is German, but a simultaneous translation from German into English and from English into German will be provided.

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BfR/FDA-Workshop Series on Tools for Food Defense and Safety

In cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) will be staging an international workshop series on tools for food safety, product protection and risk assessment from 4 to 6 September 2013.

The event will begin with a joint introductory session featuring overview lectures from internationally renowned experts addressing currently relevant issues in the domains of food safety, food defense and risk assessment covering perspectives of governmental and industrial stakeholders.
The workshop "Tools for Food Safety” on the first day will give an overview of the state of the art software solutions and tools which support risk assessment and modelling within the framework of food safety. The objective of the presentations and round-table discussions on the second day is to establish an open community on QMRA models and model repositories..
The parallel workshop "Tools for Food Defense” will cover the background, importance and needs (governmental/industry) concerning this topic. The main focus will be the demonstration of tools and measures to implement food defense including developing a comprehensive food defense plan, complete with a vulnerability assessment and identification of mitigation measures. Participants will have the opportunity to train the new tools in specific exercises.

The event will be held in English with simultaneous translation into German. The workshop on "Tools for Food Safety” will be held in English without translation.

The workshop is recognized by ATF (Akademie für tierärztliche Fortbildung) as follows:

BfR/FDA-Workshop Series on Tools for Food Defense, 04.-06.09.2013: 17 hours.

BfR/FDA-Workshop Series on Tools for Food Safety, 04.-06.09.2013: 16 hours.

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2. BfR-Summer School on Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in Food Safety

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment organizes a two-week Summer School from experts for experts with focus on food safety and appropriate risk assessment.

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BfR-Symposium: "First International Conference on Tattoo Safety"

On 6 and 7 June 2013, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in cooperation with the Free University of Berlin is staging an international symposium on the safety of tattoo agents. In five sessions, internationally reputed experts will profile the current state of knowledge and discuss open questions in the areas of "Analysis & Exposure", "Toxicology", "Microbiology & Hygiene", "Technology" and "Risk Assessment & Regulation". On day two of the symposium, the stakeholders will also have the opportunity to outline their position on the issue of "Tattoos and Health Risks". The event will be held in English and will begin with a keynote address by world renowned anthropologist and ethnologist Dr. Lars Krutak from the Smithsonian Institutions on the history, significance and background of Oceanic and indigenous tattooing art and practices.

On-site registration is possible at the event. Participation fee for only one day would be 50 €.

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BMELV - BfR Symposium "Alle(s) Wild?": State of scientific knowledge of the behaviour of unleaded ammunition in hunting and the contamination of game meat obtained through hunting with the ammunition components lead, copper and zinc

At the symposium jointly organised by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment "Alle(s) Wild?" held on 18 and 19 March 2013, scientific insights are presented from the research projects "Ricochet Behaviour of Hunting Ammunition", "Investigations on the terminal performance of unleaded hunting rifle bullets under special consideration of animal welfare" and from the current project "Food Safety of Game Obtained through Hunting".

The presentation of the results from research projects are complemented with lectures on the influence of alternative bullet materials on the environment and specific grazing behaviour of game in different regions and its influence on the intake of heavy metals.

The main objective of the event is to present relevant and current research results and to discuss their consequences with regard to future requirements for hunting ammunition. In addition, the influence of alternative materials on the terminal ballistics and on the physiological hazard potential will be demonstrated. There will be a focus on the terminal efficiency of different types of hunting ammunition with regards to animal welfare aspects. Last but not least, the influence of background contamination from heavy metals which are ingested by animals from grazing and the distribution of these metals in the body of hunted animals following shooting must be evaluated. Pending results from the analyses of lead contents in game meat will then be included in a risk assessment of the question whether or not there is a need for action with regard to consumption recommendations for consumers.

The event is free of charge. Please register for the event until 8 March 2013 using the online regsitration form.

The conference language will be German. Simultaneous translation for English will be provided on both days.

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Symposium: Lung as the target - organ-models for toxicity testing

The purpose of the event initiated by the BfR Committee for the Assessment of Poisonings is to describe the current state of scientific work and the different approaches used, and contribute to transparency regarding the different models.

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BfR symposium "The role of bioavailability in risk assessment as exemplified by trace elements"

On 16 and 17 of January 2013, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) willhold an event with an international focus on the role of the bioavailability of substances in assessment procedures. The issues discussed during the event will include the problem of defining bioavailability (from the viewpoint of human nutrition, animal nutrition and pharmacology), analytical challenges and methodological approaches to measuring bioavailability.

The aim of this launch event will be to illustrate open questions regarding the definition and application of the term of bioavailability in food and feed. The plan is to develop answers and possible solutions during further expert workshops in the course of the year 2013.

Event Location: Berlin Marienfelde, BfR Lecture Theatre (Hörsaal BfR)

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European Stakeholder Conference "How Independent can Science be?" including celebration to mark the 10^th Anniversary of the BfR and the official opening of the exhibition "The History of Consumer Health Protection"

Event Location: Berlin Marienfelde, BfR Lecture Theatre (Hörsaal BfR)

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International workshop on the HET-CAM assay

The BfR organizes together with Services & Consultation on Alternative Methods Sagl -SeCAM an international workshop on the HET-CAM assay on the 29^th and 30^th of October 2012 in Berlin, co-sponsored by the BfR and the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA). During this workshop recommendations on the most relevant HET-CAM protocol(s) and prediction model(s) for the different regulatory purposes and uses of this test method will be developed. In particular, the potential use of the HET-CAM test in a bottom-up or top-down approach as well as in screening, testing and/or safety assessment will be discussed and recommendations developed that should facilitate the process of regulatory acceptance. The recommendations and conclusions of the workshop will be published.

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14^th BfR Consumer Protection Forum "Food Supplements"

Event Location: Berlin Marienfelde, BfR Lecture Theatre (Hörsaal BfR)

More detailed information on the programme will be posted shortly on this page.

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BfR Symposium "Acting in Times of Crisis and Crisis Prevention" in cooperation with ANSES (France) and National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark

Participating in this internationally orientated event, which is being organised by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment together with the French and Danish sister authorities ANSES and National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, will be a multitude of stakeholders. On both days of the event, experts from Germany and neighbouring European countries will deal with questions concerning responsibilities in the event of food safety crises, the role of the state and institutions, cooperation between authorities in times of crisis and stability, as well as the precautionary principle and instruments of crisis management and crisis prevention in the food industry.

As part of the above, differing political, economic, administrational and scientific perspectives in times of crisis will be presented and discussed. On the second day, social interest groups in particular shall debate possibilities of crisis prevention and institutional cooperation and consult on which alternatives make sense and which preventative measures are acceptable for making foodstuffs even safer.

Please register at: veranstaltungen@bfr.bund.de, quoting reference "Crises"

Event Location: Berlin Marienfelde, BfR Lecture Theatre (Hörsaal BfR)

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BfR Summer School: Risk Assessment and Risk Communication

This year, the BfR will be holding a Summer School for the first time on the topic of Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in the field of Food Safety. This will take place from 13^th to 24^th August, 2012 in the Seminaris Hotel in Berlin-Dahlem. The Summer School is aimed at scientist from BfR partner institutions and all other interested parties who are concerned with the topic of risk assessment and communication in the field of food safety within their respective authorities and institutions. The two-week course will teach theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of risk characterisation, hazard and exposure assessment, as well as an introduction to the field of risk communication (communication in the event of a crisis, risk perception and press and public relations). During the second week, workshops will be conducted on certain toxicological and microbiological topics. The participants will have the opportunity of conducting risk assessments together with BfR experts. The Summer School is starting as a pilot project and should continue as an annual event.

Event Location: Berlin, Hotel Campus Seminaris

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Doors Open Day

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment extends an invitation to its Doors Open Day on 11.08.2012 from 11.00 a.m. in Marienfelde.

Event Location: Berlin Marienfelde

More detailed information on the programme will be posted shortly on this page.

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13^th BfR Consumer Protection Forum "Checks in the Food Chain. Verify Better - Evaluate Better"

The aim of the 13^th BfR Forums is to show the various possibilities of modern analysis and to examine their significance with regard to checks and the management of crises along the food chain.

In an initial, scientific part, the Forum will first focus on the fields of activity of the National Reference Laboratories (NRL), which were established in 2004, and the contribution they make toward quality-assured monitoring and risk assessment. In a second, scientific part, quality control measures and the acquisition of reference materials will be presented. A third topic block will clarify to what extent quick tests and new analytical techniques can be used in the future. It will be examined whether the road to developing one method of analysis through to international standardisation is moving quickly enough. "After the Crisis is before the Crisis", which measures are necessary and possible in the laboratories? This question is to be discussed with affected parties from member states and the economy prior to all participants being called upon in conclusion to outline their future visions ("Analysis 2022")

Please register at: veranstaltungen@bfr.bund.de, quoting reference "Food Chain Checks"

Event Location: Berlin Marienfelde, BfR Lecture Theatre (Hörsaal BfR)

More detailed information on the programme will be posted shortly on this page.

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12^th BfR Consumer Protection Forum: "Improving the Hygiene of Foodstuffs through Decontamination? - Current Situation and Perspectives"

In the past few years, various factors have contributed to the fact that zoonotic agents have gained in significance as causes of disease for man. Zoonoses are infectious diseases that can be passed from animals to humans and vice-versa. As a result, numerous processes (physical, biological and chemical) have been presented with the help of which it is hoped to reduce the bacterial contamination of meat.

At the BfR-Forum in June we will debate with experts as to the current state of knowledge regarding the application of these so-called decontamination processes. In addition to this, the second day will see the focus of observation shift to the consumer. Representatives from every stage of the production chain will discuss possible conclusions, fields of action and solutions.

Please register at: veranstaltungen@bfr.bund.de, quoting reference "Decontamination"

Event Location: Berlin Marienfelde, BfR Lecture Theatre (Hörsaal BfR)

More detailed information on the programme will be posted shortly on this page.

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BfR-Science Slam - Science explained intelligibly

On 31^st May, 2012 at 8 p.m. a BfR Science Slam will take place in the ruin of the Berlin Medical Historical Museum of the Charité in Berlin-Mitte for the first time. Enthusiasm for research will be shared here with a broader audience. Anything is allowed: Films, pictures, objects - but above all entertaining presentation. At the same time this is all a great advert for mad science! What counts is to win over the audience because they will select the best slammer! Scientific topics or research projects will be conveyed in an entertaining, popular scientific manner. The event will be hosted by Dr. Mark Bennecke.

The number of places is limited. The entry price is €3 and is to be paid at box office on the evening of the event.

Event location: Berlin, Ruin of the Berlin Medical Historical Museum of the Charité.

Information on other Science Slam events in Berlin can be found here: www.scienceslam.de und www.scienceslam.net

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