The Biosecurity Office regularly attends meetings at home and abroad with the aim of sharing knowledge, acquiring knowledge and networking. For example, we recently contributed to a summer school in Jülich (Germany), the public health service (GGD) was updated on bioterrorism and biosecurity and dual-use topics that are discussed during the introduction week at Utrecht University.
The purpose of 'Biosecurity Office international' is to inform you about our activities. Where have we been and where might you come across us (digitally). If you are going to a meeting and would like to share biosecurity knowledge and information, do not hesitate to contact us. We may be able to support you with material or by sharing experiences we have gained.
Summer School Research Centre Jülich, “Dual Use and Misuse of Research Results”
On Tuesday, July 18, Bureau Biosecurity gave a lecture on dual-use awareness and assessment during the Summer School “Dual Use and Misuse of Research Results” organized by the Research Center Jülich, Germany. The target group of the Summer School were employees of the Jülich research institute and focused more broadly on research in the life sciences. There were interesting discussions about the challenges of research results with potential dual-use risk and the associated ethical dilemmas.
Bioterrorism at the public health service (GGD)
Infectious diseases for which control measures are necessary must be reported to the GGD in accordance with the Public Health Act. But how do you distinguish between a natural or a deliberate outbreak? To get an idea of this, the Biosecurity Office provided a presentation on bioterrorism for an infectious disease control department of the GGD. Attention was also paid to prevention in the form of biosafety and biosecurity, response and signaling.
Biosecurity and dual-use during the Introduction Week at Utrecht University
On Tuesday, September 5, the Biosecurity Office will give a seminar on biosecurity and dual-use at Utrecht University as part of the program on Professional Behavior and Integrity during the introduction week for master's students at the Graduate School of Life Science. Some of the students will also work on a dual-use dilemma where, as future researchers, they will be confronted with unexpected research results that have the potential for dual-use applications.