Education and training events

Education and training events and courses in Finland

Advanced education and training of researchers are essential for the 3Rs. FIN3R organises training and education events on 3Rs. Further it also takes part in organizing other courses and doctoral training in cooperation with universities’ doctoral schools.

2024

Webinars

FIN3R Webinar: “Conventional rodent housing and its implications for morbidity, mortality and experimental results”

October 22, 2024, 16h (EEST)

Speaker: Dr. Jessica Cait (University of Guelph, Canada)

ABSTRACT:

Over 120 million research rodents are used annually, most housed in small, barren “shoeboxes” that are poor for welfare. Our recent meta-analyses have demonstrated that these cages are so chronically stressful that they impact rodent health, shortening their lives and increasing morbidity in experimentally induced disease models. In addition, we have also demonstrated that these health implications have consequences for experimental results, limiting data replicability. So, how do we move forward? How much ‘enrichment’ is enough? And can we use rodent housing strategically to improve study validity?

SPEAKER: Dr. Jessica Cait (University of Guelph, Canada)

Jessica Cait is a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Georgia Mason at the University of Guelph and Dr. Marc Avey at the Canadian Council on Animal Care. She has an MSc from the University of British Columbia in Experimental Medicine and a PhD from the University of Guelph in Integrative Biology. Her research focuses on rodent welfare, and how we can refine laboratory practices to improve welfare and scientific validity.

Recording of the webinar is available here.

Fin3R Webinar: “French Centre for the 3Rs: implementing the 3Rs, promoting of open science and improving the quality of Research”

October 8, 2024, 14h (EEST)

Speaker: Dr. Athanassia Sotiropoulos (FC3R, France).

ABSTRACT:

In 2021, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research and leading French public research organisations created the French Centre for 3Rs (FC3R). The primary objective of the FC3R is to promote and implement the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement principles in animal experimentation throughout France. This objective is pursued by promoting responsible and innovative research, funding research projects, providing comprehensive training, ensuring transparent communication, and supporting researchers in their experimental design.

To help researchers with their experimental design and to share their unpublished results, FC3R has created a dedicated platform, the FC3R Short Notes. This platform encourages Open Science, promotes robustness in research and minimises redundancy. Eligible studies include original research or replications with any type of positive, negative, or inconclusive results. FC3R Short Notes are concise (limited to two figures and 2,000 words) and are assigned a DOI after evaluation and validation by the FC3R Scientific Committee and external reviewers. The evaluation criteria focus on experimental design, treatment of results and statistical analyses rather than perceived significance and impact. FC3R Short Notes are not limited to animal experiments and include in vitro and in silico studies that promote the 3Rs in research. The Short Notes platform has an international scope and is hosted on the HAL open science portal. The publications are easy to find, well referenced by search engines and linked to other services such as ORCID and possibly pre-registration platforms.

SPEAKER: Athanassia Sotiropoulos, PhD, director of the French 3R center (FC3R)

Athanassia Sotiropoulos has a PhD in cellular and molecular biology and is a research director at Inserm. Together with Pascal Maire, she heads the "Neuromuscular Development, Genetics and Physiopathology" team at the Institut Cochin. Her scientific work has focused mainly on cellular and transcriptional signalling and on understanding the plasticity of adult skeletal muscle. Since December 2021, she has headed the GIS FC3R, the French reference center for all questions related to the ethical principle of the 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine).

Recording of this webinar is available here.

Fin3R Webinar: “Refining Rodent Oral Administration Protocols: Exploring Advantages, Limitations, and Recent Developments”

September 10, 2024, Helsinki 2 PM EEST

ABSTRACT:

In drug development, a focus on oral formulations aligns with human treatment practices. Preclinical assessments demand crucial oral testing of compounds, often carried out through oral gavage in mice and rats. However, this widely used method lacks accuracy in replicating voluntary substance intake of humans, posing risks of injury and stress to laboratory rodents. This presentation scrutinizes the pros and cons of oral gavage and explores alternative approaches, including uncontrolled oral intake (e.g., via drinking water), and refined, controlled voluntary ingestion protocols. The Micropipette-Guided Drug Administration (MDA) method, employing palatable solutions like sweetened condensed milk diluted with water, will be introduced. The talk will evaluate evidence on the suitability of these alternative methods for administering various experimental substances, such as analgesics, tamoxifen or others, while prioritizing animal welfare.

SPEAKER: PD Dr. Paulin Jirkof, Office for Animal Welfare and 3R, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Paulin Jirkof earned her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Management, Technology, and Economics from ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Her research focuses on refinement measures for laboratory rodents, with a particular emphasis on assessing and improving animal welfare. Currently serving as the 3R coordinator in the Office for Animal Welfare and 3R at the University of Zurich, Paulin also assumes the role of Chair on the executive board of the Swiss 3R Competence Center. Additionally, she is a board member of the Swiss Society for Laboratory Animal Science and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Laboratory Animals.

The recording of the webinar is available here.

FIN3R Webinar: “Severity assessment in preclinical psychiatry research”

May 7, 2024, 14h (EEST)

Distress is an important factor in many psychiatric disorders. Therefore, keeping track of burdens and severity is essential especially in preclinical psychiatry research. Ethical and legal reasons rightfully demand the limitation of burdens and distress to a minimum to prevent unnecessary harm. This results in a dilemma to balance the harm for the animals with the gain of knowledge. The 3Rs principles and harm-benefit-analysis are common practice and integrated into European legislation. This legislation classifies severity into four categories: mild, moderate, severe, and non-recovery. We aim to provide evidence-based data to assess severity of common procedures in preclinical psychiatry studies in mice and rats. We have assessed and compared stressors like chronic restraint, foot shocks, swimming and social isolation, but also genetic alterations using readouts like nesting, burrowing, fecal corticosterone metabolites, saccharin preference, activity and many more. Interestingly, some stressors are classified as "severe" by the law, but compared to other (moderate) somatic models, they do not show more severe impairments. This is not to say that stress in psychiatric research is harmless. Clearly, it can and will lead to negative affective states. To find the balance between refinement and the necessary triggered effects in the research is the goal.

Speaker: Dr. Anne Mallien (Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg)

Anne studied biology and neuroscience at Heidelberg University and did her PhD with Prof. Dr. Peter Gass at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim. The topic of her thesis was cognitive stability and flexibility in mice studied in operant touchscreen chambers. Importantly, it also included investigations on the effects of food restriction and testing in the touchscreen boxes on the animal wellbeing. Therefore, neuroscience and refinement research always go hand in hand for Anne. As a post-doctoral researcher, she stayed in the same institution and joined the DFG project FOR 2591: Severity assessment in animal-based research. Since 2019, Anne is the head of animal facility and continues also as a PI in the FOR2951

FIN3R Webinar: “An Evidence Based Approach to Severity Assessment in Animal Based Research”

April 15, 2024, Helsinki 14h (EEST)

Severity assessment is indispensable in animal based research for several reasons: it is a legal requirement, the basis for valid scientific results, and the foundation of any refinement measure. However, early identification and quantification of harm, suffering or distress is still a challenging task especially in flight animals. Moreover, disagreement on the severity of procedures and models based on personal experience and values. To overcome this situation, a German research consortium developed various methods, parameters and data science approaches to enable evidence based, objective and gradable assessment of the severity of procedures and models.

Speaker: Dr. Andre Bleich

André Bleich is director of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Central Animal Facility of the Hannover Medical School and thereby responsible for the university´s animal care and husbandry, animal welfare, and LAS-training programmes. He is trained as veterinarian, German and European board certified in LAM, and active in scientific/academic organizations, i.a. the training and examination committee of ECLAM. His research focuses on 3R, microbiome, murine pathogens, as well as in vivo and in vitro models for inflammatory bowel diseases and resulted in more than 160 publications. André Bleich is initiator and spokesperson of two research driven 3R consortia: “Severity assessment in animal based research” (with R. Tolba; https://severity-assessment.de/ ) and “Replace and Reduce in Lower Saxony”.

FIN3R Webinar: "PREPARE for Better Science: A practical guide to available resources"

April 2, 2024, 14.00 (Helsinki, EET)

We should all strive for better science, to ensure that it is ethically acceptable, scientifically valid, reproducible and (in the case of animal research and testing) translatable to the target species. Animal welfare, health and safety, culture of care, and transparency for all stakeholders have also become important elements of the modern research ecosystem.

It is now 40 years since the first guidelines for reporting animal research were developed. While good reporting is an essential part of the research pipeline, the issues mentioned above must be discussed from day 1 of planning studies which appear to involve animal use, and they must be addressed throughout the study, using appropriate guidance and checklists. This approach has been used for many years in industry, but there are still serious flaws in the way in which animal research is carried out, not least within academia. A significant part of the problem lies within inadequate dialogue between scientists and animal facility staff.

This webinar will give an overview of the current concerns within animal research and advice on how we can improve our science. It will also demonstrate how the PREPARE guidelines, in combination with other resources, can be used as a framework for developing robust studies which fulfill the above criteria.

SPEAKER: Dr. Adrian Smith

Adrian Smith is a British veterinarian, resident in Norway since 1980. He has had many different positions within the laboratory animal community in Norway, including the Chair in Laboratory Animal Science at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Since 2007 he has been secretary of Norecopa (https://norecopa.no) , Norway's National Consensus Platform for replacement, reduction and refinement of animal experiments. Adrian is a firm believer in good animal welfare, not least because it is a win-win situation for both the animals and scientists, since the data obtained from these animals is the best possible.

More information at https://norecopa.no/staff/adrian-smith

Recoring of the webinar is available here.

FIN3R Webinar: “Preregistration of Animal Studies”

March 12, 2024 at 14:00 (Helsinki, EET)

Preregistration, an open science practice, involves recording a study protocol before the start of the experiment. Widely used in clinical research (e.g. clinicaltrials.gov), preregistration is gaining traction in animal studies by enhancing transparency, robustness, and preventing unintentional study duplication. Dedicated platforms such as Preclinicaltrials.eu simplify the preregistration process, making it accessible, flexible, fast, and secure. Join this webinar to explore the benefits of preregistration for improving the quality and transparence of animal studies, and learn about preclinicaltrials.eu features to preregister yourself in the future.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: JULIA MENON

Julia Menon is the Daily Director of Preclinicaltrials.eu, a registration platform tailored to animal studies. She is from background a biologist (graduated from the Radboud University, the Netherlands) but has evolved in her career through meta-research, particularly systematic reviews and qualitative studies. She is a 3Rs advocate, focussing on tools and methods to improve animal research's transparency and robustness. Her current focus lies on preregistration of animal studies and how it may improve study quality and accessibility. She is also administrator for the platform PROSPERO, section editor for Laboratory Animals, and board member of the Young TPI association.

The recording of this meeting is available here.

Fin3R Webinar: “Aging Lab Animals, Aging Research, Aging Standards”

February 27, 2024 at 14:00 (Helsinki, EET)

The concept of standards has been embedded in lab animal care since the early days and for good reason. They have been useful for improving animal welfare and scientific data integrity. But we continuously learn more about how animals are influenced by their environment (including their microbiome as well as how we interact with them) while standards do not change. When do standards jeopardize rather than support research and discourage innovations in husbandry, breeding, and veterinary care? Why should one-size-fits-all continue to be followed blindly when we can easily customize the lab animal’s environment and experiences as knowledge evolves and new needs arise? Examples of barriers to progress and options will be presented for discussion.

SPEAKER: STEVEN M. NIEMI, DVM, DACLAM

With over 40 years’ experience in biomedical research and commercial biotechnology, Steve has held senior management positions in contract drug and device development, biotech start-ups in human gene therapy and food animal genomics, and laboratory animal care and assurance. He is a Diplomate and past president of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine and has served on numerous boards and national task forces addressing medical product development and laboratory animal welfare. Steve earned an AB with a concentration in Biology from Harvard College, a DVM from Washington State University, and received a US Public Health Service National Research Service Award while a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School in 1991 and was a 2019-2020 Visiting Fellow in the Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School. Steve currently is Attending Veterinarian and Director, Animal Science Center, Boston University and Adjunct Professor, Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

Recording of the webinar is available here.

Fin3R Center webinar: Robust experimental design with the Experimental Design Assistant

January 15, 2024 at 14:00 (Helsinki, EET)

There is growing concern in the community about the reliability of biomedical research results. Experimental design flaws, inappropriate analysis methods and incomplete reporting have all contributed to the publishing of inconsistent results. The NC3Rs has developed resources to assist researchers in designing more robust experiments, selecting the appropriate analysis method and reporting the experiment thoroughly. One such resource is the Experimental Design Assistant (EDA; https://eda.nc3rs.org.uk). The EDA is free online software with a supporting website to help researchers design more robust in vivo experiments.

This talk will cover key strategies to improve experimental design and highlight how the EDA can help researchers implement these. For example, the EDA can analyse your experimental design and suggest changes or highlight the implications of your specific experimental design choices, enabling you to make informed choices. Optimised experimental plans can then be communicated by exporting a PDF summarising key experimental design information from the EDA or sharing your experimental plan via a URL. This can make clearly communicating experimental plans with colleagues, funders and ethical review bodies easier, enhancing opportunities for collaboration, feedback and transparent reporting of your in vivo experiments.

SPEAKER: Dr. Esther Pearl (NC3Rs, UK)

Esther Pearl is the Programme Manager for Experimental design at the UK’s National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (the NC3Rs). Esther works to develop tools and resources to help researchers design experiments. This includes the Experimental Design Assistant (EDA), an online tool to guide researchers through the design of animal experiments, and the ARRIVE guidelines, which encourage improved design and reporting of animal research. Esther completed a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Otago, New Zealand and worked with Xenopus as a postdoctoral researcher in the field of developmental biology at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, Canada, the National Xenopus Resource, USA and King’s College London, UK.

Recording of the webinar is available here.

Workshops

“Reliability of research data “ - A Workshop for Young Scientists

Date: May 17, 2024, Helsinki, Finland

Place: Biocenter 3 (Viikki campus)

Time: 9-15h

Keywords: Reproducibility; Bias; Data integrity; Good Research Practice

Goal of the Workshop: This workshop is designed to equip participants with an understanding of various biases in research and strategies to mitigate their impact. Key topics include the roots of data fragility, biases beyond study design, guidelines for maintaining data integrity, and methods for enhancing research practices.
The event features a hands-on segment where breakout groups engage in collaborative brainstorming sessions to devise activities and measures for implementation in participants' research labs. This interactive component provides ample time and opportunities for discussions on practical aspects of data quality improvement in research.
The workshop includes:

· A lecturer with academic and industry background

· Introduction to the common problems in research

· Breakout sessions in smaller groups to enhance discussions and improve learnings

Group size and target audience

The workshop is designed for 15 to 20 Early Career Researchers (PhD-researchers, post-docs, young PIs), affiliated at the Finnish institutions. Travel costs in Finland can be reimbursed for accepted participants coming outside of Helsinki (more information upon acceptance).
Language
The workshop will be held in English.
Contact information: Organiser: Vootele Voikar (research coordinator, HiLIFE Lab Animal Center) - vootele.voikar@helsinki.fi

Tutor: Björn Gerlach (GoEQIPD) - bjoern.gerlach@paasp.net

Application deadline: April 30, 2024

Maximum 20 participants will be selected based on background and motivation to join the workshop.

Approved participants will be informed by May 6, 2024.

This workshop is organized and sponsored by Fin3R and HiLIFE Comprehensive Model Organisms Platform

Conferences

ScandLAS annual meeting in 2024 will be held in Tampere, from May 21^st-24^th. Abstract submission is open until February 29^th, and more information about the requirements could be found here. Registration for the event is already open, and can be done here.

Courses

SAVE THE DATE: AUGUST 26-27, 2024

With the University of Eastern Finland, FIN3R is organizing an “Alternative non-animal methods in biomedical research” course. The course is open to all graduate students who can earn credits for active participation. Along with the lectures, participants will have an opportunity to visit local laboratories and present their papers!

Confirmed speakers are Hanna Vuorenpää (TAU), Melina Malinen (Orion), Pauliina Lehtolainen-Dalkilic (Fimea), Erdogan Pekcan Erkan (TAU), Elina Brusila (ECHA).

Course description: Animal models are important in biomedical research, yet they do not fully recapitulate human development or diseases and can be expensive. Non-animal methods, often known as “in vitro” or “in silico”, aim to reduce and partly replace the use of animals in scientific experiments. Their use also promotes the 3R principles in research and has become increasingly important since the FDA no longer requires animal experiments prior to human drug trials and the European Union has issued a directive to end all laboratory experiments within the EU (Directive 2010/63/EU). The aim of the course is to give students a comprehensive overview of the different non-animal methods used in biomedical research, industry, and toxicology testing. The course will also showcase the latest technologies, including organ-on-chip, and findings from using alternative methods. Speakers from academia, industry, and regulatory bodies will discuss their work using alternative non-animal methods. The students will have the opportunity to present their scientific work and to meet the speaker for informal interactions. There will also be opportunities to visit local biomedical research companies to learn about their work on alternative methods in practice.

Credit points: 1-2 (1 ECTS for attendance at lectures; 2 ECTS for attendance at lectures, and a written report, a short summary of 1-2 lectures written after the course, or a poster or presentation).

More information about the program is available on this link.

For any additional information please get in touch with Sarka Lehtonen, at sarka.lehtonen@uef.fi

2023

Webinars

FIN3R WEBINAR: One sex fits all? The current thinking on sex inclusive in vivo research

November 14, 2023 at 14:00 (EET)

In recent years, there has been a strong drive to improve the inclusion of animals of both sex during in vivo research, driven by a need to improve sex representation in fundamental biology and drug development. This has resulted in inclusion mandates by a variety of funding bodies (e.g., NIH and MRC) and journals. This talk will dispel the common misconceptions that are no longer appropriate justification for studying only one sex. We then explore, how to build an appropriate justification to study only one sex at a case-by-case level. Finally, I will touch upon the impact of including both sexes on data analysis.

SPEAKER: Dr. Natasha Karp (AstraZeneca, UK)

Natasha is a Director of Statistics within AstraZeneca leading a team of statisticians supporting preclinical research. In addition, Natasha is an active researcher publishing papers with a focus on the challenges within preclinical research with a particular interest in improving replicability, reproducibility, and generalizability of the studies. More recently, Natasha has published meta-research articles around the process of research. This has included qualitative research into blinding in in vivo studies, blockers to the engagement with sex inclusive research and the impact of sex inclusive research on statistical power.

Recording of the webinar is availble here.

Ref: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002129

https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.14539

FIN3R webinar on October 11th, 2023 at 14h (EET)

TOPIC: The positive welfare impacts of playpens and ball pits in laboratory rats

Laboratory rodents display a rich behavioural repertoire such as rearing and climbing that is not possible in the current ‘shoebox’ style caging in which they are typically housed in animal facilities. Access to playpens or ball pits in small groups has been identified as a way in which rats can engage with a complex environment while also fulfilling social needs. In this talk I will discuss our recent work showing that just 5 minutes of access to a playpen objectively induces a positive affective state, and can reduce the potential negative welfare impact of common laboratory oprocedures.

SPEAKER: Dr. Megan Jackson (University of Bristol UK)

Megan is a teaching associate at the University of Bristol. Her research involves the development of ethologically relevant behavioural tasks to assess rodent motivation, with a specific focus on apathy. She is the co-chair of the early career researcher 3Rs group, and she is a culture of care researcher representative.

Recording of the webinar is available here.

Fin3R Webinar on August 22, 2023 at 2 pm (EEST)

Title: “The benefits of systematic review and meta-analysis of animal research”

Speaker: Dr. Kim Wever (Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands)

Host: Vootele Voikar (University of Helsinki)

In this webinar, Dr. Kim Wever will outline how systematic review and meta-analysis can be valuable tools to inform and improve animal research. She will explain the basic principles of these methodologies, highlight their benefits and direct you to tools and resources in the field.

Recording of the webinar is available here!

About the speaker: Dr. Kimberley (Kim) Wever is a meta-research expert dedicated to maximizing the value of animal studies for human health and works at the Meta-Research team - Radboudumc (https://www.radboudumc.nl/en/research/departments/anesthesiology/meta-research-team). She is specialized in the use of systematic review and meta-analysis methodology to drive improvements in the design, validity and transparency of animal research, having more than 10 years’ experience in performing (methodological research on) evidence synthesis and validity assessments of animal studies, and in training scientists to do better research. The team has achieved many milestones in this area together with their long-standing colleagues at SYRCLE and CAMARADES (https://www.ed.ac.uk/clinical-brain-sciences/research/camarades ).

Fin3R online seminar on August 21, 2023 at 12.15 (EEST)

Title: “3R workshop: Advances in alternative non-animal methods and policies”

Online seminar “3R workshop: Advances in alternative non-animal methods and policies” organised together with Fin3R and Finnadvance. The seminar will focus on on alternatives to animal research from the perspective of policies and recent scientific advances.

Confirmed speakers: MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen, Reetta Hinttala (University of Oulu), Tuula Heinonen (University of Tampere), Tuuli-Maria Sonninen (University of Eastern Finland), Susanna Miettinen (University of Tampere), Jeffrey Browns (PETA, UK), Heidi Haikala (University of Helsinki) and Anita Ghosh (Experimentica Inc, US) .

Full program available here!

Recording of the webinar is available here.

Second FIN3R webinar - Animal distress during handling and procedures

When: May 9, 2023, 02:00 PM Helsinki

Title: What the mouse face tells you - recognising distress during handling and procedures

Speakers: Elin Törnqvist (Karolinska Institutet and National Veterinary Institute in Sweden) and Julia Swan (University of Oulu), hosted by Vootele Voikar (University of Helsinki)

Recording of the webinar is available at: https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/unitube/video/1a1d3b3d-f4ef-45f6-9794-f197c2d29854

Abstract:

The refinement aspect of 3Rs aims to alleviate or minimize potential pain, suffering, and distress, as well as enhance animal well-being. Understanding mouse behaviour and signs of distress is pertinent to evaluate efforts aiming at refinement.

In 2010, the mouse grimace scale was developed to assess pain in laboratory mice [1]. This method allows for the identification of the degree of pain experienced by mice, shown in their facial expressions. Is it possible for signs of distress to also be found in their facial expressions?

We conducted a study to explore this question and will present our findings in this webinar. In addition, we will provide some practical tips on how to assess distress using facial expressions as well as how to train and handle your mice.

Reference Article: Swan J, Boyer S, Westlund K, Bengtsson C, Nordahl G, Törnqvist E. Decreased levels of discomfort in repeatedly handled mice during experimental procedures, assessed by facial expressions. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 2023 Feb 2;17:15. DOI 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1109886

[1] Langford, D. J., Bailey, A. L., Chanda, M. L., Clarke, S. E., Drummond, T. E., Echols, S., et al. (2010). Coding of facial expressions of pain in the laboratory mouse. Nat. Methods 7, 447–449

As a next step in connecting the animal welfare bodies in Finland, you are invited to Fin3R webinar – National Networks of Animal Welfare Bodies.

When: Mar 31, 2023 02:00 PM Helsinki

Title: Stronger together – The role of the Portuguese Network of Animal Welfare Bodies in raising and harmonising standards across the country

Speaker: Nuno Franco (University of Porto), hosted by Vootele Voikar (University of Helsinki)

Recording of the webinar is available at: https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/unitube/video/a97397a2-8a60-44b5-abcd-9596850e1d70

Abstract: While 2010/63/EU Directive demanded of scientific institutions to establish an Animal Welfare Body, there was no tradition in Portugal of having such bodies with such competences and attributions. This raised a challenge for newly-created AWB (ORBEAs, in Portugal) regarding how to define their mission, find their place, and establish authority in institutions, as well as in regard to liaising with the competent authority and national committee.

Faced with little to no guidance from the authorities, veterinarians, technicians, and laboratory animal scientists from across the country gathered in 2015 to discuss the most pressing matters in order to kick off AWB in their establishments, and the idea of working together as a network was born. The RedeORBEA was hence constituted, with a model of organization that is informal and decentralized, with no membership nor fees, and two co-opted coordinators. It holds regular surveys and censuses, disseminates information, and organizes courses and workshops, as well as annual symposia (with the 8th edition now being prepared), with support by SPCAL.

The most important contribution of RedeORBEA is providing a forum within which AWB members can ask questions and exchange experiences with peers facing the same problems, and be a unified voice when interacting with authorities.

Altogether, RedeORBEA has allowed raising and harmonising standards of competence and functionality in the planning, following, and evaluating procedures within institutions, benefitting both animals and the humans caring for them, thus promoting a culture of care.

Fincopa & Ecopa joint meeting - 6.10.2023.

On October 6th, Fincopa, the Finnish National Consensus Platform for Alternatives, celebrates 20 years! For that occasion, together with Ecopa, they are organizing a workshop - Replacing animal experiments in science and in regulative testing. Event is ogranized as hybrid, on Teams and in Helsinki. For more information about the organization, check their website, and for more information about the event click here.

Participation is possible through the registration on this link.

Courses

Turku Pet Center - 20.3.2023.

Turku Pet Center is organizing a new course on PET Imaging in the field of physics, radiochemistry, and data analysis. Course takes place from Apr 3rd to Apr 5th, and you can find more information below on how to register, by March 20th!

2022

Webinars

The Finnish 3R Centre and the Animal Welfare Body of Oulu Laboratory Animal Centre organises three joint webinars in November. Save the dates

Registration and links to the webinars:

FIN3R and OULAC joint webinar series 1 - 10/11/2022:

Animal-centric care and management – the importance of handling and training
Dr. Dorte Bratbo Sørensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

FIN3R and OULAC joint webinar series 2 - 17/11/2022:

Applied operant animal training in the lab – challenges and benefits
Dr. Dorte Bratbo Sørensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

FIN3R and OULAC joint webinar series 3 - 29/11/2022:

The influence of age on experimental outcomes and animal care
Dr. Paul Potter, Oxford Brookes University, UK

Congresses and Symposia

Three Rs symposium on 7.-8. Dec, 2022: Improving the quality and translatability of biomedical research through 3R principles

The objective of this symposium is to give an overview and examples of the current state-of-the-art in fundamental biological and pharmacological research and drug development, with a focus on scientific excellence, research quality, communication and Three Rs in relation to using laboratory animals. The symposium is organized by the University of Helsinki Doctoral Programme in Drug Research and the Finnish 3R Center.

Join us to learn and discuss about recent developments in the field of Three Rs, good research practice and communication in animal research!

Also - workshop on power analysis and session on disease modelling!

Laboratory animal courses

Universities organise regular education and training for competence for people working with experimental animals. The courses are harmonized throughout Finland, and they cover procedures on animals and project design. Course information is available on the websites of the host universities, or their laboratory animal centres.

Courses, seminars, webinars, conferences and congresses abroad

2025

Conferences

EARA Conference will be organized in Berlin from November 6-7, 2025. Find more information here.
SOT EoxExpo 2025 Meeting will be oragnized in Orlando, Florida from March 16-20, 2025. More information is coming shortly on this page.
SAALAS WellBeing Conference 2025 will take place from May 5-7, in South Africa. Abstract submissions are open, and the deadline is on January 15th. Find more information here.
Swiss 3Rs Day 2025 is taking place on June 24th. Poster submissions are open until April 28th, 2025. More information is available here.
The 2025 ANZCCART Conference will be in Brisbane, Australia in late July 2025. More information about the event will be available here.

Seminars

JRC Summer School on Non-Animal Approaches in Science will be hosted in Ispra, Italy, from May 19th to May 23 2025. Application are accepted until January 15th, 2025. Find more information here.

Symposiums and Annual Meetings

Laboratory Animal Management Association is hostign their 41st Annual Meeting in Florida from April 14-17, 2025. More information are available here.
CALAS/ACSAL Annual Symposium 2025 will take place from May 3-6, in Richmond. Abstract submissions for oral presentations are open until December 5th, 2024, while the poster presentations are open until December 12th, 2024. More information about the event is available here.
FENS Regianal Meetign is taking place in Oslo, from June 16-19, 2025. More information about the meeting can be found here.
AALAS' Annual Meeting is taking place from November 9-13, 2025 in Long Beach, California. Click here to follow for more information.

Workshops

Meeting the Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act Workshop is scheduled for February 26-27, 2024 and April 9-10, 2024 from 13-16.30 (Eastern Time). More information about the events and registration form is available here.

Congresses

IAT Congress 2025 will take place from March 4-7th. Find more information about the event here.
16th FELASA Congress 2025 is inviting you to Athens, form June 2-5, 2025. More information about the program, registrations and abstract submissions is available here.
Mycrophysiological Systems World Summit will be organized in Brussels, from June 9-13th, 2025. Abstract submissions are open until January 15th, 2025, on this link. More information is available here.
The World Congress under the title '3Rs Integrating 3 Worlds' is organized in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), from August 31st to September 4, 2025. More information about the registration and program is available here.

2024

Webinars, seminars and courses

Animal Pain course takes place from January 15th to January 19th, 2024. More information about the course and registration link is available here.
Course Introduction to Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis of Animal Studies is upcoming in February, 19-21st 2024. The course will equip you with practical and theoretical knowledge in sistematic review and meta-analysis of the preclinical animal studies. More information are available here.
New course regarding rodent facility is coming up by Fondazione Guido Bernardini on March 6-7, 2024. More information is available here.
European Society of Laboratory Animal Veterinarians is organizing a course for veterinarians to improve their leadership skills, and network with the people from the field. Event takes place on March 22-23rd, 2024 in Stochkolm (Sweden). More information about the registration is available here.
"Practical Approaches and Challanges for Microbiological Monitoring of the Rodents and Zebrafish" course will be held in-person in Milan, on 16-17 October 2024. Course is organized by Fondazione Guido Bernardini. To register, see here. Early bird registration is until July 15th, 2024.
Intensive course on experimental desing and biostatistic is scheduled to start on October 4th. The event is organized by Fondazione Guido Bernardini. Find more information here.
TACRforce3R is organizing a webinar titled "Fish as Experimental Animals" on October 18th, 2024. Find more information about this and upcoming webinars here.
Replacement in Oncology Research webinar is hosted by Swiss 3RCC and the FC3R on November 13th, 2024 from 9-12.30. Find more information about the registration here.
Hand-on zebrafish husbandry course 2024, organized by Karolinska Institutet will be held from November 11-14, 2024. Find more information here.
How to properly select and care for your surgical instruments webinar is coming up on Monday, November 18, 2024. Event is hosted by European Academy of Laboratory Animal Sugery. More information is available on this page.

Conferences

Laboratory Animal Science Association is hosting their annual conference on November 18-20, 2024 in West Midlands. Registration is possible on this link, as well as abstract submission here by July 31st.
UFAW's International Animal Conference takes place on 10-11 July, 2024. Find more information on how to attend the meeting in Porto (Portugal) here.
Reserve June 10-14th, 2024 for the MPS World Summit! It takes place in Seattle, Washington (USA). Read more about the event here.
Swiss 3R Day is scheduled form June 13th, 2024, in Lausanne. More information is to follow!
First 3R LÄND Conference organized by 3R Center Tübingen, University of Tübingen and NMI Natural and Medical Science Institute in Reutlingen takes place from May 21st to May 23rd 2024, in Tübingen (Germany). The conference gathers academics, clinicians, industry representatives, regulatory agencies, and policymakers in the biomedical and pharmaceutical field. Abstract submission is due on January 15th, 2024. More information about the event and registration is available here.
The 4th Italian Zebrafish Meeting organized by Fondazione Guido Bernardini takes place in Palermo (Italy), from 7-9th February, 2024. More information can be found here.
International Laboratory Animal Technician Week: January 28th - February 3rd, 2024. Find more information here.
5th International SR-SAVI Conferece is scheduled to take place in Zürich, on October 17-18, 2024. More information about the conference is available here.
The American Society for Cellular and Computational Toxicology is hosting the 13th Annual meeting from October 28-30, 2024. More information is available here.
67TH Annual Biosafety and Biosecurity Hybrid Conference will be held from November 1-6, 2024 in Pheonix, Arizona. Find more information here.
Nordic Zebrafish meeting 2024 titled “From husbandry to animal experiments: Creating reliable research” will be hosted in Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm) from November 13-15, 2024. More information is available here.

Congresses and Symposiums

4th Symposium organized by The Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) and Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) will be held on March 6-7, 2024 in Bern (Switzerland). For more information about the event, please see here.
Digital Vivarium Form provides a comprehensive overview of the manifold benefits derived from the integration of digital home cage solutions within vivariums, and takes place from April 9th to April 11th, 2024, in Italy. To see the program and access the registration form for the event, please click here.
22nd International ESTIV's Congress is scheduled for June 3-6, 2024. This year's team is Application of NAMs in Drug Discovery and Drug and Chemical Safety Assessment. It is possible to attend two workshops as part of this event - writting and management of the EU Horizon proposal and AFSA Masterclass & Episkin Academy Training (ending on June 7th). For more information, visit the congress's webpage by clicking here.
This year's European Congress on Alternatives to Animal Testing will be held in September in Linz!
Registration is possible on this link.
More information about the congress is available here.
Registration closes on May 17th!
Charite 3R Symposium 2024 will be held from November 1-7, 2024. More information about the event can be found here.
The Danish 3R Symposium 2024 is scheduled for November 4-5, 2024. Program and registration forms are available here.

2023

Webinars, seminars and courses

Improving Openness in Animal Research in Denmark - an in-person even gathering everyone who's work implies animal research to discuss how to improve open communication with different stakeholders. Event is organized by European Animal Research Association and Copenhagen University, and takes place on November 8th. More information about the schedule and registration form could be found here.
"Systematic review of animal studies" course by Dr. Carlijn Hooijmans and Dr. Kim Wever will be held at the Radboudumc, Nijmegen, (The Netherlands), on November 10th. More informarion about the course is availabe here and registration is possible by clicking here. Places for the event are limited.
TARC Force 3R Center organizes series of webinars covering different topics related to 3R principles in laboratory sciencies. Webinars are held monthy, and more information about schedules and registration can be found here. The first ucoming webinar in on Ocotbar 10th, followed by November 10th, November 24th and December 15th. More sessions will be organized during the year 2024.
Technology Partn3Ring webianr organized by National Center for Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3R) serves as a platform for conecting researchers, enterprizes and others interested into presenting their 3R related technologies with potential collaborators. Participants will have time to pitch their ideas, followed by audience questions. More information and registration is available here. Webinar will be held on November 15th.
Ocober 12, Ocotber 19 and October 26 are reserved for 3 Days for 3R. Sessions will be helad on Teams, lasting from 15h to 17h15 min. Registration is possivle by sending email to: info@ipamitalia.org. More details about the program could be found here.
Berlin-Brandenburg research platform (BB3R), Einstain Center 3R and Freire Universität Berlin are organizing "Alternatives to animal use in research and education - refine, reduce & replace" - a series of educational webinars covering topics of ethics, law and regulations, culture of care, and 3R principles - refinement, reduction and replacement. The session are held on Thursdays, from October 19th until November 30th. More information about the scedule is available here. To register, click here.
Experimental Design and Analysis of Data from Animal Experiments course organized by i3S takes place on December 5-7. Find more information about the program and registration here.
1st Annual Meeting of 3R Competence Network of North Rhine-Westphalia takes place on December 7-8. Find more information here.

Conferences

A Transdisciplinary Conference on Alternative technologies and models (NAMs) to Reduce the use of laboratory animals in Industry, June 6-7th 2023 . Click here for registration and more information.
The 2023 Animal Research Tomorrow (ART) Award Ceremony and Conference, June 8th 2023. Click here for registration and more information.
Centro 3R is hosting a IV Annual Meeting in Milano, on September 13-15th, 2023. The topic of the meeting is "The role of 3Rs in the age of One Health: where we are and where we’re going", and more information about regisration, attendance and abstract submission (by July 1st, 2023) is available here.
Swiss 3R Competence Center is hosting an annual confereces, Swiss 3R Day, with the focus on research advances, innovations, and issues in the field. The conference takes place in Lugano, on September 19th, 2023. More information and registration link is available here. Poster submission is open until August 19th, 2023. More information about submission could be found here.
European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) organizes the Annual Conference 2023: Protection of people and our environment through NAMs, in Brussels (Belgium), on November 15th. More information is available on the link here.
6th International Annual Conference SAAE-India is sceduled for November 20-21. Post-conference workshop takes place from November 22 until November 29. More information is available on this link.
LASA's 60th Anniversary Conference takes place from November 21st to November 23rd. Preliminary program can be found here, and more information regarding registration on this link.
SGV Meeting hosted by Swiss Laboratory Animal Science Association on November 28-29. Find more information about the event here.
Austrian 3R Days, December 5-7. More information available here. Meeting is organized by Asutrian 3R Center, RepRefRed Society, MUI animalFree Research Cluster, Cell Culture Days Graz and Advanced Cell and Tissue Culture (ACTC).

Congresses and Symposiums

1st European Academy of Laboratory Animal Surgery's (EALAS) congress takes place in Rome, from November 22nd to November 24th. More information about the event, program and registration form are available here.
The Danish 3R Center is organizing Annual Symposium on November 6-7. The program of the event is available here, and the registration is possible via this link.
Annual Symposium hosted by National Center for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3R) and Institute of Animal Technology (IAT) takes place on October 17-18. More information about the even is available here.
12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences (WC12), August 27-31st 2023. More information and registration is available here.
Successfully Implementing NAMs: practical application in Drug Development and Clinical Practice Symposium is organized by Swiss 3R Competence Center on December 13th, 2024 in Bern. More information is available here.

2022

European Commission

Education and Training Platform for Laboratory Animal Science, www.etplas.eu, https://etplas.eu/learn/
EU-10: Design of procedures and projects – level 1, https://etplas.eu/learn/eu-10-experimental-design/
EU-11: Design of procedures and projects – level 2, https://etplas.eu/learn/eu-11-1-design-of-procedures-and-projects/
EU-12: The severity assessment framework, https://etplas.eu/learn/eu-12-the-severity-assessment-framwork/
Eu-25: Project evaluation, https://etplas.eu/learn/eu-25-2-project-evaluation/
EU-52: Searching for (existing) non-animal alternatives, www.etplas.eu/learn/eu-52/
EU-60: Developing in vitro methods and approaches for scientific and regulatory use, www.etplas.eu/learn/eu-60/

Webinars and seminars

CPD LAS Webinars /Karolinska Institutet: “Proactive actions from industry to drive forward animal welfare, the 3Rs and science” will be presented by Dr. Kirsty Reid, Director Science Policy, European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), Brussels, Belgium.
Date: Tuesday, October 25, 2022 × Stockholm 1 PM CEST

ABSTRACT

The pharmaceutical industry is committed to the science-based phase-in of methods to replace the use of animals for scientific purposes and the deletion of animal tests which are obsolete or redundant. EFPIA members aim to lead progress on this by engaging in a wide range of practical activities to help drive the development, uptake and promotion of non-animal technologies (NATs) and new approach methodologies (NAMs) so that these can be phased-in as soon as it is scientifically possible to do so. There are a large number of initiatives underway within the pharma sector going beyond the legislative requirements for 3Rs. There are also a number of opportunities to join forces and drive this work forward on dialogue and collaborations. Dr Kirsty Reid will highlight some of these during the webinar session.

SPEAKER

Dr. Kirsty Reid is team leader and Science Policy topic lead at EFPIA, where her focus includes innovation policy implementation with particular focus on science and research matters. She has over 16 years experience in EU public and regulatory affairs covering various EU legislation and policy areas, working specifically on animal experimentation; alternatives to animal testing, and environment, health and safety issues.
The Impact of the Animals’ Lived Experience” will be presented by Jennifer L Lofgren, Global Head of Animal Welfare and Compliance, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, U.S.

Date: Thursday, 3 November 2022 × Stockholm 2 PM CET

ABSTRACT

While details such as how much nesting material we place in a cage, how we pick up a mouse during cage change, or which analgesic we administer may be fleeting and minor to in-vivo staff, these decisions can result in significant and impactful changes in the lived experience of our laboratory rodents. These impacts are not only to the animals’ welfare but also to the research results they produce. While these refinements were once considered nice to have, but far from necessary, published studies have now established that reducing stress associated with suboptimal housing, handling, and post-procedural pain management are important steps to improving laboratory rodent quality of life and the quality and success of the biomedical research to which they contribute. In this lecture we will explore this literature and learn about the relative impact on a variety of research models of both providing and withholding appropriate enrichment, reducing handling stress, and effective analgesics.

SPEAKER

Jennie Lofgren, DVM, MS, DACLAM, is Global Head of Animal Welfare and Compliance at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. At Novartis, Dr. Lofgren has worked with the global Animal Welfare Compliance team to increase education and transparency about the need for and value of animals in research and increased 3Rs opportunities for internal and external animal studies.
Webinar on Safer and Sustainable Innovation Approach for More Sustainable Nanomaterials and Nano-enabled Products will be held on Thursday 3 November 2022 at 14:30-16:30 CET / 09:30-11:30 EDT.

The Safer and Sustainable Innovation Approach (SSIA) is an approach aiming to boost safer and sustainable innovations by integrating safety and sustainability at an early stage of the design phase of innovative materials, products, applications, and processes. SSIA combines the Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD), Regulatory Preparedness (RP), and Trusted Environment (TE) concepts to identify and minimise sustainability impacts along with potential health and environmental risks in the innovation process. SSIA relies on early dialogue between industry and regulators and is facilitated by a Trusted Environment. SSIA aims to anticipate the regulatory challenges posed by innovative nanomaterials, nano-enabled products, or other advanced materials by minimising the gap between technological innovations and the development of suitable risk assessment tools and frameworks.
The second focus event of the Austrian 3R Center "Severe Suffering in Animal Experiments and How to Refine" will be held on the 7^th of November 2022.

Annually, the Austrian 3R Center coordinates its focus topics with the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research and this time the focus is on severe suffering in animal experiments.

Please see the invitation flyer attached for event/registration details or follow the link to the event.
Webinar “Do ‘euthanasia’ methods for laboratory rodents really give them a ‘good death’?” will be presented by Dr Huw Golledge BSc PhD, Chief Executive & Scientific Director, Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Hertfordshire, U.K.

Date: Friday, 25 November 2022 × Stockholm 1 PM CET

ABSTRACT

Euthanasia means a ‘good death’. Most laboratory rodents are killed with Carbon Dioxide (CO2), a procedure which is often referred to as euthanasia. In this talk I will summarise the extensive evidence that CO2 negatively impacts animal welfare when used to end the life of rats or mice. This evidence shows that CO2, even in low concentrations causes fear or anxiety which cannot be avoided if it used to kill rodents. Therefore, CO2 cannot be considered a method which offers a ‘good death’ for these species, and, moreover, that it should be considered a harm and factored into harm-benefit analyses when it is used to kill experimental subjects. I will then compare current and potential practical alternative methods to consider whether any of these offer the potential of a good death.

SPEAKER

Huw Golledge is Chief Executive and Scientific Director of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) - an international charity dedicated to the promotion of Science in the Service of Animal Welfare. Prior to joining UFAW he was an animal welfare researcher at Newcastle University in the UK and was a member of the UK’s national Animals in Science Committee from 2013-2016.

Congresses

AALAS National Meeting, October 23–27, 2022, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. www.aalas.org...
21st International Congress of the European Society of Toxicology In Vitro (ESTIV), 21–25 November 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. www.estiv.org/congress2022