Workshop on fish health, writing support and a SLU-internal water seminar – the results of seed-money within SLU Water Forum 2020

Workshop on fish health

On December 1^st 2020, researchers at the departments of Aquatic resources and Wildlife, fish and environmental studies organized a workshop with the aim to strengthen collaboration on fish health at SLU. Some 30 people from the VH, S and NJ faculties participated in the workshop, which in addition to short presentations from a number of invited speakers, also included group discussions. The conclusions from the workshop are that many at SLU work with fish health with different perspectives and focal points, but today quite isolated from each other. Increased collaboration could provide benefits for, for example, sampling, experiments and applications. To enable increased collaboration, a common platform and contact node for fish health at SLU is needed. In the spring of 2021, SLU Aquaculture arranged a follow-up workshop on fish health.

Writing support: “Innovative water purification technology (membrane distillation) for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water”

The project aimed to develop a method based on membrane distillation to purify polluted ground- and surface water from PFAS. The researchers, from the departments of Energy and technology as well as Aquatic sciences and assessment, have used the seed-money to write project applications and establish platforms for future collaboration to develop the methodology. Out of the two project applications submitted in the project, one (Treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in landfill leachate using novel membrane distillation (MD) technology) was granted funding from Tuffo SIG Research funding for one year of work. The project has benefited the collaboration between departments at SLU, resulted in a research funding grant, and also contributed to the creation of international contact points and a research consortium at EU level in the subject area.

Current and future perspectives on water research at SLU - a seminar for collaborative activities

During two half days in mid-February 2020, a digital and internal seminar with presentations from senior researchers at the departments at SLU working with water was organized. The purpose of the seminar was to demonstrate the breadth of water research at SLU, and to inspire increased collaboration on water within SLU. During the seminar, 13 researchers from SLU:s four faculties gave presentations, and between 40-50 people participated during the two half days. A follow-up survey among the participants showed that they were generally satisfied with the content and format of the seminar, and that new contacts on water issues at SLU were generated. The organizers of the seminar are planning a event seminar during the winter of 2022, but with a focus on younger researchers within SLU Water Forum.