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HomeNewsHappy New Year from COLOSS! (with important updates)

Happy New Year from COLOSS! (with important updates)

Dear COLOSS members

On behalf of our EC, I herewith wish all of you a healthy, happy and productive New Year 2021!

We hope that you are all doing fine in these difficult pandemic times and that the New Year will improve the situation for all of us.

Despite the obvious issues, COLOSS did well in 2020 and we would like to thank all of you for active participation. To start the New Year adequately, we have some exciting developments due to our new Ricola grant, which we would like to share with you:

  1. By taking advantage of our new grant and web-based solutions, we will further enhance our networking at a global scale, e.g. all of you will be able to actively participate at our next online General Assembly (GA), thereby contributing to a true bottom-up COLOSS approach. Please stay tuned on our website and newsletter for announcements and actively participate on our COLOSS Facebook and Instagram accounts to enhance our global collaboration.
  2. We will grant four prestigious COLOSS awards to outstanding early stage researchers / veterinarians or extension workers (5’000.- CHF each). Please find guidelines at the 1.02.2021 at coloss.org and submit your applications before 1st of March.
  3. Based on prior experience, we will initiate more global surveys and experiments. Please consult Core Projects and Task Forces within your specific area of interest.
  4. BEEBOOK: several chapters may require updates and novel chapters might be useful. Please consult the lead authors and/or Core Project Chairs if you wish to contribute here.
  5. Task Forces: there will be funding available for new Task Forces. If you are willing to initiate a new TF, please find guidelines at coloss.org at the 1.02.2021 and submit your applications before 1st of September.

COLOSS will continue to be the largest scientific honey bee association globally, but our output and impact depend on active participation from all of you. Let’s make it happen!

I am personally looking forward seeing you at our next GA at the latest.

All of you stay safe and healthy.

Kind regards

Peter Neumann

Peter Neumann
Peter Neumannhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Neumann5
Education: Umhabilitation in Zoology - University of Bern (2007); Habilitation in Zoology - MLU Halle-Wittenberg (2004); PhD (1998) in Molecular Ecology - MLU Halle-Wittenberg; MSc (1994) in Ecology - FU Berlin Major academic positions: Since 2013: Vinetum Professor of Bee Health, Director Institute of Bee Health - University of Bern; President COLOSS association; Extraordinary Professor - University of Pretoria; 2015-2018: Adjunct Professor - Chiang Mai University; Chair research network European honey bees surviving Varroa destructor by means of natural selection; 2014-2018: Vice Chair COST Action SUPER-B (SUstainable Pollination in Europe: joint Research on Bees and other pollinators); 2008-2013: Chair COST Action COLOSS; 2009-2012: Senior Research Scientist - Agroscope - Bern; 2009-2012: Head of Bee Pathology - Agroscope - Bern; 2006-2009: Research Scientist - Agroscope - Bern; 2005-2006: Chair reseach network Diagnosis and control of small hive beetles; 2004-2005: Professor per procurationem for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity of Animals - MLU Halle-Wittenberg; 2001-2005: Emmy Noether Fellow - MLU Halle-Wittenberg; 1999-2001: Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Rhodes University Awards and fellowships: 5 personal awards (incl. taxonomic patronym: Nosema neumanni n. sp. (Microsporidia: Nosematidae)  and 9 fellowships (incl. Academia Europea Fellow 2014);  14 awards of supervised students (best poster - best talk - distinguished thesis) Output: >70 grants with >11.0 Mio €; >250 papers in international peer-reviewed journals