NOVA Postgraduate course in Advanced Veterinary Epidemiology - Data Quality

New NOVA course in veterinary epidemiology focusing on data quality.
Tallinn, Estonia September 17-23, 2014

Please note that this course is running just before the NOSOVE course, and also in Tallinn! This is an excellent opportunity to get two courses in one run. Do not miss out!

More information about the NOVA course:
Course information and application
NOVA course website

Open position in department of Production and Population Health, Royal Veterinary College, UK

[Forwarded from SVEPM announcement]

Postdoctoral Researcher
Location:  nr Potters Bar, Hertfordshire
Salary:  £32,196 per annum inclusive of London Allowance
Closing Date:   Thursday 13 February 2014
Interview Date:   Thursday 27 February 2014
Reference:   PPH-0014-14

We are looking for a 3-year fixed term Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Veterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health Group at the Royal Veterinary College.

You will be responsible for the day-to-day running of a Horserace Betting Levy Board-funded project entitled 'Nature versus Nurture: modelling environmental and genetic contributions to risk of racecourse injury in UK Thoroughbreds’. This will include collation, processing and analysis of a large dataset including injury, performance and pedigree data of UK flat racing Thoroughbreds, writing progress reports and publishing findings in peer-reviewed journals. You will be expected to communicate with stakeholders in the UK racing industry.

The ideal candidate would have a PhD in a relevant subject (quantitative veterinary epidemiology, biostatistics, quantitative genetics or similar) and experience of handling and analysing large datasets using advanced statistical methods. Knowledge of, or a keen interest in, the UK racing industry would be advantageous.

For further information about this post including job description and person specification please visit http://jobs.rvc.ac.uk/.

Open position as Lecturer/Senior Lecturer and Fellow/Group Leader in Veterinary Epidemiology

[Posted from announcement by SVEPM]

The University of Surrey, in collaboration with the Pirbright Institute, is advertising a position as Lecturer/Senior Lecturer and Fellow/Group Leader in Veterinary Epidemiology.

Follow this link for more information.

Invitation to expert elicitation on syndromic surveillance in May 2014, Havanna, Cuba

Dear colleague,

We are contacting you on the basis of your expertise in syndromic surveillance and/or animal disease classification methods.

The lack of standardized recording of animal health data, and the consequent difficulties in setting up harmonized syndromic classification, are challenges often raised when syndromic surveillance is under discussion. We are well aware that a range of classification nomenclatures around animal disease exist, but currently there is little incentive for their adoption, especially considering the labour that would be required to recode data from individual institutions’ vocabularies.

Considering these challenges, we are planning to address the problem by gathering a number of experts interested in exploring potential solutions, and supplementing previous efforts with tools from the fields of computer/information science dedicated to the creation of functional ontologies. For more background on these subjects, please refer to the Semantic Web (http://semanticweb.org/wiki/Ontology) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL) (http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-features/) websites. Additionally, we plan to use machine learning methods to develop tools that will make the proposed ontologies more readily applicable; that is, to provide tools for translation of animal health data into the developed standardized classification system.

The work would consist of a series of iterations between expert knowledge elicitation and the application of machine learning methods. Details are provided in the summary work plan attached. The first instance of expert elicitation is planned to take place in conjunction with the ICAHS2 conference in Havana, Cuba (7-9th, May 2014), as a half-day post-conference workshop (therefore taking place on May 10th, 2014).

If you are interested in this initiative, we kindly ask you to reply to this email (mail to: fernanda.dorea@sva.se) confirming your interest, so that we can keep you on our list of experts for any future activities linked to this project. If, additionally, you will be able to attend the first workshop immediately after the ICAHS2 conference in Havana, in May 2014, please confirm your participation also by replying to this email, and we will send you a confirmation of your workshop registration. Lastly, please feel free to forward this email to any colleagues whose participation in this initiative you judge to be relevant.
Thank you for your attention, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
Fernanda C. Dórea, National Veterinary Institute-Sweden
Céline Dupuy, French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety-France
Ann Lindberg, National Veterinary Institute-Sweden
Crawford Revie, Canadian Veterinary Epidemiological Research-Canada
Flavie Vial, Veterinary Public Health Institute-Switzerland

Link to work plan

13th Crane Seminar: Risk assessment – improving public health and animal welfare in food production

[Information copied from the course website, please visit for additional information]

Seminar and postgraduate course (3 ECTS)

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, Sweden, 31 March - 4 April 2014


Risk assessment is used increasingly as a science-based method to describe and quantify risks in human and animal populations, and to identify important determinants of such risks. This seminar addresses the application of risk assessment concepts and methods to improve public health and animal welfare in food production. The seminar includes 5 days on campus in Skara, Sweden.

The Crane Seminar is both a seminar open to anyone, and a postgraduate course (3 ECTS credits) for students on a PhD or residency programme in medicine, veterinary medicine, animal science, or biology. In case of a large number of applicants, PhD students will be given priority on a first-come, first-served basis.

Crane Seminars are recurrent interdisciplinary events organised by the Department of Animal Environment and Health every 2nd-3rd year to connect human and animal sciences under current themes of high societal relevance. Needless to say, the seminar includes an excursion to Lake Hornborga, host of thousands of Cranes at this time of the year.

Welcome to Crane Country in March!

Emerging parasitic zoonoses in Estonia, and why the Northern Big Brother should be concerned

On Thursday, October 17th, Brian Lassen will hold a seminar at Evira Headquarters, Mustialankatu 3, Viikki, in Kalevi lecture hall, at 15.00-16.00, about EMERGING PARASITIC ZOONOSES IN ESTONIA, AND WHY THE NORTHERN BIG BROTHER SHOULD BE CONCERNED.

The talk will be on emerging, re-emerging and endemic parasitic zoonoses in Estonia, some of them well-known also in Finland, some with evident potential to spread into Finland.

Associate Professorship / Assistant Professorship in Animal Welfare

Dear Colleagues Please see below announcement for a position in the field of Animal Welfare in the Population Biology Group at the Department of Large Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Closing date is September 8, 2013 Kind regards Liza Rosenbaum Nielsen Associate Professorship, alternatively Assistant Professorship in Animal Welfare. The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen Department of Large Animal Sciences. The University seeks to appoint an associate professor, alternatively assistant professor in Animal Welfare at the Department of Large Animal Sciences to commence as soon as possible. Information about the Department is linked on www.sund.ku.dk Job description In considering applications for the associate or assistant professorship, the main emphasis will be on the applicant´s ability to document a high level of original scientific work on an international level within the area of animal welfare. The applicant is expected in collaboration with the existing staff to work in particular on two specific projects, the development of a Danish animal welfare index and animal welfare during transportation. In addition, they will also be involved in the other activities in Population Biology including applied ethology, animal welfare assessment, welfare epidemiology and veterinary jurisprudence. The position will be based in the group of Population Biology, which contains three research areas: Ethology, Veterinary Epidemiology and Bioethics. Each research area undertakes particular teaching and research activities, along with collaborations both within the group of Population Biology and externally. The group of Population Biology mainly employs methodological research approaches, which is relevant for all groups of animals, although the emphasis for research and teaching is production animals. The research in the Department of Large Animal Sciences is communicated to the industry,   authorities and the general public, and the leading researchers are involved in preparing legislation within animal welfare. Qualifications and experience within the following areas are desired: Knowledge of methods for evaluating animal welfare at herd or group level Knowledge of animal welfare legislation in Denmark and the EU Willingness /ability / experience in interdisciplinary collaboration The associate professor´s duties will primarily consist of:  research, including obligations with regard to publication/scientific communication research-based teaching with associated examination duties research leadership as well as educational guidance and supervision of assistant professors and PhD-students professional assessment work Qualification requirements The appointee should have qualifications within the following areas: research qualifications such as an assistant professor or equivalent within the subject area(s) teaching qualifications such as an assistant professor or equivalent within the subject area(s)*  documented experience in animal welfare research, by means of ethological and/or epidemiological methods, preferably within several species of animals *If the applicant has no previous teaching experience through employment as an assistant professor or has not achieved corresponding teaching experience, the appointment will be probationary for 1 ½ years. The associate professor is also required to be enterprising and to possess good interpersonal skills. If qualifications for associate professor are not obtained the position can be filled as assistant professor: The assistant professorship is a training post limited to 4 years. The assistant professor´s duties will primarily consist of: research, including obligations with regard to publication/scientific communication research-based teaching with associated examination duties  communication of research results to the public peer assessment To a limited extent, the assistant professorship may also involve other duties. The distribution of work time between the different functions may vary periodically according to the department´s requirements, but the position will qualify the assistant professor in both research and teaching. During the term of the employment, supervision will be provided, as well as possibilities of educational upgrading with a view to a final written evaluation of the assistant professor´s teaching qualifications. On appointment as assistant professor, merit is given for previous employment in a relevant area. Required Qualifications a PhD degree or similar qualifications in relation to the above subject area research and teaching experience within the field of the position established international scientific network The assistant professor is also required to be enterprising and to possess good interpersonal skills. Terms of employment The terms are set according to the Agreement between the Ministry of Finance and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant professional organization. The post is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities (2007). Questions For further information, please contact Head of Section for Population Biology Hans Houe, tel.: +45 353 33014, e-mail: houe@sund.ku.dk or Head of Department Hans Henrik Dietz, tel.: +45 35 33 35 89, e-mail: hhd@sund.ku.dk Foreign applicants may find the following links useful: www.ism.ku.dk (International Staff Mobility) and www.workingconditions.ku.dk. Application The application must be submitted in English, by clicking on "Apply online" below, and must include the following: Application including reasons for applying for this post Curriculum vitae Diplomas - all relevant certificates List of publications Research plan Teaching portfolio Teaching plan Publications you wish to be considered in the assessment (max. 10) Applicants must state whether they wish to be assessed in relation to the associate professorship and/or the assistant professorship. The application will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities. The University of Copenhagen encourages all interested in this post to apply. Please submit the application with the required attachments by clicking on "apply online" below. Only online applications will be accepted. The closing date for applications is 23.59pm, Sunday 8 September 2013. Apply online The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences comprises app. 7500 students, app. 1500 PhD students and app. 3200 employees. The Faculty creates new knowledge and recognition through its core activities: research, teaching, knowledge sharing and communication. With basic research fields ranging from molecular studies to studies of society, the Faculty contributes to a healthy future through its graduates, research findings and inventions for the benefit of patients and the community.

The University of Copenhagen actively influences current and future generations through excellent research, education and co-operation. UCPH is one of the highest ranked universities in Europe and is Denmark´s oldest university, founded in 1479. Today, the University has 37,000 students and 9,000 employees affiliated across six faculties: humanities, law, natural sciences, social sciences, health sciences and theology. www.ku.dk/english/.

Frist: 08-09-2013 Arbejdsgiver: Det Sundhedsvidenskabelige Fakultet