The advent of the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) is revolutionising research on Food Safety and Public Health protection (EC, DG SANTE, 2017, 1901701), gradually substituting traditional genotyping used in surveillance, outbreak investigation and microbial risk assessment. Moreover, the new “omics” –Genomics, Proteomics, Transcriptomics, Nutrigenomics, and Metabolomics– have deeply transformed biological sciences. The decrease in costs and the increase in the analytical and procedural speed of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) for WGS in the field of food safety is leading to new genomic analyses in the public health microbiology for surveillance, control and research activities. Data analysis through the most recent genome-engineering technologies is the challenge of the present as well as of the near future. Conversely, knowledge and competence of scientists, bioinformaticians and recent graduates are not growing at the same speed. The missing of specific, transversal and multidisciplinary university programmes merging classical food microbiology education with advance training in Statistics, Epidemiology and Bioinformatics is hampering the establishment of a professional profile able to meet the new challenges. Given this background and need analysis, LEGO aims at reaching the following specific objectives: To design and develop an ad hoc profile – the Food Microbial Bioinformatician – that meets the learning needs of post-graduates students that are relevant to the labour market and societal needs, including through new assessment models and an open and online multi-disciplinary learning course enriched by the possibility of a work-based experience; To provide a system to assess competence and promote transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications through “Open Badges”; To provide an innovative and attractive OER based course, equipping post-graduates students with the necessary relevant and high-quality competencies to analyse WGS data for investigating food-borne outbreaks, identifying strains of food-borne bacteria with high virulence potential or resistance to antimicrobials and satisfying the needs of and opportunities offered by labour markets; To increase synergies and share innovative practices - also through collaborative platforms - between HEIs, research institutes, VET providers and private companies adopting trans-disciplinary approaches and ensuring that education and research are mutually reinforcing; To encourage learning, professional development, employability, entrepreneurship, mobility, innovation, research, competitiveness, and synergies among public and private sectors; To support the transfer of latest research outputs back into education as input for teaching, to enhance Master and PhD students working opportunities and to help them exploring contemporary research problems. Four Intellectual outputs will concretely realise the project objectives: IO01: The "Food Microbial Bioinformatician" (FMB) - A new Professional/Research Profile IO02: Elearning pathways for Food Microbial Bioinformaticians IO03: Startupper' bricks IO04: LEGO IT PLATFORM Project participants and beneficiaries will be engaged by exploiting innovative methodologies, such as gamification and role playing (IO02) and project platform (IO04). Direct participants/beneficiaries will be: - Enrolled HEI’s students with a I level degree (Bachelor) in one of the following disciplines: Veterinary Sciences, Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, (Micro)Biology or Biotechnologies; - Enrolled HEI’s students with a I level degree (Bachelor) in one of the following discipline: Biomedical Engineering, Statistics, Informatics,Mathematics, Medicine plus 3 or more year research or work experience in the field of Microbiology in either private or public institutions. - Personnel working in Genomics labs (Microbiologists, Bioinformaticians, Epidemiologists, Veterinarians, Statisticians, etc), aiming at entering the circuit of formal education. LEGO will directly produce an impact in the 4 geographical areas represented by the partnership: Italy, Finland, Poland and Spain. A solid Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation plan will be drafted, stating activities, targets/audiences/stakeholders, means and channels, messages and strategies, resources, objectives, expected results, timeline of the foreseen activities, success indicators, monitoring and evaluation. The project will also exploit the e-Pale and the Erasmus+ result platforms to maximise its communication effort. Project partners are: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e Molise (IZSAM, IT, project leader), University of Helsinki (FIN), University of Life Science and Technology (PL), AINIA (ES), University of L’Aquila (IT) and Remedia IT (IT). The partnership was established identifying complementary organisations within the solid network that IZSAM - National Reference Center for Whole Genome Sequencing of Microbial Pathogens - has in the EU.
LEGO is a successful pilot strategic initiative responding to the worldwide increasing demand of experts able to use Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) for the analysis of food-borne pathogens. LEGO bridged an educational gap in the field of Higher University Education (HEI) by defining and training a new breed of professionals - the so-called "Food Microbial Bioinformatician" (FMB) - expressing high-level skills in Genomics, Food Microbiology, Statistics, Epidemiology and Bioinformatics. The project Consortium firstly reached a consensus-based definition of the FMB and then designed and developed an integrated and multidimensional model supporting the acquisition of specific professional competences and the development of different careers for aspiring FMBs. Four intellectual outputs - original and innovative in scope, content and delivery method - have been designed, tested, validated and widely disseminated to the relevant target groups: IO1: The "Food Microbial Bioinformatician" (FMB) - A new Professional/Research Profile. Expert Knowledge Elicitation (EKE) processes involving Consortium members and relevant stakeholders allowed firstly to define in detail FMB knowledge, competences and skills and then to design, test and validate the technical self-assessment, an innovative tool allowing beneficiaries to compare their knowledge and skills to the ones described in the FMB profile and detect their training gaps; IO2: Elearning pathways for FMB. This flexible course, enriched by the possibility of a work-based experience, offered trainees the opportunity to fill in their learning needs and certify their knowledge through Open Badges, a system promoting transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications; IO3: Startupper' bricks. These specific tools are aimed at facilitating employment and stimulating entrepreneurship in the field of Genomics applied to Microbiology of Food Safety; IO4: LEGO IT PLATFORM. A multifunction and multi-tool system where all LEGO results are available. A solid Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation plan has been implemented, since the very beginning, to inform relevant target groups and disseminate the project outcomes in each phase. LEGO facts and figures in a nutshell: - IO1: More than 330 stakeholders directly contacted; 292 users of the technical self-assessment - IO2: 1 course and 5 module scientific coordinators; 40 scientific subject matter experts (SMEs); 3 Instructional designers; 5 multimedia development and production experts; 1 proof-reader; 13 actors, 1 coordinator, 7 screenwriters and 6 experts involved in the simulation exercises; 380 validated application forms (216 professionals and 164 students ) from 38 different countries; 5 students in the intensive training in the job - IO3: More than 400 views of startupper’s bricks - IO4: 3860 LEGO platform users from more than 100 countries belonging to all the 5 continents - 2 posters presented in international conferences, 15 news published on partners’ websites, 21 posts on social networks, 4 presentations during conferences and events, 6 publications - 7 multiplier events (MEs) realised involving 348 participants The wide collaboration and full validation expressed by many public and private international stakeholders in the project activities and the large participation in the eLearning training course by students and professionals from many EU and non-EU countries shows that LEGO has been of paramount importance to: - fill in the learning needs of the students and professionals; - enrich the educational offer with a course not easily to be found across the EU; - assess and certify competences acquired in informal way; - meet the demands of the sectoral labour market for researchers specialised in WGS techniques applied to Food Safety. As indirect impact, LEGO increased the occupability chances of students and professionals and enhanced mobility across Europe. The high number and the different type and origin of stakeholdes involved in the project activities allowed to have an impact going beyond the 4 geographical areas represented by the partnership. The project strengthened the collaboration between public and private institutions as well as academic institutions and the world of work, enhancing transfer of research outputs into education and promoting innovation and competitiveness. The integrated and complex learning model developed by LEGO is not only replicable in other similar contexts, but also scalable to further different initiatives aiming at designing professional profiles requested by the labour market but not formalised yet. In fact, the LEGO model can be easily applied to many other technical and scientific fields.