Working Groups and Focal Points

Positions on this Working Group (=WG) are open to all members.

If you are interested in finding out more about the CPWG please contact the Chair (see below) or the EBSA administration office for details

The role of the Conference Programme Working Group is to:

• Plan the scientific programme of the annual conference
• Respond to consultative documents when requested by Council
• Review articles
• Set up liaisons with other organisations and enforcing bodies in relation to scientific affairs
   

The first full meeting of the WG took place in January 2001.
The group now meets 2 times per year.

Check out the Terms of Reference.

The Education Working Group met initially at the Ljubljana Conference 2010 to review the work  programme passed down by the Council. The aim of the group is to transform the role EBSA plays in developing members and providing information to non specialists. The programme is ambitious and will look specifically to align the existing pre-conference workshops with the CEN CWA 16335, identify different ways to provide training. Developments in the competency of biosafety advice are driving the urgency of this. 

Stated Objectives

1. Identify the need for biosafety/biosecurity education and training at different levels; basic life sciences, biosafety professionals in small and large organisations (BIOSAFETY-EUROPE results and the CWA 15793 may be helpful, work by ECDC Biorisk Expert Group should be considered).
2. Identify training possibilities; pre-conference workshops, workshops in conjunction with events other than EBSA conferences, separate workshops, university arranged courses etc.
3. Based on the above develop a training policy document and plan for the following 5 years.
4. Identify training methodology developments and implement if applicable.

Check out the Terms of Reference.

This is a new working group that will start September 2024, check out the Terms of Reference. 

Focal Points are EBSA designated subject matter experts (SME), who are the first point of contact for their topic(s). They cover are areas that are considered important from an EBSA perspective and/or a biosafety / biosecurity perspective. They provide advice to Council and may represent EBSA in specialist fora, where necessary and provide information on the subject to the membership via the EBSA website. Focal points can  initiate new projects in their area of expertise and identified by EBSA as a subject of great importance for the membership At the moment EBSA has the following focal points:

• Transport of hazardous biological materials (Gijsbert van Willigen)
  • Advise EBSA members on changes in regulations in the transport of infectious substances, clinical specimens, GMO's
  • provide information and education on transport changes to the biosafety community
    
    Contact this focal point
    
    
• BTWC/CBRN (TBC)
  • Represents EBSA's interests at international BTWC/CBRN meetings and in related initiatives
    
    Contact this focal point
    
    
• Liaison IFBA Certification Body (Ursula Jenal)
  
  
• Liaisons ABSA International credentials for Biosafety Professionals (Jorge Pérez Bruzón and Dionysis Vourtsis)
  
  
• Liaison World Health Organisation (Uwe Muller-Doblies)
  • Attend meetings in relation to topics of interest for EBSA, inform EBSA members about initiatives, new documents and meetings of interest to EBSA members
    
    Contact this focal point
    
    
• Liasion World Organisation for Animal Health (Uwe Muller-Doblies)
  • Attend meetings in relation to topics of interest for EBSA, inform EBSA members about initiatives, new documents and meetings of interest to EBSA members
    
    Contact this focal point
    
    
• Diversity and Inclusion (Gabriel Ó Ríordáin)
  • Advise EBSA on issues of diversity and inclusion
  • Promote EBSA in new areas and regions
  • Monitor diversity at EBSA
    
    Contact this focal point
    
    
• Containment of arthropods (Jillian Deans and Eva Veronesi)
  • Providing information on how to handle infected and exotic arthropods under biosafety containment
  • Provide information on safe insectaries design
  • Editing and implementation of standard operation procedures (SOPs) for experimental infection of arthropods
  • Advise EBSA community members on new regulation for arthropod containment and transportation of live specimens
    
    Contact this focal point

• Animal By-Products (Project leader: René Custers)
  
  
• Biocides (Project leader: Karen van der Meulen)

Check out the terms of reference.