• The DISCO Consortium at the 1st Progress Meeting in Chile
  • DISCO Internal Meeting at the Núcleo Biotecnología Curauma (NBC)
  • DISCO Partners at the NBC
  • Tour through the Núcleo Biotecnología Curauma (NBC) laboratories by Rolando Chamy (Director of the NBC)
  • Tour through the NBC laboratories
  • DISCO Public Meeting on 13 November 2014 in Santiago de Chile
  • DISCO coordinator Prof. Paul Fraser presenting the DISCO project at the Public Meeting
  • Traditional Chilean Barbecue with the DISCO partners

DISCO to foster collaboration of Europe and Chile

November 18, 2014

From 9 to 13 November 2014 the DISCO consortium came together for its 1st Progress Meeting in Valparaiso and Santiago de Chile to discuss the project’s scientific progress and further collaboration. The coordinator of DISCO, Professor Paul D. Fraser of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, was more than satisfied with the outcome of the meeting; it showed “good progress in our scientific, translational and dissemination objectives”. The DISCO partner Fraunhofer Chile Research (FCR) hosted the event.

The first two meeting days took place at the Núcleo Biotecnología Curauma (NBC), situated just a few kilometers outside the UNESCO World Heritage Site Valparaiso and were dedicated to the discussion of the work progress during the last project year. All partners outlined their work which they have achieved so far and discussed the progress, status quo and outlook in the scientific, management and dissemination work packages.
As part of the internal meeting, the consortium met with Pilar Bañados from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, a member of the FP7-BacHBerry- project, which is funded under the same EC call as DISCO. This meeting gave added value to the cross-cluster exchange and offered the opportunity to discuss future collaboration between both EU projects.

The DISCO consortium invited the interested public to a meeting on 13 November 2014 at the Centro de Estudios Avanzados y Extension of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV). The meeting was attended by more than 75 scientists from various Chilean Universities and research organizations.  Members of the DISCO project as well as external speakers, including Claudia Stange (Universidad de Chile), Jörg Bohlman (University of British Columbia), Vitalia Henríquez (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso) and Pilar Bañados (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), gave scientific presentations ranging from ‘gene discovery for secondary metabolites in plants’ to ‘chloroplast transformation in plants’. Within the course of the meeting, also Early Stage Researchers were able to present their work in front of the scientific audience.
 “The opportunity to have scientists from top class European and a Canadian Universities in Chile gave the local plant science community a strong impetus”, commented Wolfgang Schuch, Executive Director of FCR.

The DISCO public meeting was followed by an Industry Round Table discussion in the afternoon with around 40 people attending this event, where members of DISCO discussed the possibilities of utilizing DISCO products with representatives from local Chilean companies.

“The meeting was a great success and unique opportunity that has brought together the DISCO partners with scientists and industry representatives. This can be seen as a major step in promoting networks between Chile and Europe.” stated the project coordinator Prof. Paul Fraser at the end of the meeting.