INsecTIME · Insect Timing

INsecTIME seeks to train the next generation of ESRs in the intellectual, technological, complementary and commercial skills required for future European competitiveness in the area of biological timing, an area with considerable commercial potential. The scientific focus will be on circadian and seasonal rhythms in the model insect, Drosophila, which has proved particularly relevant for understanding temporal aspects of human health and well-being, plus non-model insects such as the parasitoid wasp and olive fruitfly, two species with major economic implications. The work is multidisciplinary, bringing together scientists from academia and the private sector with different skills in neurogenetics, genomics, life history biology, mathematical modelling, biocomputing, biological control, anatomy and population genetics. Through synergistic interactions via secondments to world class research institutions and to applied entomology and biocomputing SMEs, training workshops, and instruction in transferable skills, young researchers will learn the full-range of cutting-edge technical skills allied to an appreciation of the commercial possibilities of their work. Their obligatory secondments to SMEs will include training in the management, organisation and finance of the private sector, and be buttressed by further workshop courses in general bio-commerce, intellectual property, marketing, raising capital etc. They, and their supervisors will contribute to outreach programmes, and the ERSs and ERs will be guided in the development of their own personal career portfolios, with ESRs submitting doctoral theses. Our young researchers will represent the next crop of technically well-trained, but unusually, commercially aware, computer and mathematically literate molecular neurogeneticists, whose versatile skills will enhance pan-European collaborations for years to come.