FertiCycle at RAMIRAN 2023

Mandated by the FertiCycle Grant Agreement and supported by the FertiCycle Network Communications Plan, a major aim of the program was to participate in a culminating event where FertiCycle ESRs could display their research and disseminate findings to the scientific and wider communities.  During a meeting of the FertiCycle Management Board meeting in 2022, it was decided that RAMIRAN 2023 (https://ramiran2023.org) would be an ideal place for all of the ESRs to communicate their research findings to a highly relevant scientific community and peers.  RAMIRAN (The Recycling of Agricultural, Municipal and Industrial Residues in Agriculture Network) is a research and expertise network that was set up almost 50 years ago to improve nutrient utilisation and minimise the environmental impact of livestock manure and other organic material used in agricultural systems (http://ramiran.uvlf.sk). RAMIRAN has organized more or less biannual international conferences since 1976, with its most recent even in 2023.  Therefore, in collaboration with the RAMIRAN 2023 Organizing Committee, FertiCycle was allocated one of the parallel sessions of the conference, where some of the ESRs could make oral presentations of their research. Furthermore, we encouraged all the ESRs to submit abstracts for both oral and poster presentations within all themes at the conference.

The RAMIRAN conference held in September 2023, with around of 270 international participants, turned out to be an ideal dissemination, communication and networking platform for the FertiCycle ESRs.  The conference program contained four plenary sessions, with highly esteemed keynote speakers within the major themes of the conference, all of great interest to the ESRs.  The main part of the conference consisted of six sessions, each with three parallel tracks, so in total 18 thematic sessions, of which the FertiCycle Special Session was one. At the Special Session, FertiCycle coordinator Lars Stoumann Jensen made an introductory presentation of the FertiCycle project, and then six ESRs presentations served as examples of ESR outcomes. Another seven ESRs presentations were made in other parallel sessions. Out of 102 oral presentations in parallel sessions, 13 oral presentations were by FertiCycle ESRs.  All were of a very good quality, both scientifically and communicatively, illustrating the great improvement in presentation skills the ESRs have achieved.  155 posters were presented by conference participants and available for viewing throughout the conference, but with dedicated poster sessions on both the first and second day. In total seven FertiCycle posters were presented, which attracted a lot of attention and discussion. 

The 15 FertiCycle ESR really utilized RAMIRAN as an opportunity for communicating, networking and engaging in scientific discussions around their poster, following talks or during breaks and social events.  The FertiCycle presence and ‘footprint’ at the RAMIRAN conference was therefore massive (13% of all oral and 5% of all poster presentations), and was really noticed by many of the other conference participants, as well as by the RAMIRAN Organising Committee in their final talk closing the conference.

Following the conference, FertiCycle members took part in a study tour in the surrounding areas of Cambridge.  The ESRs visited three locations, (1) enVar - Compost, Biomass & Green Waste Recycling (https://www.envar.co.uk/) just north of Cambridge, which processes all of the organic green bin waste from the Cambridge region, several hundred thousand tons of waste material, a massive operation producing a fertile compost and soil improver; (2) Cranfield University, where prof. Ruben Sakarabani had gathered a range of colleagues to present their research topics and showed us their interesting experimental facilities; and (3) Rothamsted Research (https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/), where we were introduced the concepts and challenges of soil health by renowned prof. emeritus, David Powlson, and then taken on a tour of the worlds longest-running fertilisation field trial (more than 180 years old!), the Broadbalk Field  https://www.era.rothamsted.ac.uk/Broadbalk) with our knowledgeable guide prof. emeritus Paul Poulton telling all the interesting scientific details and historical anecdotes about this fascinating field site.

We trust that this popular networking event and the large and diverse impression of solid scientific work made on participants at RAMIRAN will lead to new collaborations and have important career perspectives for the ESRs. We also expect that the study tour gave the ESRs some tangible examples of applications and contexts where there knowledge and expertise will be highly valuable in the future, giving career perspectives and outlook. Also, the study tour served as an excellent final physical event for the ESRs network, strengthening their social cohesion and responsibility as a network.

By Lars Stoumann Jensen