COST is an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology established to initiate networking and coordination of nationally funded research activities on a European level. It facilitates bringing good scientists together under light strategic guidance based on networks, called COST Actions, centred around research projects in fields that are of interest to COST countries and cooperating countries.

The proposed program for the 6th is as follows:

Integrating ecological, metabolic and modelling insights in engineered phototrophic communities for PPB derived processes development and control

10:30 – 10:45 | Registration 

10:45 – 11:00 | Welcome by Baptiste Leroy (Department of Proteomics and Microbiology. Université de Mons)

11:00 – 14:00 | First session

Key-note speaker

11:00 – 12:00 |   Dr. Arvi Freiberg, Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Head of the Biophysics Laboratory

Fundamental aspect of light capture

Invited speaker

12:00 – 12:30 | Prof. David Weissbrodt, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Trophic link across PPB consortium

Cost Coffee

12:30 – 14:00 | Round table discussion on PB challenges

• How to force targeted products? Fundamental knowledge of metabolism to be turned in applied research…
• Electrons and carbon flows in PPB communities and cells? How to monitor carbon and electron flows? Interspecies e- transfer, direct and indirect.
• Optimising the illumination strategy? fundamental question on light/exciton transfer in the LHC and RC. How to improve the conversion of radiative energy to chemical energy
• DNA transfer between PPB/Horizontal gene transfer?
• Synergistic or antagonistic interaction between PB in a community?
• Potential toxicity of PPB derived from their metabolism

14:00 – 15:00 | Lunch

15:00 – 18:30 | Second session

Key-note speaker

15:00 – 16:00 |  Prof. Andrew Lang, Department of Biology, Memorial University, Canada

Genetic exchanges among PPB/other bacteria in the community

Invited speaker

16:00 – 16:30 |  Prof. Hartmut Grammel, Industrial Microbiology, Biberach University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Modelling metabolism and metabolic potential

16:30 – 17:00 | Coffe break

17:00 – 18:00 | Working Table discussion: worst and craziest applications of PPB

18:00 – 18:30 | Closure and prizes 

The  6th Workshops in the frame of WGs 1 of the COST action (CA21146) – PURPLEGAIN will take place in Valladolid, Spain, at the University of Valladolid.

The 6th Workshop, schedule on 13th September, will be held at the School of Industrial Engineering (Dr. Mergelina)

University of Valladolid
School of Industrial Engineering (Dr. Mergelina)
Pso. Prado de la Magdalena 3-5 47011 Valladolid

Maps Location

Get to Spain

Choose the airport to get to Spain

Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport – International airport 200 Km South from Valladolid. There are flights from all over the world.

Available free shuttle bus service connecting the terminals.

More information about moving around the Barajas airport

Seve Ballesteros-Santander Airport – Small international airport 250 Km North from Valladolid. There are some flights from Ireland, UK, Belgium, Brussels, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Italy and Morocco.

More information about moving around the Santander airport

Get to Valladolid

BY TRAIN
How to get to Valladolid by train if you travel…

Via Madrid Airport: trains leave from Madrid-Chamartín Train Station. EXPRESS TRAIN available (AVE / ALVIA)
The fastest and easiest way to move from the airport to the city centre is by taking the train (lines C1 and C10) from Terminal 4.
Tip! Madrid local train ticket included with your express/fast train ticket. More information about the connection to public transport, here.

Remember! Free shuttle bus service connecting the terminals
Via Santander Airport: there is a city bus that connects the airport to Santander train and bus stations.
Via other cities: Many options are available by train if you travel from the main Spanish cities and towns.
More information about train timetables here.

BY BUS/COACH
Direct coaches from Madrid-Barajas airport (Terminal 4) to Valladolid.
More information here.
Many options are available from the main Spanish cities and towns.

BY CAR
Valladolid is connected by highway with the main Spanish cities.
Santander: 250 Km (A-65) Google maps
Madrid: 200 Km (A-6 y AP-6) Google maps

Moving around Valladolid

BY CITY BUS
Buses run between 7:00 and 23:00, approximately.

You can get the Conference site directly from the bus/train station taking the bus 2 (destination: Avda. Ramón y Cajal).

Other buses that stop nearby the Conference place are: 1, 8, 17, 24, C2
You can download the Valladolid bus map here

BY TAXI
If you need to take a taxi once you have arrived in Valladolid, you can find some contact telephone numbers​:

• Radio-Taxi Valladolid: +34 983 207755 / +34 983 291411
• Taxi Valladolid Libre: +34 983 10 03 00
• Taxi Valladolid Mercedes Benz: +34 685 64 65 66

BUS STATION ADDRESS: Calle del Puente Colgante, 2, 47007 Valladolid

TRAIN STATION ADDRESS: Calle de Recondo, 47007 Valladolid

The selection criteria for participants that will be eligible for reimbursement will comply with the COST Excellence and Inclusiveness Policy, in the implementation of the Action. They will encourage attendance by a diverse selection of participants in consideration of:

1. Underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities. Priority will be given to underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities.
2. Gender balance.
3. The level of involvement of Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs). Priority will be given to participants from Inclusiveness Target Countries. The current list of ITCs include Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.
4. The level of involvement of Early Career Investigators (ECIs). Priority will be given to PhD students and young post-doctoral researchers, followed by senior post-doctoral researchers and professors.
5. In addition, workshop organizers may also consider other special attributes such as
   1. Type, or level of expertise in the field of the Workshop based on the curriculum vitae,
   2. Appropriate core knowledge and understanding
   3. Willingness to participate based on the motivation letter
   4. Demonstrated interest based on the motivation letter,
   5. The positive impact that the participants will have on the applicant’s future carrier and
   6. Participation with oral or poster presentation at PHOTOREFINERIES 2024. Priority will be given to participants of oral presentations.

Financial support through reimbursement does not necessarily cover all expenses but is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses.

Financial support through reimbursement does not necessarily cover all expenses but is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses.

The financial contribution for each successful applicant shall respect the following criteria:

Note that locals (from Valladolid) cannot claim for reimbursement. This financial contribution must be understood as financial aid aimed to help applicants to cover the expenses of their participation in the Workshop. This financial aid does not aim to cover 100% of the expenses. When claiming costs in e-COST, please consider that claims higher than the values provided above will be asked for modifications, so please make your claim as accurate as possible to avoid unnecessary delays in the payment.

Please see COST General Annotated Rules to be reimbursed.

If the amount of reimbursement by all applications within the call does not exceed the available budget, the applications are not handled by the selection committee. If there are more applications than funding is available, the following procedure takes place.

1. A list of all applications (containing an informative summary) is distributed to all members of the selection committee in form of a table in which every evaluator can mark which applications he or she can evaluate according to their field of expertise.
2. To guarantee a fair and objective evaluation, an evaluator should have no affiliation with either the home or the host institution of the application in question.
3. All applications are evaluated by two members of the selection committee. The Grant Awarding coordinator distributes the proposals to the individual evaluators.
4. The criteria given in the table below shall be applied for evaluation in case the budget of the applicants with active participation in the 1^st PHOTOREFINERIES conference exceeds the budget allocated. The first criterion (a) is assessed by the Grant Awarding coordinator before the evaluation process. The Grant Awarding Coordinator will also divide the applicants based on Priority in funding. Priority in funding will be based on the criteria established in the Priority list (from 1 to 4). A priority group will be evaluated for funding only if the immediate Priority group is fully funded.

5. The evaluators report their evaluations to the Grant Awarding coordinator.
6. The Grant Awarding coordinator ranks all evaluations and then reports the final result to the selection committee to be discussed and accepted.
7. The applicants are informed about the decision reached.