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Next week, April 4th and 5th, the second MAKEathon of the Green Entrepreneurs of the Future project, out of three, will take place at Bolungarvík Primary School. MAKEathon Árskóli has already taken place with great success and MAKEathon Nesskóli will take place in the coming weeks. The MAKEathon project is an innovation competition that lasts for two days.

In this MAKEathoni 22 students in 8-10th grade participate. They work together in teams competing to solve a challenge that will be found during their visits to fisheries companies in the area. The challenge will be environmental and climate change. They are trying to create some kind of prototype, among other things in collaboration with the FabLab workshop in Ísafjörður and the Deep Entrepreneurship Center. Since this autumn, students have been taught about climate change, sustainability and innovation, among other things.  

All GFF material will be made available after the project is completed.

The Green Entrepreneurs of the Future project started in schools in September 2021 and MAKEathonin is their final part. The national competition between the three schools will take place in May and its results will be announced during Innovation Week.

The television station N4 has been recording about the project all winter, so they will be filmed on site. The show will be shown on the television station this autumn and the project will be presented there.

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About the Green Entrepreneurs of the Future

Green Entrepreneurs of the Future is an educational project intended for the upper grades of primary school. The aim is to educate students about the effects of climate change on the ocean and its ecosystem, sustainability and innovation in an innovative and fun way. The project is funded by the Climate Fund and is managed by Matís. Other participants are the three schools, FabLab workshops in each location, Cambridge University, Climate-KIC and the Deep Entrepreneurship Center.

For more information, please contact the project manager of the project: Justine Vanhalst. Schools that want to participate are especially encouraged to get in touch.

Here you can follow the progress of the project:

• Website of the project
• The project's Instagram page
• #Graenirfromkvodlar

The Nordic project NordMar Biorefine has launched a video competition for young people aged 14-19. The competition is open to everyone of this age in the Nordic countries, including Iceland.

The NordMar Biorefine project, or Nordic Biomass Plant as it may be translated into Icelandic, aims to explore the potential of fully exploiting the marine resources used in the Nordic countries with biomass plants. In parallel with this work, the Nordic Biomass Plant has been used as a model for Matís' ongoing development of a biomass plant in Neskaupstaður, which will, among other things, contribute to increased full utilization of marine resources.  

More information can be found here: VIDEO CONTEST

The video competition is just one of many aspects of NordMar Biorefine. Other factors include an assessment of the feasibility and potential of biomass plants for the Nordic blue bioeconomy, and the formation of a network of experts in this field in the so-called BlueBio Portal.

The project is one of the projects that began with the priorities of the Nordic Council of Ministers when Iceland held the presidency in 2019.

Matís, the Farmers' Association of Iceland, the Agricultural University of Iceland and the Agricultural Advisory Center are hosting an event on value added and innovation in agriculture at Hotel Natura, on Wednesday 30 March.

We encourage stakeholders and amateurs to attend and participate in discussions and networking.

More information can be found here: Dating for value added and innovation in agriculture.

Agenda:

• 13:00 - Gunnar Þorgeirsson sets the meeting and appoints a chairman
• 13:10 - Birgir Örn Smárason - Matís
  Future and opportunities in agriculture - sustainability and food security
• 13:30 - Ragnheiður I Þórarinsdóttir - AUI
  Education, infrastructure and research - a prerequisite for increasing value and innovation in agriculture
• 13:50 - Karvel L. Karvelsson - RML
  A practical approach to farmers' projects
• 14:10 Coffee break
• 14: 30– Brainstorming
• 15:30 - End of meeting

You are most welcome.

This week, the project managers in the Green Entrepreneurs of the Future project organized an innovation competition, the so-called MAKEathoni, among children in the 9th grade at Árskóli in Sauðárkrókur.

The MAKEathon was covered in the RÚV evening news this week, but it was the first of three that will be held in connection with the Green Entrepreneurs. Interviews were conducted with teachers and students at Árskóli, in addition to Justine Vanhalst, project manager at Matís, explaining the prototypes that the kids made in the competition.

The news is available on the RÚV website here: The Green Entrepreneurs of the Future

Here you can follow the progress of the project:

• Website of the project
• The project's Instagram page
• #Graenirfromkvodlar

A seminar on the coexistence of humans and microorganisms from skyr to compost will be held at the National Museum of Iceland on 31 March from 12: 00-13: 30. 

Event program:

• Valdimar Tr. Hafstein, Professor of Ethnology at the University of Iceland:
  A major project on the coexistence of humans and microorganisms in daily life. 
• Jón Þór Pétursson, new doctor at the University of Iceland:
  "Mother culture": Skyrgerlar, milking girls and superwomen. 
• PhD Veera Kinnunen, university lecturer (sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences) University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland:
  Bokashi composting as multispecies waste care. 

The chairman of the meeting is Áki Guðni Karlsson. 

You can follow information about the seminar on the event page on facebook here: Symposium on the coexistence of humans and microorganisms from skyr to composting

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The seminar is part of the project SYMBIOSIS - Coexistence of humans and microorganisms in daily life, which Matís has worked on together with the University of Iceland with a grant from the RANNÍS Excellence Fund since 2021.

In this interdisciplinary project, the coexistence of humans and microorganisms in Iceland is studied and the focus is on how this coexistence is shaped in everyday activities then and now. The project examines the creativity of microorganisms in food and daily life; it accompanies them from cultivation, baking, brewing, pickling and brewing, through the digestive system and back into the soil through composting, and it studies the effects of this coexistence on people's physical, mental and social well-being.

Further information about the project can be found on its project page here: SYMBIOSIS coexistence of humans and microorganisms in daily life

Matís is advertising for a specialist in microbiology and bioinformatics.

Area of work:

• Participation in various micro-related projects in food, environmental and biotechnology research.
• Participation in application work for domestic and foreign funds.
• Work on microbial and molecular biological research in the laboratory and data processing. Participation in sampling when appropriate.
• Organize tasks and process various bio-information such as sequencing data.
• Project management, deliver results on time and follow cost estimates.
• Teach and guide students.

Qualification requirements:

• Postgraduate degree in Biology, Microbiology, Biotechnology or related disciplines.
• Very good knowledge and experience in microbiology and molecular methods.
• Very good command of English to be able to share knowledge both in writing and orally.
• Ability to write scientific reports, scientific articles and applications.
• Rich in ideas, ambition and solution-oriented mentality.
• Ability to work both independently and in groups in different Matís projects.
• Steady knowledge in bioinformatics and statistics.
• Good expertise in statistics and bioinformatics.
• Teaching skills.
• Icelandic language skills desirable.

The employment rate is 100% and the job is located at Vínlandsleið 12, 113 Reykjavík.

With reference to Matís' gender equality policy, all genders are encouraged to apply. Applications must be accompanied by a detailed CV and cover letter outlining the applicant's qualifications for the job in question. You must also include the name and telephone number or e-mail address of two referrers who can confirm the applicant's qualifications.

The application deadline is 08.04 2022

Further information about the job is provided Dr. Viggó Marteinsson, viggo@matis.is.

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Specialist in microbiology and bioinformatics

Position profile:

• Involvement in a variety of different projects in the field of food, environmental and biotech related microbiology research
• To apply successfully for national and international research project funding
• Required to do office, laboratory, and occasionally field work
• Planning and conducting experimental work and analyzing data, including bioinformatic analyzes
• Managing projects, ensuring timely achievement of milestones and deliverables within an agreed budget
• Teaching and co-supervision of students

Required qualification & skills:

• PhD degree in Biology, Microbiology, Biotechnology, or any other relevant scientific discipline
• Knowledge and experience in microbiological and molecular biological methods
• Proficient in adapting and using bioinformatics pipelines
• Excellent communication skills (oral & written) in English
• Ability to write and submit scientific reports, publications and grant proposals
• Creative and passionate about optimization and problem-solving
• Ability to work both independently and as part of different teams (within the Microbiology Group, Matís and international projects)
• Good knowledge of bioinformatics and statistics
• Teaching skills
• Knowledge of Icelandic is desirable

The position is full employment (100%) and will be carried out at Matís headquarters at Vínlandsleið 12, 113 Reykjavík.

With reference to Matís' gender equality policy, all genders are encouraged to apply. Applicants should provide a curriculum vitae and motivation letter outlining their qualifications and interests. They will be required to provide the names and contact information for two professional references who can attest to the applicant's capabilities.

The application deadline is 08.04.2022

For further information, please contact Dr. Viggó Marteinsson,  viggo@matis.is.

Birgir Örn Smárason, environmental and resource scientist and specialist manager at Matís in Akureyri, was a guest on Channel 2's Morgunútvarp this week together with Jón Bjarki Bentsson, Íslandsbanki's chief economist.

Their topic of discussion was the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the economy and the food industry in Iceland so far, as well as their prediction of the long-term impact.

Birgir said that the war would in all likelihood have a major impact on global food supply and prices because at this time there is a very important time in food production in the northern hemisphere. He refers to the period of spring labor in agriculture, which conditions in Russia and Ukraine inevitably have a negative effect on. Both Ukraine and Russia are among the world's largest exporters of various agricultural products such as food, such as cereals, maize, rice and vegetable oil, but also fertilizers. The two countries are also large exporters of oil, gas and more, which is important for goods to get between countries. Due to the invasion and the subsequent trade sanctions, it can be assumed that food prices will rise considerably in the coming months.

Jón Bjarki and Birgir also discussed that although Icelandic food production is in many respects still dependent on imported products such as fertilizers, oil and wheat, there are also various opportunities and opportunities to make domestic food production more sustainable. Birgir mentioned examples of projects that have been carried out at Matís in recent months and years, such as development of organic, environmentally friendly fertilizers from underutilized resources and production of insects, unicellular proteins from by-products of Icelandic forests and algae. In addition, he pointed out that there were still various opportunities in the cultivation of vegetables and grains and the utilization of seaweed and kelp.  

The interview can be listened to in its entirety on Channel 2's website here: The morning radio. The interview with Birgur and Jón Bjarki starts at 01:07:00

AVS recently completed the project "rapeseed meal in feed for salmon 2". The aim of the project was to investigate the effect of the incorporation of rapeseed meal into feed on the growth, feed utilization and chemical content of salmon fillets.

Experiments were made with 5 types of feed with different proportions of mixed rapeseed meal and then standard feed for comparison. The initial weight of the fish was 350 grams and the experiment lasted for eight months, during which time the fish quadrupled in weight. The results of the project were numerous, but it stands to reason that the incorporation of rapeseed meal into salmon growth feed for salmon does not appear to have a measurable negative effect on the growth, feed utilization or meat quality of small salmon.

The final report of the project will be treated as confidential until 1 January 2024, after which time it will be possible to access the report on Matís' website.

For further information, contact Birgir Örn Smárason at Matís birgir@matis.is
and Ólafur Ingi Sigurgeirsson at Hólar University olisig@holar.is.