Category: News

On April 26 and 27, the third and final MAKEathon of the Green Entrepreneurs of the Future project will take place, at Nesskóli in Neskaupstaður. MAKEathon Árskóli and Grunnskóli Bolungarvíkur have already done with great results. The MAKEathon project is an innovation competition that lasts for two days.

In this MAKEathoni, 24 students in 8th grade Viktoría Gilsdóttir 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 try to create a kind of prototype, among other things in collaboration with FabLab Austurland under the guidance of Móses Helgi Halldórsson. 

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 in Innovation Week (at Matís' presentation on 20 May).

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.

Green Entrepreneurs of the Future is an educational project intended for the oldest 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@matis.is. Schools that want to participate are especially encouraged to get in touch.

(media can be contacted by phone: 762 0266).

Here you can follow the progress of the project:

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

Do you enjoy a variety of challenges related to promotion, communication and communication?

In order to increase the impact of Matís' work, we are looking for a versatile media person who can communicate complex information in a simple way with the media that are best suited for it. Whether it's news on a website, social media posts, videos, events or anything else.

Qualification requirements

• Experience of creating content on different media
• Education that is useful in work is an advantage
• Good writing skills in Icelandic and English
• Experience of using WordPress content management system advantage
• Communication skills and interest in people
• Independence, imagination and drive

About Matís: Matís is a leader in the field of food research and biotechnology. We have a dynamic team that is passionate about finding new ways to maximize the use of raw materials, increase sustainability and promote public health.

The job is temporary for one year. 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 CV and cover letter outlining the applicant's qualifications for the job in question. The name and telephone number or e-mail address of the recommender who can confirm the applicant's qualifications must also be provided. 

The application deadline is April 21, 2022.

Further information about the job is provided by Þormóður Dagsson, thormodur@matis.is 

Applications for the Food Fund have been opened for the third time, with a total allocation of ISK 593 million. 

The role of the Food Fund is to strengthen development and innovation in the production and processing of food and by-products from agricultural and marine products. The emphasis is on innovation, sustainability, value creation and the competitiveness of Icelandic food throughout the country. The fund is also authorized to support product development and marketing in foreign markets. The fund follows the United Nations' global goals. To this end, the fund supports projects and research by individuals and legal entities.

The aim of the fund is to cover projects at all levels, from ideas to marketing and practical research. Matvælasjóður's budget consists of appropriations from the state budget at any given time and other income as they are to be distributed.

It should be noted that the application deadline for the Food Fund has been extended and is now until and including 26 April next.

All information about the fund as well as instructions on its application system can be found on the Food Fund's website here: Icelandic Food Innovation Fund (is. Matvælasjóður).

The research and innovation project Sustainable Fertilizer Production - a Comprehensive Approach to the Cycle Economy was funded by the Rannís Marketing Plan at the beginning of 2021, where the working group explores ways to utilize local organic resources, by-products from various production and processes for producing sustainable agriculture and sustainable agriculture.

This report is one part of the project where an assessment was made of the organic waste generated in Iceland, both in terms of quantity and nutritional composition.

The objectives of this report were as follows:

• To identify and calculate the amount of organic waste that is generated in Iceland and could be used in the production of fertilizers. calculate the amount of organic waste generated in Iceland that could be used in the production of fertilizers.
• To calculate the amount of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) in organic waste according to measurements carried out in the project together with domestic and foreign sources where information was missing.
• To make proposals and analyze where the main opportunities lie in the increased use of organic waste for fertilizer production in Iceland.

Click on the report to read it in its entirety.

The report is published by Matís and the partners in the project are Landgræðslan, Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands, Atmonia, landsvirkjun and Hafrannsóknastofnun.

More information about the project can be found on its project page here: Sustainable fertilizer production - a holistic approach to the circular economy

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.