25/05/2007
FORECOMAN MEETING
mei, 25th 2007
Members
Present
Bart M., Raf A., Jan V., Wouter A., Maximilien F. (report), Vincent K. Eric V., Joost M. & Antonio T. (yes yes, really)
Agenda
M.Sc dissertations
Publication Lists
Greenhouse experiments
Challenges of the month
Varia
Report
1 MSc DISSERTATIONS
- New students:
o Check if they have enough key-articles to be ready when their thesis work will start.
o All of them were successful in getting an IRO-scholarship.
o Max will introduce Vince into the Sagalassos project because he is the one who could potentially take over the supervision over MSc student Pieter Sannen.
- Current Students:
o The fate of Dorothea, it sounds like the title of a romantic story, but in reality it is a big question. Will she finish her thesis in time? Bets are open…
o If it did not happen already, it is urgent to contact the students to check up their thesis presentation and give them some extra advice.
o Bart will contact the students to stimulate them to finish their presentations as soon as possible and to take contact with their supervisor.
o Aklilu found himself confronted with an acute deficit in computer availability and now he intends to buy one. Raf suggested to find a cheap laptop in a second hand store. The problem is to get it to Ethiopia. A person without laptop is required. A option is to contact Lies and ask her to take the laptop with her.
- Unfortunately there is no possibility anymore to enroll a student from the “Technische Hoogeschool”. Another option is to find a student at Eric and Joost’s ancient school in Vilvoorde for their technical stage period (probably springtime). Wouter will contact the school through Eric.
- The Spanish student who contacted Bart to go to Ethiopia does not seem interested anymore. Probably he found something else.
2 PUBLICATION LISTS
- From now on, two lists will be permanently updated; a list in Procite, needed for the curricula, and one in Access, for the website. Sofie will keep both lists up-to-date
- Bart will check if the current lists are complete.
- Raf will inform Vincent about the software link needed to export citations from WOS to Procite.
- Vincent will then make his own publication list in Procite and Word and pass it on to Sofie.
3 status of the projects
The good luck finally found its way to our research group. So most of this topic is great news.
The official news
- Max did not get his VLIR project, but he found something else and will be gone the first of august. He will miss all of you!
- We brought home the OT-project even though there might have been a cut into the budget. The amount still approximates 250.000 euro, so no real reason to complain. This is fantastic news for the SBO-project because the subjects are very complementary and excellent work will be possible!
- Hurray, Hurray, Tony got his high level B scholarship from the K.U.Leuven (18 months). He tried to diminish his great achievement by launching the gossip that there were no other candidates, but we saw through his plans and congratulated him sincerely!
- Veerle Buytaert got her scholarship at the VITO-institute and will work on bio fuels. Bart is her co-promotor and he will do all he can to get her as often as possible at our lab. All the forecomen present were enthusiastic about the news that a woman would become a member of the forecoman group.
The informal news (so keep it secret)
- The FWO project about forests and birds in Kenya is likely to be approved; however there will be no funds for staff. The working credits will make Raf able to accomplish his fieldwork in the tropics.
- The FWO project Wouter wrote is well classified and will probably be accepted with some cuts in the budget (how could it be different …). This means that the requested instruments could be purchased. This encompasses a new helicopter (so we can organize real helicopter races) and a thermal camera (to film the hot moments of the race mentioned above). Nice toys, that’s the least we can say.
The ‘we will see’ news
- Raf is still waiting for the results of his FWO post doc application. He is ranked at the third place of the K.U.Leuven, but the to researchers preceding him are from our same floor… Tension, tension…
- Xavier Sauvigner worked with Jan Valckx on the Safe project and would like to become a member of our team. He has one major problem, he does not got the money. Due to his older age, he can not consider an IWT-grant and the kind of scholarship Tony got seems a good alternative.
4 Technical support news
- From august 1st Eric will work 80% of time.
- On Vincent’s project, a fulltime technician can be hired for 3 years. This will be Joost, but he will be working halftime for the ECOWORM project till November 2007.
- A detailed time schedule based on Joost’s activities for the different projects is needed. Free time can be filled in with work in the greenhouse or on Jatropha experiments.
- The university has approved a new halftime technical staff member who will start on august 1st.
- There are still some discussions to have about the purchase of a second labo-car. A second hand car seems the best solution but there is no real agreement about the type. It’s probably not going to be a 10 years old Land Cruiser neither a 4x4 Fiat Panda. Bets are open again … (you get a discount if you combine this bet with the previous one)
5 Challenges of the month
Jan:
- Prepare meeting of the users commission
- Take the paper of the SAFE project out of the closet
- Finish the Geostat paper
- Create a new conceptual framework of the migration experiment.
- Finally those lazy earthworms have decided to wake up and take some activity. This implies that the time for fieldwork has come again!
Vincent:
- Write a research note
- Plan and prepare the first measuring phase of the project
- Make a decision on the instruments he will need for his field campaign.
- Prepare a little trip with Joost to the Czech Republic where the HQ of the fantastic Field Map is located.
Wouter M:
- Prepare the thermal measurements with the helicopter of this summer
- Maintain the greenhouse, the plants, follow-up of inspection by VGM
- In his spare time, start working on the DAIS-paper
Max:
- Write a draft of the second Sagalassos paper
- Plan the thesis of Pieter Sannen in Turkey
- Start writing the EDUBO final report
- Tell Sofie when he is leaving
- Adapt the website to the new style
Raf:
- Still help OhDorothea
- Talk with Jan Plue about the available space in the greenhouse.
- Start the cuttings experiment
- Write some papers
Bert:
- keep up the good work
Joost:
× See Jan
Antonio
- Continue the work with Wouter on the Jatropha suitability maps.
- Put the Land suitability study for ENCOFOR online before June 15th and send the required emails.
- Start a new chapter of the PhD.
- Bring Juan’s laptop back to Belgium when he goes to Amsterdam
Bart: takes a lot of hey on his fork:
- Contact Bert about flights to Ethiopia and Ecuador
- Get in touch with Seppe Deckers, Jan Diels and Kristien Peeters to write a clear and well designed protocol for soil analysis. Every year the same problems recur and this should not be possible. Clear agreements have to be made.
- Ask Sofie to update the publication list
- Check if the publication lists are up-to-date
- Free the money for the Sagalassos field campaing of this summer
- Ask Juan’s laptop back.
- Clean the hallway, get rid of all the boxes
- Finish the paper of Tim (discussion)
- Finish the paper of Griet (lay-out)
- Continue writing on the (Un)steady state paper and the relationship between acid buffering and plant communities.
- Finish the review on Exergy and send it to Wouter for his DAIS-paper
- Cite Raf’s paper in the Exergy review
- Contact professor Buggman in Switzerland about the GAP succession models
- Contact Veerle Buytaert.
Wouter A:
- submit Jatropha review paper to Biomass & Bioenergy
- Start the laboratory tests on Jatropha (watergebruik en wortelstelsel) together with Wouter M. en Bert R.
- Be successful in his exam!
- Start working on land use impact
6 Varia
- Jan Valckx has officially been appointed to write the next report
- Unilever one of the world’s biggest multinationals is potentially interested in a project in cooperation with the Forecoman group. They are exploring the possibility to plant olive trees (European of African) in Ethiopia. A meeting is scheduled on June 21st.
- Bart is expecting more initiative from the Forecoman group concerning the common activity of June 8th
- Great promotions at ‘New Forests’. Submit one paper, become a reviewer forever for free!
- The well-known 13th symposium on PhD in bio-engineer science is approaching. Wouter, Antonio and Jan should prepare a poster and an abstract before august 6th.
7 NEXT MEETING
25 May, 9:00.
3/6
FORECOMANVERGADERING
19 december 2006