Due to Covid-19, pandemic measures were taken in the whole of Europe. Thus, all beneficiary universities participating in this project went into lockdown. Unfortunately, our meeting in Ghent, as well as our participation in the FoodSim2020 conference, was postponed.
During these tough days of quarantine, all researchers have to tackle a new reality, along with many difficulties, such as anxiety related to this situation. All researchers are now working from home trying to both keep up the good work and to keep track of the deliverables and the milestones of our project. More specifically, researchers from UCD and ONIRIS submitted their risk assessment on mycotoxins and food safety mitigation strategies. At the same time, researchers from KU Leuven, UOM, and AUTh reviewed all available microbial modelling approaches and delivered a state-of-the-art report.
Apart from their individual work, researchers have participated in the fourth Skype-meeting. During this meeting, each of us gave a brief update of his/her activities regarding each independent project. Most of us are now writing review papers on different aspects of climate change regarding food safety. However, this meeting was more than that. We all grabbed the opportunity to share our thoughts about the pandemic and inform each other about the lockdown situation in the different countries that we live in at the moment. Through this unexpected situation, our meeting ended up being more like group therapy than an official meeting! And this was the very much the moment that we all realized that during the project, we did not only have the opportunity to meet new and talented scientists but also to build new and strong friendships.
After this meeting, we are all more motivated to continue this project, and we are all looking forward to seeing each other again during our next meeting in France!