ERGA pilot project – what can we learn for future genome projects

As a proof of principle the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) consortium initiated at the beginning a pilot study. Several sequences centers and different research projects contributed to this pilot study allowing the first sequencing of reference genomes across Europe and setting the stage for application of the […]

The importance of the small stuff for science

Yesterday, we published an preprint on the meiofauna and why it is important to study them and which scientific questions should be addressed next. The publication involved 42 researchers from 44 institutions all around the world. The research was initiated and led by Alejandro Martínez and Diego Fontaneto […]

FEZ group retreat September 2023

Our group went in the beginning of September on a three day social retreat to the beautiful city in southern Norway, namely Kristiansand. The purpose of this trip was first and foremost to have a good time together and socialize. Unfortunately could not all members of our group […]

Teaching about sea squirts, worms and skeleton shrimps in Drøbak

As part of the ArtsDatabanken project “Assessing biodiversity in the marine algae belt“, we taught a class of eager students and consultants about the species of our project. The course did not only comprise theoretical lectures, but really hands-on experience. We went out to different spots in Drøbak […]

Group of the Month: Syllidae (Annelida)

On the blog this month, it’s time to for me to present another family of polychaetes. I will take a few steps away from my usual tentacles adorned critters to write about a peculiar group of worms, the family Syllidae. Syllids are a diverse family, with about 1100 […]

Beetle hunt in Japan – spring 2023

One of the best things with being a PhD-student at the Natural History Museum is the chance to do fieldwork. Most of our group members are doing fieldwork regularly to collect new material and to expand our collections. Unfortunately, the pandemic put a hold on many such plans, […]

On Pre-Prints, Publishing and Peer Review

Hallo readers, it’s James here again to announce the release of another new manuscript written by the FEZ group! This one is something we’ve been working on for quite some time, and it’s also the result of a really exciting collaboration with Pia Merete Eriksen, a guest researcher […]

The story about the Norwegian banker and the Hawaiian spiders ends – it was a great collaboration

Last week a long journey finally came to a result. If you remember, we were lucky to secure a Peder Sather grant to secure a collaboration between Rosemarie Gillespie’s lab and ours. Just a reminder from the last blog; Peder Sather was a banker and founder of the […]

Group of the month: Ostracoda

Sometimes, work and home come together in ways you don’t expect. I decided to get into aquascaping this summer, growing underwater plants and keeping nutrient cycles alive and self-sustaining between the soil, the plants, and small invertebrates. In my research, I was surprised to come across a little […]

ERGA pilot project – the selected species

As a proof of principle the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) consortium initiated at the beginning a pilot study. Several sequences centers and different research projects contributed to this pilot study allowing the first sequencing of reference genomes across Europe and setting the stage for application of the […]