Currently the ETWG consists of six members with a widespread origin and background, but with a common goal: improving Biosafety in Europe and beyondby providing high quality biosafety/biosecurity related courses.

Over more than a decade ETWG organised annual preconference courses on a wide range of biosafety related topics. The normal wide range of courses delivered for many years has been disrupted  with the cancelling of the Belval Conference. ETWG  decided to provide  abroad number of  on-line courses.

In additionThe working group has been involved in other projects educational resources: fact sheets, certification ( with IFBA) , recording of personal competences (Passport) ,  contributing to the CWA on biosafety professional competence.

Every few years some of the group members leave ETWG for various reasons; also this year we will say goodbye to two long standing members. Therefore, we are looking for two new members.

We are looking for EBSA members:

• with at least high affinity and preferably experience in teaching and training,
• team players that are able to be responsible for part of the work to be done
• Have time to commit to actively be involved and take responsibility of certain aspects
• Patience , flexibility and inventiveness is sometimes needed to do our work.
• Having a broad network of biosafety professionals that are willing and able to instruct is important.
• Complementary skills in areas such as on line, data management, graphics under represented fields of biorisk such as plant, diagnostics……
• Able to travel is advantageous

Most of our training work is done in English, but communication in other European languages is often necessary to smoothen decisions with trainers, developers, reviewers, hosts of training locations and other stakeholders. So fluency in other languages is useful.

Since 2014 we held telephone conferences as the members of ETWG come from all over Europe and we wanted to limit travel  . Due to Covid-19 we have stopped our Face to face meetings and switched over to teleCons only. But I assume that after the CoVid period we will take up at least twice a year  FtF meetings as these are far more effective.

ETWG is a busy and friendly group who will welcome new members and ease them into the workings of the group

If you are interested, please send a short CV focussed on the educational side of your professional history, and a short letter of intent to interest and affinity with the ETWG work to the EBSA office (ebsa-office@ebsaweb.eu).

After more than 11 years I will leave the group next spring, I have already stepped down as the Chair and transferred the chairmanship to Olena Kysil. I am confident that she will do a good job.

Please check our terms of reference on the EBSA website

ETWG is presently an important part of EBSA; it plays an important role in EBSA’s strategy to increase Biosafety in Europe.

Kind regards, 

Per