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As the UK and other countries return to lockdown, we continue to operate and offer support to ensure the 3Rs remain a priority for researchers and animal care staff. Visit nc3rs.org.uk/covid19 to find out about our relevant resources and how you can get in touch with the NC3Rs team if you have any further queries.
Wherever you are in the world, let us know about your outstanding 3Rs research!
Our annual International 3Rs Prize is now open for applications from anyone around the world who has published an outstanding paper with demonstrable 3Rs impacts in the last three years. This prestigious award, sponsored by GSK, consists of a £28k prize grant and a £2k personal award. The deadline to apply is 4pm (GMT) on Wednesday 3 March.
New NC3Rs Board members appointed
We are pleased to announce that five new members will join the NC3Rs Board from January 2021: Professor Jane Hurst, Dr Tom Matheson, Professor Cathy Merry, Professor Nick Plant and Dr Clive Roper. Alongside a commitment to the 3Rs, these new Board members will bring expertise in animal welfare, neurobiology, glycobiology, systems biology and in vitro toxicology to support our mission.
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ARRIVE guidelines 2.0 now available in six languages
We have partnered with researchers, 3Rs centres and other organisations worldwide to translate the revised ARRIVE guidelines. In addition to French and German, the guidelines are now available to download in Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese and Italian – with more languages coming soon.
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Join the NC3Rs team and help develop our online resources
Our website is one of the biggest hubs of 3Rs information and resources. Could you or someone you know help our audiences find what they need as our online presence grows?
We are currently recruiting a Web Manager to join the NC3Rs communications team. The deadline to apply for this role is Monday 25 January.
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Help us learn more about how microsampling is currently used
The deadline to complete our survey on the use of microsampling in research and safety studies has been extended to Wednesday 24 February. If you currently use microsampling, or could but have concerns about doing so, please take 15 minutes to complete our survey and inform our future strategy.
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10 years of CRACKing IT
Our CRACK IT Challenges open innovation funding competition was established in 2011 to support the development and dissemination of commercialisable 3Rs technologies. Through it we have committed over £25m, providing a unique opportunity for academics and SMEs to work with new partners and access resources that would have been otherwise unavailable.
In this blog post, the CRACK IT team highlight the programme’s achievements over the last decade and the exciting schedule of events we have planned to celebrate this milestone.
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10 years of CRACK IT webinar: TaiNi by design – advancing the 3Rs in EEG recording in rodents
Thursday 25 February, 2-3pm (GMT)
This webinar will showcase the TaiNi wireless electroencephalography (EEG) recording device developed to address the Cognition CRACK IT Challenge. The small and ultra lightweight system replaces the use of heavy tethered devices, allowing mice to be socially housed, move more freely and exhibit natural behaviors more easily.
During the webinar you will hear from Professor Esther Rodriguez Villegas (Imperial College London and co-founder of TainiTec), who led the development of the TaiNi product, and Dr Alfredo Gonzalez-Sulser (University of Edinburgh), who has adopted the TaiNi device as part of his research to develop new therapeutic strategies to treat epilepsy.
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10 years of CRACK IT webinar: The worm that turned the tide on in vivo DART testing
Tuesday 16 March, 2-3pm (GMT)
This webinar will showcase a C. elegans platform to assess the developmental and reproductive toxicity (DART) potential of chemicals developed to address the PreDART CRACK IT Challenge. This model, when used in combination with a zebrafish embryo screen also developed during the Challenge, is highly accurate, cheap and fast when compared to mammalian studies.
The webinar will feature presentations by Dr Marjolein Wildwater (Vivaltes), who founded the spin-out company to commercialise the platform developed during the PreDART Challenge, and Dr Martijn Rooseboom (Shell), one of the original Sponsors of the Challenge.
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NC3Rs webinar: Tickling rats for improved welfare
Wednesday 27 January, 3-3.45pm (GMT)
This webinar will focus on the welfare benefits of rat tickling. Dr Megan LaFollette from the North American 3Rs Collaborative (NA3RsC) will present rat tickling as a positive handling technique and provide guidance on putting it into practice for laboratory care staff and researchers.
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Save the date: Charité 3R Symposium and Poster Award
Wednesday 24 February, 12-5pm (CET)
In this symposium, Charité 3R will present a selection of its funded projects, covering replacement models, refinement methods and 3Rs-relevant technology platforms. Any scientists working with animals or alternatives is invited to attend – further details about the programme and poster award will be available soon.
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Vote for this year’s Janet Wood Innovation Award winner
Every year the Datesand Janet Wood Innovation Award invites animal care professionals to design a product that will enrich the lives of laboratory animals. This year four finalists have been chosen – find out more about the products and vote for your favourite before Monday 25 January.
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Do you deliver training for personal licensees?
LASA and the RSPCA have produced a new guiding principles document to support those delivering and assessing the ethics learning outcomes in personal licensee (PIL) training courses. The guidance is divided into two parts: the first dealing with general principles and common misconceptions, the second focusing on the practical aspects of delivering ethics training.
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