The workshop is intended to be three days in duration:
Day 1
Theme: a wider appreciation of marine biodiscovery and applications to other fields.
Case studies to show the integration of information from screens and marine natural products chemistry in other fields (e.g., ecology). Workshop participants will be invited to prepare a talk on the day’s theme using their own experiences.
Decision point: Is there sufficient novelty to justify a synthesis paper looking at the application of knowledge gained from biodiscovery research in other fields?
Discussion on the information needed by researchers not working directly on biodiscovery to find synergies and innovations by applying knowledge across different domains.
Output: What would be the syllabus of a structured PhD module in marine natural products for non-specialists in the field?
Follow-on question: Could such a syllabus be delivered online through a multi-institute collaboration (MOOC or otherwise)?
Day 2
Theme: Wider use of materials and results from marine biodiscovery programmes
Presentations focused on the mechanics of successful collaborations with groups in different fields. Discussions to include how decisions were made on the need for protection of intellectual property and means for sustaining interdisciplinary collaborations. Also to be considered is the theme of how duplication of screening effort is best avoided despite labs having an incentive to keep results confidential. Some information may have value even where it is noise in biodiscovery terms (e.g., variation between assay results using samples of the same species). Participants not presenting in day one will have to opportunity to present their own perspective on the theme.
Output: Position paper on the structures required and potential barriers to making some biodiscovery related information freely available. What are the potential benefits?
Day 3
Theme: sustainable careers in marine biodiscovery
Talks to focus on careers issues: in terms of institutes finding candidates and researchers finding jobs.
Output: Position paper on supply and demand for researchers in marine biodiscovery, is there an issue and if so what policies could be recommended?
Ultimately we are interested in the synergies between biodicovery and other fields and what this means for the next stages of Blue Growth and Horizon 2020.