FENS issues guidance for writing and reviewing press releases

The Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) has issued guidance for writing and reviewing press releases. It is now available and an article about the guidelines has been published in the European Journal of Nutrition.

Having identified issues with the credibility and capability of human nutrition research, the FENS President is currently sponsoring an activity aimed at improving standards and assuring trust in the science of nutrition. This activity involves three working groups looking into concepts and methodologies; organisation, capabilities and funding; and external communication and public trust. Working Group 3, which is composed of 20 nutrition scientists from across Europe, has been charged with developing guidance to assure and promote stakeholder trust in nutrition science. The apparent lack of a standardised approach to disseminating nutrition research findings to key stakeholders such as clinicians and the general public has potentially contributed to a feeling of confusion and mistrust, thereby undermining the credibility of the science of nutrition. The Working Group identified a need to develop guidance for the communication of the findings of research in nutrition science to the public with a focus on accuracy of what is reported and on the language used.

The Working Group developed a handbook to support and guide nutrition scientists in improving the quality and clarity of press releases related to their work by detailing step-by-step guidance for writing and reviewing press releases.

There are also easy-to-use checklists for writing and reviewing a press release and a template for scoring a press release.

The handbook is free and available to download from the FENS website.

The FENS Working Groups will be holding symposia on this research during the 14th European Nutrition Conference in Belgrade, Serbia from 14 – 17 November 2023. Abstract submission is still open until 30 April 2023. Visit fens2023.org to submit an abstract or to register for the conference.

Event and call for abstracts: ISFANEA The 5th International Symposium on Food and Nutrition, Expo, And Awards 2023

Organized by The Food and Nutrition Society of Indonesia (PERGIZI PANGAN Indonesia), under the auspices of FANS, The 5th International Symposium on Food and Nutrition, Expo, And Awards 2023 takes place from 22- 24 June 2023 in Bogor, Indonesia. The theme is “Food and Nutrition Innovations for Sustainable Economy, Health and Well-being”.

Submit your abstract before 7 April 2023.

For more Information and to register visit:

BNF Early Career Scientist Award: Open for Applications

This award recognises early career nutrition scientists, whether working in academia, policy or industry, who show great potential to be future leaders in the field. Applications are welcome from any country.

Applicants are required to complete an application form and submit an abstract that could be turned into a mini-review describing an emerging area of human nutrition science that would be suitable for submission to the British Nutrition Foundation’s peer-reviewed journal Nutrition Bulletin.

Full details including eligibility criteria and information about previous winners can be found on the weblink below.

Applications must be received by midnight on 24 May 2023.

The British Nutrition Foundation offers a number of awards, recognising excellence in the field of nutrition. The Awards are made possible through the Foundation’s management of the Drummond Memorial Fund, established in memory of the work and contribution of Sir Jack Drummond. 

Early Career Scientist Award
IAEA Logo

IAEA: eNewsletter The Nutritional & Health-related Environmental Studies Section

Our colleagues at IAEA are excited to share their latest eNewsletter, including the launch of the UN Nutrition Strategy 2022- 2030. Stineke Oenema, Executive Secretary of UN-Nutrition, editor-in-chief of the strategy also co-chairs the IUNS Task Force on Sustainable Diets.

Also in this issue:

  • Proposition to create an online stable isotope user group
  • Special collection “Nuclear Techniques in Nutrition Research” in the Journal of Nutrition
  • Apply to the IAEA PhD Sandwich Fellowship Programme
  • Nuclear Explained – IAEA’s Podcast
  • Nuclear Data Reveals How Much Water You Should Drink Daily
  • Relation between breast milk intake and maternal education
  • Inaugural issue of the UN Nutrition Journal

Read more

Announcement: IUNS Council elected

The General Assembly of IUNS took place during the IUNS-ICN Tokyo, Japan in December 2022. We are pleased to announce the newly elected Council as:

  • President: Dr Lynnette Neufeld, Canada
  • President-Elect: Professor Hyun-Sook Kim, South Korea
  • Vice-President: Professor Francis Zotor, Ghana
  • Secretary-General: Professor Jacques Delarue, France
  • Treasurer: Dr Welma Stonehouse, Australia

Council members:

  • Professor Ali Dhansay, South Africa
  • Professor Barbara Burlingame, New Zealand
  • Professor Edith Feskens, Netherlands
  • Dr Rubina Hakeem, Pakistan
  • Professor Sergio Paiva, Brazil
  • Professor Zhaoping Li, USA

The whole Council would like to thank the Adhering Bodies for the nominations and for appointing them to these positions, and the previous IUNS Council members for their service and continual support. The first meeting of the new Council will take place in early 2023.

FENS – 14th European Nutrition Conference Abstract submission and registration open

The 14th European Nutrition Conference of FENS will take place in Belgrade, Serbia from 14th to 17th of November 2023.

This year FENS is offering a special early, early bird rate. As there is great interest in this, especially from young nutrition researchers and professionals, but also colleagues from low and middle-income countries, the Organizing Committee decided to extend the deadline for early early bird registration fee rates until 14 February 2023. FENS invite you to use this special opportunity to register for the conference and send your abstracts.

Belgrade, Serbia

Early, Early Bird registration rate closes on 14 February 2023

Abstract submission closes on 30 April 2023

For more information visit the conference website:

Visa changes – Japan

Japan has announced that independent tourists can visit Japan visa-free from October 11 2022.

In the latest visa exemption and border rules update released by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, foreign nationals from 68 countries and regions who wish to enter Japan for a short-term visit (up to 90 days) no longer need to apply for a visa. Tourists can visit Japan freely for tourism purposes without going through a travel agency.

Starting Tuesday, October 11, the following 68 countries and regions no longer need to apply for a visa when travelling to Japan. Please note that the stay period varies and additional conditions may exist. You’ll find more details here.

Asia

  • Brunei
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Republic of Korea
  • Singapore
  • Thailand
  • Hong Kong 
  • Macao
  • Taiwan

North America

  • Canada
  • United States

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Argentina
  • Bahamas
  • Barbados
  • Chile 
  • Costa Rica
  • Dominican Republic
  • El Salvador
  • Guatemala
  • Honduras
  • Mexico
  • Surinam
  • Uruguay

Oceania

  • Australia
  • New Zealand

Middle East

  • Israel
  • Turkey
  • United Arab Emirates

Africa

  • Lesotho
  • Mauritius 
  • Tunisia

Europe

  • Andorra
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • North Macedonia
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Monaco
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom

Tourists from China, Russia,  Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries (including Georgia), the Philippines and Vietnam must apply for a visa before visiting Japan. For more information, see here.

Note: these are the countries and regions listed on the MOFA page as of September 28 at 10 AM (BST).

Please see the IUNS-ICN website for further details and notes on the COVID-19 status requirements for entry to Japan

FENS workshop at IUNS-ICN

The Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) will be very active at the upcoming ICN2022 conference in Tokyo in December this year.

As well as the FENS symposium on December 8 (13:15-14:45 JST), FENS will host an interactive workshop on Improving Standards in the Science of Nutrition on December 6 from 09:00 to 12:00 (JST) (before the ICN2022 opening plenary that afternoon). 

FENS would like to warmly invite you to participate in this workshop. 

Why does FENS need your participation? 

In October 2019, FENS kicked off the Improving Standards in the Science of Nutrition initiative, tasking three working groups to focus on problem themes generated by the Dutch-based “Nutrition in Transition” discussion group (summarized in: Calder et al., 2020; Penders et al., 2017; Tufford et al., 2020). 

The Improving Standards in the Science of Nutrition working groups have raised the following issues and are using ICN2022 to involve the global nutrition community in their interpretation: 

  • How can we optimally create and use appropriate concepts and methods to conduct nutrition research, that delivers credible and applicable results? 
  • How can we align these results with the current CONSORT guidelines, to best present them for use by the nutrition and wider community? 

Participants joining this World Café-style workshop will be expected to actively interact on specific questions within these issues. Results of the discussions will help to shape the outputs from the Improving Standards in the Science of Nutrition FENS initiative, in addition to the focus areas for the FENS conference in Belgrade, Serbia, 14-17 November 2023. 

Interested in helping improve standards in the science of nutrition? Join FENS for the workshop!

Please register by 30 November 2022. 

More Info and Register here

International Science Council calls for nominations to the 2022 ISC Fellowship

Submit your nominations for the next intake of 60 Fellows by 7 October.

On 9 June 2022, the International Science Council announced the creation of the ISC Fellowship and the appointment of 66 Foundation Fellows. ISC Fellows are eminent scientists, engineers and thought leaders from across the spectrum of science and society. The Fellowship is the highest honour that can be conferred on an individual by the International Science Council and recognizes outstanding contributions to the promotion of science as a global public good.

Sleep

NHLBI Workshop: Optimal instruments for measurement of dietary intake, physical activity, and sleep among adults.

Optimal Instruments for Measurement of Dietary Intake, Physical Activity, and Sleep Among Adults Workshop will be held on Sept. 21-20, 2022

The 2022 Optimal Instruments for Measurement of Dietary Intake, Physical Activity, and Sleep Among Adults Workshop will be held virtually on September 21- 22, 2022. The workshop times are 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM EDT on September 21st, and 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT on September 22nd.

The purpose of the workshop is to review the state of the science regarding the validity, reliability, and sensitivity of instruments used to assess dietary intake, physical activity and sleep in large observational studies and clinical trials among adults. Additionally, the workshop will involve evaluating the pros and cons, including the feasibility of instruments to measure dietary intake, physical activity, and sleep in large studies, as well as recommend best practices to harmonize data from differing instruments across studies within each measurement domain to facilitate pooling studies as well as the possible incorporation of a new instrument within each domain into on-going studies while retaining the ability to perform valid longitudinal comparisons from previous instruments. Lastly, the identification of gaps and opportunities for future research to develop improved measurement tools for large studies to assess these key health behaviors including the use of biomarkers (“omics” such as metabolomics), mobile technology, sensors, etc. will be discussed.

The overarching goal of this 2-day (10-hours) workshop is to assemble a multi-disciplinary panel of experts across multiple domains to identify key knowledge gaps in measurements tools used to assess dietary intake, physical activity and sleep. The workshop is intended to guide researchers, NIH staff, and the community on the best methods and instruments for measurement of dietary intake, physical activity and sleep in large observational studies and clinical trials among adults. The workshop is intended to identify possible barriers and opportunities on the different measurement tools used to assess diet, physical activity and sleep in adults. Experts from multiple disciplines will be assembled to examine research gaps on such tools from behavioral, lifestyle, social, and technological perspectives.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/optimal-instruments-for-measurement-diet-activity-sleep-among-adults-tickets-414825483187