Renewed approval for R&D activities for private companies
ECT’s formal approval from the French Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Espace for carrying out R&D activities for private companies was renewed.
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Meet ECT and the SynTech Research Group at the SETAC Europe 36th Annual Meeting
The SETAC Europe 36th annual meeting ‘Embrace the outlier: in science, regulations and networks’ takes place in Maastricht, The Netherlands, from 17 to 21 May 2026. ECT contributes to this meeting with three presentations (see below). We are looking forward to meeting you at our presentations or at the SynTech Research Group booth 49!
New publications on the effects of plant protection products on soil organisms
The collaboration between the Marie Skłodowska-Curie International Training Networks ARISTO and PRORISK, both funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme and with the contribution of ECT, has resulted in two scientific publications.
New project: Soil biodiversity baseline survey
Soil organisms ensure fertile soils and clean drinking water, build up humus and break down pollutants. However, there is often a lack of information on the actual conditions of soil organisms in Germany. To address this knowledge gap, a long-term research programme on soil biodiversity in Germany and the ecosystem services it provides has been […]
Soil biodiversity baseline survey (BioDive4Soil)
The value of soil biodiversity has long been underestimated, although it plays an essential role in healthy functioning of our ecosystems. Soil organisms contribute to nutrient cycling and carbon storage in soils, mix soil layers and help retain rainwater. However, numerous factors, such as soil contamination, unsustainable land use and climate change, have impacts on […]
PREMIER database on environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals launched
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) project ‘Prioritisation and risk evaluation of medicines in the environment’ (PREMIER) has launched its database on environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals. The PREMIER database is an open platform to support science-based decisions during the assessment of potential risks of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. ECT is involved in PREMIER as […]
Replacement of peat in artificial soils and sediments
Experts from ECT are participating in the OECD project ‘RePEAT’ led by the Ecotox Centre, Switzerland. The toxicity of chemicals to soil and sediment organisms is strongly influenced by the properties of the soil or sediment to which the organisms are exposed. Therefore, artificial soils or sediments with a precisely defined composition are used in […]
ARISTO prioritised as successful project
The European industry-academia network for revising and advancing the assessment of the soil microbial toxicity of pesticides (ARISTO), was prioritised as successful project by the European Commission. A ‘Results in brief’ article was published on the CORDIS website. The project ARISTO was funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme of the European Union. In the […]
New publication on morphological and DNA-based identification methods to assess earthworm diversity
The time-consuming and expensive identification of soil invertebrates is probably the most important reason for the lack of a German nationwide and standardised survey of soil organisms. The present publication should contribute to solving this problem. Earthworms and soil were sampled at 25 sites, and the animals were identified morphologically and using DNA-based identification methods: community DNA (comDNA) and environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding.
Meet ECT and the SynTech Research Group at the SETAC Europe 35th Annual Meeting
The SETAC Europe 35th annual meeting ‘Innovation for tomorrow: progress in safe and sustainable concepts’ takes place in Vienna (Austria) from 11 to 15 May 2025. ECT is contributing to this meeting with several presentations. We are looking forward to meeting you at our presentations or at the SynTech Research Group booth 25!