IAT Newsletter - April 2025
- IAT Website
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Well, how are you? It’s been a little while now since the last newsletter, so I hope you’re enjoying the improvements in the weather and of course the clocks going forward and losing an hour’s sleep!
So, Congress has been and gone. It was a very nice venue, and we have had a lot of feedback, mostly positive, but a little negative as well. That is as expected and as always, the Congress Committee will take it on board and see what they can do to solve these issues where possible. They are already working on next year’s event. Well done to the Congress Committee.
Congress had a truly mixed program and a mixed audience from first time attendees (about 25%) to “old timers”, Home Office Inspectors and of course our colleagues from LAVA. A big thank you to all the support from Trade, and they really did put in a lot of effort and time in the Exhibition Hall.
Likewise, a thank you to all the speakers and workshop organisers. This is what Congress is for, and you can see how popular they are and how quickly the workshops fill up. Finally thank you to all of you who attended, you made the event as always and I really hope to see you next year, along with new faces too.
My memories of Congress are two-fold. Firstly, was the Kevin Dolan Memorial Lecture “Tales from the Zoo” that was very inspiring and moving at the same time. The second is the fun side of Congress, of a member of Council bouncing across a floor on a unicorn at Boomin Bingo, I kid you not!
One of the feedback items you have given to Council, is you want to know more about who is on Council. Well, I’m going to start sharing the “Introduction to the Newsletter” with others on Council, so the next newsletter will be someone else from Council. Now keep that quite…… I haven’t told Council yet!!!
Enjoy the spring and I bet you’re already planning holidays. Lastly, as I always say, the IAT is your organisation and we would love to hear from you, be it good or bad feedback or an idea. Just drop us a line via the normal routes. Until the next time,
Glyn Fisher Chair, IAT Council
Winners are announced!
This year we ran the photo competition again and you did not disappoint with your photo entries. We ran both the non-work and work-related categories resulting in 88 excellent photos. The communications group reviewed all of these entries and whittled them down to the top 10 in each category. These were then presented at the IAT stand during Congress and voted for by the delegates for their first and second place winners in each category.
 1st place was W3 Claire from the Babraham Institute 2nd place was W7 Scott from the Francis Crick Institute |  1st place was NW6 Jennifer from Agenda Life Sciences 2nd place was NW2 Carol from UCL |
A huge thank you for everyone that entered and keep an eye out for the covers of ATW and the Bulletin as your picture might just appear.
We hope you enjoyed downloading and completing our puzzles this year, a wordsearch, a maze and a nonogram. No winners for these, they were just for a bit of fun in the tea room.
Our weekly quiz also ran this year and you excelled yourself with your knowledge (or google did!). We are pleased to announce the winners as follows:
Week 1 winner - Aprilia from Inotiv
Week 2 winner - Daniel from Agenda Life Science
Week 3 winner - Sami from UCL
Week 4 winner - Jill from St.Andrews University
and finally our overall winner was Charli from Edinburgh University
Congratulations to you all and thank you for taking part.
The IAT education group are trying to gather feedback on the views and opinions of the current IAT qualifications. There are two options for this survey, one is for managers, and the other is for technicians. We would appreciate it if you could take the time to complete the surveys and share them with as many people as possible.
Your input will be greatly appreciated and the links to both surveys are below:
Thank you in advance for your time and participation.
EARA – Be open about animal research.
We at the European Federation of Animal Technologists are reaching out to you to ask if your institution would contribute to Be Open About Animal Research Day 2025 (#BOARD25), the global social media campaign run by EARA to promote openness and transparency in animal research. Additionally, we kindly ask if you could help us promote #BOARD25 internally, at your institution.
This year’s campaign will take place on Tuesday, 3 June 2025, during the FELASA 2025 Congress.
Last year, over 1,000 biomedical institutions gave their support, with a record 220 partner institutions from 48 countries also helping to spread the message on social media. We would love for you to Get on #BOARD25 this year!
There are various ways you can do this and by registering your interest in #BOARD25, you could:
Share quotes, statements, or other examples of ways your institution has demonstrated openness in animal research over the last year.
Take part in a Q&A video to highlight your experiences.
Spread the word internally to researchers and animal research technicians at your institution, to encouraging them to take part.
Contribute in some other way of your choice.
Final materials will only be needed by the end of April, and EARA can provide support, if needed, in producing these. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at iserrenho@eara.eu.
Looking forward to your participation!
Animal Welfare Group Surveys
The Animal Welfare Group are conducting a series of short anonymous surveys on a number of topics based on the health and welfare of laboratory animals that we care for under ASPA. Our current focus is on health checks, and we are keen to see how different organisations are carrying out this important and legal duty.
The outcome from our collected data will be shared with our membership and we will provide some best practice guidance on the IAT website once all of the data has been collated.
We have completed a general species health check questionnaire which was very successful, and we are now focusing on Mouse breeding checks. We hope that those who work with breeding mice will take 5 minutes of their time to complete our survey, link below:
Insect Welfare Research Society
The Insect Welfare Research Society are hosting a series of virtual seminars and the next in the series is on April 25th 2025 at 4pm GMT.
The title of this seminar is: The 3Rs Principals in Invertebrate Research by Dr. Miriam A Zemonova, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
In this talk, Miriam will explore how the principles of Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement (3Rs) can be applied in research on insects and other invertebrates. Topics covered will include strategies for refining experimental techniques to minimize harm, approaches to reducing invertebrate use in research, and the feasibility of replacement methods. Through case studies and practical examples, the discussion will highlight both the complexities and the benefits of applying the 3Rs to invertebrate research, offering insights into how these principles can shape responsible and effective scientific practice.
To register please use this link: Seminars — Insect Welfare Research Society
Now accepting applications from IAT RAnTech Applicants!
The AAALAC International Fellowship recognises two outstanding individuals—one IAT RAnTech and one AALAS/CALAS Registered—who have made (or have the potential to make) significant contributions to the field of laboratory animal care and use.
The IAT RAnTech winner will receive a week-long guest visit to prestigious biomedical research facilities in the U.S. this fall, plus complimentary attendance at the National AALAS Meeting, the U.S.’s largest laboratory animal science and technology meeting. Registration, travel, meals, and related incidental expenses are covered (receipts are required).
DEADLINE FOR IAT APPLICATIONS: June 1, 2025
FELASA Survey
The Working Group on Benchmarking the Ratio of Technical Staff for the Care of Laboratory Mice has prepared a survey and invites you to participate.
Your participation in this survey is crucial for the success of the Working Group.
We greatly appreciate your contributions.
Join your local IAT Branch
Would you like to join your local Branch of the IAT but don’t know how to do this. It is easily done and if you would like to get more involved and/or receive information about your Branch’s activities please click here for details
IAT Bulletin
Our monthly Bulletin is available online for IAT Members.
In this months issue:
Introduction to Mental Health First Aid and our First Aiders
EDI Group Calendar
ASET News
Congress 2026 Announcement
Branch AGM Minutes
75 Great Ideas
Plus much more
To view online please click here
ATW Online
ATW aims to be the medium for Animal Technologists and all those concerned with the care and welfare of animals used for research purposes to communicate 'good practice'.
ATW especially aims to promote and develop the 3Rs particularly in respect of Refinement. More importantly, ATW promotes the generally accepted 4th R, Responsibility. The responsibility that all Animal Technologists have in ensuring dissemination of 'good practice' to every institution using animals in research.
ATW enjoys a unique position as the scientific publication for leading organisations for the welfare of animals used in research.
To view online please click here
Situations Vacant
For current vacancies please click here
