chitin society

What is chitin?

Chitin is a polysaccharide found in the outer skeleton of insects, crabs, shrimps, and lobsters and in the internal structures of other invertebrates. Chitin is composed of ß(1-4) linked units of the amino sugar N-acetyl-glucosamine, and is the main source of production of chitosan, which is used in a number of applications, such as a flocculating agent, a wound healing agent, a sizing and strengthening agent for paper, and a delivery vehicle for pharmaceuticals and genes.

chitin

What is EUCHIS?

The European Chitin Society (EUCHIS) is a non-profit organisation which objectives are to:
• Encourage basic and applied scientific studies of all aspects of chitin, including chitosan and derivatives of chitin and chitosan, and related enzymes,

The statutes of the European Chitin Society

Please follow this link (PDF) to read the statutes (last updated 2017/06/02).

If you need a copy of Adobe Acrobat in order to see the PDF file, please visit: Free Adobe Acrobar Reader

What are the Objectives of The European Chitin Society

Formulate recommendations and guidelines in the fields of standardisation and nomenclature.


Encourage basic and applied scientific studies of all aspects of chitin, including chitosan and derivatives of chitin and chitosan, and related enzymes


Aid the dissemination of such studies through the organisation of symposia, workshops, congress or any other form of assembly, primarily in Europe.


Encourage and facilitate exchanges between European scientists working in the field of chitin.


Develop links with other societies having similar or related interests.


Board

Laurent David


President
Université Lyon 1
IMP/LMPB/ISTIL
15, bd Latarjet
69622 Villeurbanne
FRANCE
laurent.david[at]univ-lyon1.fr

Inmaculada Aranaz Corral


Vice-President
Complutense University
Biofunctional Research Studies Institute
Paseo de Juan XXIII, nº 1
28040 Madrid
SPAIN

iaranaz[at]ucm.es

 

Már Másson


Vice-President
Már Másson
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
School of Health Sciences
University of Iceland
Hagi, Hofsvallagata 53
107 Reykjavík
ICELAND
mmasson[at]hi.is

Anayancy Osorio-Madrazo


Secretary
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Institut für Organische Chemie und Makromolekulare Chemie
Humboldtstraße 10
07743 Jena
GERMANY
anayancy.osorio.madrazo[at]uni-jena.de

Hans Merzendorfer


Assistant Secretary
Universität Siegen
Institut für Biologie
Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2
57068 Siegen
GERMANY

merzendorfer[at]chemie-bio.uni-siegen.de

Katja Richter


Treasurer
Katja Richter
Heppe Medical Chitosan GmbH
Heirich-Damerow-Str. 1
06120 Halle
GERMANY
k.richter[at]medical-chitosan.com

Bruno M. Moerschbacher


Assistant Treasurer
Universität Münster
Institut für Biochemie und Biotechnologie der Pflanzen
Schloßplatz 8
48149 Münster
GERMANY

moersch[at]uni-muenster.de

Svetlana Bratskaya


Board Member
Institut of Chemistry FEBRAS
Laboratory of Sorbtion Processes
159, ave 100-letiya Vladivostoka
690022 Vladivostok
RUSSIA
s.bratskaya[at]gmail.com

Carla Marcella Caramella


Board Member
University of Pavia
Dept. of Drug Science
Viale Taramelli 12
27100 Pavia
ITALY
carla.caramella[at]unipv.it

Luca Casettari


Board Member
University of Urbino Carlo Bo
6, Piazza del Rinascimento
61029 Urbino (PU)
ITALY
Luca.Casettari[at]uniurb.it

Véronique Coma


Board Member
LCPO, UMR CNRS 5629 – IPB/ENSCBP
Biopolymers & bio-based materials team
16 Avenue Pey Berland
33607 PESSAC cedex
FRANCE
veronique.coma[at]u-bordeaux.fr

Oscar Goñi Ramos


Board member
Institute of Technology
Tralee South Campus
Tralee, N/A V92CX88
IRELAND
oscar.goni[at]staff.ittralee.ie

Francisco M. Goycoolea


Board member
School of Food Science and Nutrition
University of Leeds
Leeds – LS2 9JT
UNITED KINGDOM
F.M.Goycoolea[at]leeds.ac.uk

Luminița Marin


Board Member
“Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry
Aleea Gr. Ghica Voda, 41A
700487 Iaşi
ROMANIA
lmarin[at]icmpp.ro

Marcin H. Struszczyk


Board member
Institute of Security Technologies “MORATEX”
3, M. Skłodowskiej-Curie Str.
90-505 Lodz
POLAND
mstruszczyk[at]moratex.eu

Gustav Vaaje-Kolstad


Board Member
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science
PO Box 5003
1432 AAS
NORWAY

gustav.vaaje-kolstad[at]nmbu.no

Forthcoming events

The 14th International Conference of the European Chitin Society (EUCHIS 2023) and the 15th International Conference on Chitin and Chitosan (15th ICCC) was held in Siglufjörður, Iceland, on Sept. 11 – 14th, 2023. Conference website

The 8th International Polysaccharide Conference was at the Graz University of Technology in Austria from September 17th-22nd September 2023. More information

Student Bursaries

EUCHIS will award a bursary of 300 euros each to three EUCHIS student members. The current deadline for application submission is September 30th, 2021. Please find the full terms and conditions here (PDF, 57kb).

Travel Awards for EUCHIS Conferences

A limited number of travel awards is available for graduate and postgraduate students. For information about the application procedure of, please see Newsletter # 45 (December 2019).

Poster Awards for EUCHIS Conferences

The European Chitin Society provides poster awards for the posters presented at the EUCHIS meetings since 2006.

The applications will be evaluated by the award committee. The following criteria with respect to the poster presentation will be evaluated:

1. Scientific quality
2. Quality, structure and organization of the poster presentation

The awards will be announced at the closing ceremony of the conference, and the award will subsequently be sent to the presenting author of the poster presentation. It is the responsibility of the authors of the awarded poster to reach an agreement on dividing the awarded money among the authors.

A summary of the awarded poster presentation together with a brief personal profile (including a photograph of the winner) are to be submitted by each prize winner to the EUCHIS secretary for publication in the EUCHIS Newsletter.

Posters awarded at the 10th ICCC/7th EUCHIS
Posters awarded at the 8th EUCHIS conference (2007)
Posters awarded at the 9th EUCHIS conference (2009)
Posters awarded at the 10th EUCHIS conference (2011)
Posters awarded at the 11th EUCHIS conference (2013)
Posters awarded at the 12th EUCHIS conference / 13th ICCC (2015)
Posters awarded at the 13th EUCHIS conference / 8th SIAQ (2017)

Braconnot Prize

Previous winners of the Braconnot Prize

To be awarded during the next EUCHIS conference
Deadline for submission of applications – will be updated in the lead-up to the next conference

  1. The Braconnot Prize is awarded for outstanding contributions and achievements in chitin science and for special merits in the promotion of EUCHIS.
  2. The Braconnot Prize consists of a certificate with the name of the recipient and a cheque.
  3. The Braconnot Prize is awarded every two years during the regular scientific meetings of the EUCHIS.
  4. The recipient of the Braconnot award must be no more than 36 years old during the year of the award.
  5. Every member of EUCHIS has the right to suggest an awardee to the President of the committee at any time. This suggestion must be accompanied in written form by a C.V. of the candidate, an abstract (max. 3 pages) of a thesis or publication, and a letter with arguments why the suggested candidate should be eligible for the Braconnot Prize. Candidates may not suggest themselves.
  6. The recipient of the Braconnot Prize will be selected by a committee consisting of the President of EUCHIS together with four of the EUCHIS board members selected by the President.
  7. The applicant must be a member of the EUCHIS.
  8. The committee selects the recipient of the Braconnot Prize on the basis of the doctoral/PhD thesis which has been published in an international, peer-reviewed journal in the last three years (the applicant must be the first author of the paper), and which is also announced in the EUCHIS Newsletter. The selection of the recipient by the committee is non-debatable. The Braconnot Prize may be shared by not more than two recipients.
  9. The supervisor of the thesis of a candidate who has been shorlisted may not be a member of the committee.
  10. In case of lack of funds or when no suitable candidate can be found, the Braconnot Prize may be cancelled for a particular year.
  11. As part of the award, the registration fee of the winner will be waived and travel expenses will be paid in order that the winner can attend the meeting. In return, the winner has to deliver the “Braconnot lecture” based around the topic of his/her thesis and publications to date.
    The monetary part of the Braconnot Prize would only be given if the winner attended the meeting and delivered the lecture. Failure to do so would not prevent him/her being named as the winner but would not receive the prize money.
  12. Amendments and further details of the rules are determined by the committee.
  13. These rules are a part of the Statutes of The European Chitin Society.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences - MDPI

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms

A Short Introduction of IJMS
The International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS, ISSN 1422-0067, Impact Factor: 6.208) provides an advanced forum for molecular studies in biology, chemistry and biophysics. Our aim is to provide rigorous peer review and enable rapid publication of cutting-edge research to educate and inspire the scientific community worldwide. IJMS is indexed by the Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science), MEDLINE (PubMed) and other important databases. Manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision provided to authors approximately 15.9 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 2.9 days (median values for papers published in the second half of 2022). EUCHIS has signed a collaboration agreement with IJMS.

The benefits for EUCHIS members are as follows:

• A certain discount on the article processing charges to publish in IJMS;
• Discounted publication fees for open access books in MDPI;
• Sciforum.net platform for organizing EUCHIS conferences and conference organizing services at preferential rates. EUCHIS as well as each of its members will be able to use the platform free of charge if self-managed;
• The possibility for the society and its members to post job announcements free of charge on the website of IJMS.

Please feel free to contact the society Secretary Prof. Dr. Martin G. Peter (martin.peter@uni-potsdam.de) or IJMS Editorial Office (ijms@mdpi.com) if you have any question about this collaboration or paper submission.

MDPI

Tel. +41 61 683 77 34

St. Alban-Anlage 66

Fax +41 61 302 89 18

CH-4052 Basel

Switzerland

www.mdpi.com

Advances in Chitin Science

This series of chitin proceedings books was initiated in 1996 following the 1st International Conference of the European Chitin Society, and since then 14 Volumes have been published.

Volume I. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of the European Chitin Society. Edited by A. Domard, C. Jeauniaux, R. Muzzarelli & G. Roberts. Jacques Andre Publisher, 1996, Lyon. ISBN 2-907922-40-8. (Link (zip-file, 149MB))

Volume II. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Chitin & Chitosan and 2nd International Conference of the European Chitin Society. Edited by A. Domard, G. A.F. Roberts & K.M. Vårum. Jacques Andre Publisher, 1998, Lyon. ISBN 2-907922-57-2. (Link (zip-file, 74MB))

Volume III. Proceedings of the 3rd Asia Pacific Chitin and Chitosan Symposium. Edited by R.H. Chen & H.C. Chen. The National Taiwan Ocean University, 1999, Taiwan. (Link (zip-file, 203MB))

Volume IV. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of the European Chitin Society. Edited by M.G. Peter, A. Domard & R.A.A. Muzzarelli. Universitat Potsdam, 2000, Potsdam. ISBN 3-9806494-5-8. (Link (zip-file, 78MB))

Volume V. Proceedings of the 5th Asia Pacific Chitin and Chitosan Symposium. Edited by K. Suchiva, S. Chandrkrachang, P. Methacanon & M.G. Peter. 2003, National Metals and Materials Center, Bangkok. ISBN 974-229412-7.

Volume VI. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of the European Chitin Society. Edited by K.M. Vårum, A. Domard & O. Smidsrød. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003, Trondheim. ISBN 82-471-5901-5. (Link (zip-file, 103MB))

Volume VII. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Chitin & Chitosan. Edited by I. Boucher, K. Jamieson & A. Retnakaran. 2004, Montreal.

Volume VIII. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference of the European Chitin Society. Edited by H. Struszczyk, M. G. Peter, A. Domard & H. Pospieszny. 2005, Institute of Plant Protection, Poznan. ISBN 83-89867-25-7. (Link (zip-file, 53MB))

Volume IX. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Chitin & Chitosan and 7th International Conference of the European Chitin Society. Edited by A. Domard, E. Guibal & K. M. Vårum. 2007, Montpellier (as CD-ROM) For more information contact: Eric.Guibal@ema.fr , (Link (zip-file) 57MB))

Volume X. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference of the European Chitin Society. Edited by S. Senel, K.M. Vårum, M.M. Sumnu, A.A. Hincal. 2007, Antalya. ISBN 978-975-491-250-0. (Link (zip-file, 132MB))

Volume XI. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the European Chitin Society. Edited by F. Rustichelli, C. Caramella, S. Senel, K.M. Vårum. 2009, Venice

Volume XII. Proceedings of the 5th Iberoamerican Chitin Society. Edited by T.T. Franco and M.G. Peter. 2010. School of Chemical Engineering, University of Campinas, Brazil. ISBN 978-85-64131-00-2 (on CD). (Link (zip-file, 48MB))

Volume XIII. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of the European Chitin Society. Edited by Valery Varlamov, Svetlana Bratskaya, Irina Yakovleva, Sevda Senel. Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 2011. ISBN 978-5-4253-0133-8. (Link (zip-file, 15MB))

Volume XIV. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Chitin and Chitosan and 6th Iberoamerican Chitin Symposium. Edited by Sergio Paulo Campana Filho, Marisa Masumi Beppu, Anderson Fiamingo. São Carlos, Brazil, 2014. ISBN 978-85-63191-03-8. (Link Advances only (pdf-file, 21,7 MB), Link Advances and Abstracts (zip-file, 286MB))

Abstracts 2007-2017 (Link (zip-file, 33MB))

Chitin/Chitosan Webinar Series

The current pandemic situation limits our access to scientific conferences and severely restricts scientific communication and the vital exchange of ideas and accomplishments. The European Chitin Society (EUCHIS), therefore, organizes a new webinar series, intending to provide a platform presenting research on chitin, chitosans, and the broader field of polysaccharide science as they relate to chitin and chitosans.

We hope to foster a steady scientific exchange and to bring the diverse research areas in our sciences closer together.

EUCHIS cordially invites you to join our next Webinar.

How to join: No need to register, simply click on the following link at 11am:

https://bokuvienna.zoom.us/j/94979952002 (permanent link for EUCHIS webinars)

The webinars will take place on the last Tuesday of a month, 11am (CET):


April 27
Bruno Moerschbacher – University of Münster – Structure-function relationships of chitosans: the pattern of N-acetylation
Abstract and Video (click to expand)

Chitosans are a familiy of polysaccharides differing in their degree of polymerisation (DP), fraction of acetylation (FA), and pattern of acetylation (PA). The former two structural parameters can now be analysed and controlled fairly well and “second generation chitosans” which are well defined in both DP and FA are becoming commercially available in sufficient quantities not only for research but also for the development of reliable chitosan-based products that make use of their reproducible biological activities. But this is not yet the case for the third parameter, PA. We will present our recent progress in the preparation and analysis of chitosan oligomers and polymers with defined, non-random patterns of acetylation, and on the role of PA in defining biological functionalities.

Rupert Kargl – Graz University of Technology – Methods for the processing and shaping of polysaccharide based materials


May 25
Vincent Eijsink – Norwegian University of Life Sciences – Lytic Polysaccharide MonoOxygenases (LPMOs): how chitin helped to change our views on enzymatic biomass conversion
Tadeja Katan – Graz University of Technology – Chitosan thin films for in situ glycopeptide synthesis

Video (click to expand)


June 29
Thomas Hahn – Fraunhofer IGP – Chitin extraction and chitosan production from non-marine sources

Stefan Cord-Landwehr – University of Münster – Use of chitosan modifying enzymes as analytical tools

Video (click to expand)


July 27
Francisco M. Goycoolea Valencia – University of Leeds – Chitosan-based nanomaterials for gene/drug delivery, and antibacterial control

Celina Vila – University of Santiago de Compostela – Dually crosslinked chitosan nanoparticles block quorum sensing and target bacterial growth at specific cell densities

Video (click to expand)


August 31
Marcin H. Struszczyk – Institute of Security Technologies “MORATEX” – Medical application of the chitosan in special areas of use

Video (click to expand)


September 28
Webinar break


October 26
Katja Richter – Heppe Medical Chitosan – ChitosanS in Medicine – points to be considered

Yi-Tung Lu – Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg – Engineering of stable PNIPAM-grafted chitosan / heparin multilayers for biomedical applications

Video (click to expand)


November 30


Newsletter

Newsletters 15-20, 2002-2006 (click to expand)

 

Newsletters 20-30, 2006-2011 (click to expand)

 

Membership Info

What are the benefits of beeing a member of The European Chitin Society?

As a member of The European Chitin Society you will:

  • recieve, at no extra cost, two issues per year of the Society’s newsletter or free access to the members Internet page, containing information on relevant scientific meetings, abstracts of chitin-related publications, short reviews, letters, and other information likely to be of interest for chitin research workers;
  • receive reduced registration fees for conferences organized by the Society,
  • recieve announcements of new European Community research programmes and, if re-quested, help in finding partners for joint research projects;
  • be eligible for the award of the Braconnot prize for outstanding research in the field of chitin.

 

What classes of memberships are there and what does each cost?

The annual membership fee is due in Euro only. Annual membership is always from January 1st – December 31st each year and the annual fee for the complete year is due regardless of the day of entry.

      • Active member: a national of any European state who is qualified by their interest and competence in the field of chitin: EURO 35.-.
      • Associate member: any person qualified by their interest and competence in the field of chitin but who is not a national of a European state: EURO 30.-.
      • Student member (either Active or Associate depending on nationality): on providing proof of student status and for two years after completing academic education: EURO 16.-.
      • Collective member: societies, companies or other organisations in Europe: EURO 180.-.
      • Donor member (Active) (not open to students): single payment of 10 times the regular annual fee. This guarantees lifetime membership.
      • Donor member (Associate) (not open to students): single payment of 10 times the regular annual fee. This guarantees lifetime membership.
      • Donor member (Collective) (not open to students): single payment of 10 times the regular annual fee. This guarantees 15 years membership.

If you are interested in EUCHIS, please register

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