International Zebrafish and Medaka Course

 I have been waiting for a year to finally participate in the FELASA-certified International Zebrafish and Medaka Course, which will take place from November 4 to 7 at the KIT in Karlsruhe. The North Campus of KIT is located in the middle of the forest and is surrounded by a fence where strict access controls take place. Since the campus was built away from civilization, it has its own water and electricity supply.
The participants of this course came from all over Germany and formed a very heterogeneous group, from animal keepers to veterinarians.

Since I have been working with zebrafish for some time, it was great to learn about new techniques and important changes in legal requirements. Some tricks might help to optimize some of the processes in our zebrafish facility. I especially liked to learn more about Medaka. The theoretical and practical part of the course was very balanced.




Overall, the course provided a lot of information on animal welfare, ethics, history, zebrafish and medaka farming, health, legal aspects and how to write animal testing applications. I strongly recommend attending the course if you are working with zebrafish or medaka. If you have some time to spare go and visit "Schloss Karlsruhe" (last picture on the right side).

VV