The predoctoral researcher, Maria Angeles Lezcano-Vega, has been awarded with a grant that will expand her training and will support the development of her research in the field of cyanobacteria.

The predoctoral researcher, Maria Angeles Lezcano-Vega, has been awarded with a grant that will expand her training and will support the development of her research in the field of cyanobacteria.

The grant has been funded under the COST Action ES1105: Cyanobacteria blooms and toxins in water resources: Occurrence, Impacts and management (CYANOCOST). These actions, funded by the European Commission, are an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology, one of the longest-running European frameworks supporting cooperation among scientists and researchers across Europe.

CYANOCOST aims to coordinate and network the on-going efforts and capabilities across Europe for the risk management of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in water bodies. Among its activities, it is the organization of "Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs)", by which exist the possibility of exchange researchers between different R&D centres associated to CYANOCOST action, for the development of research activities related to cyanobacteria.

Maria Angeles Lezcano is developing her doctoral thesis at the Institute IMDEA Water in the topic of toxic cyanobacteria from freshwater systems by using molecular methods for their biological control. She has received a mobility grant to stay with researchers from the Department of Biosciences, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland. This stay will take place during the months of April and May 2014 and will be part of her research career development, allowing her to gain skills and to exchange experiences.