Final event of the Erasmus+ CBHE project ECAMPUZ

From 3 to 5 November of this year, the final event of the Erasmus+ CBHE project ECAMPUZ was held in Bukhara.

November 3, 2025 – Food Industry Day

The first day of the conference was dedicated to strengthening cooperation between representatives of the Uzbek food industry and leading scientists, experts, professors, young researchers, and students working in Uzbekistan and the European Union.

The event began with an exhibition of various food industry enterprises of Uzbekistan, where company representatives showcased their food products, provided information about their production, and introduced training and employment opportunities for young professionals.

At the end of the day, within the ECAMPUZ project’s train-the-trainer program, Uzbek young scientists, lecturers, and PhD candidates who completed up to three months of training at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and the University of Extremadura (Spain) presented the “Cluster of Advanced Topics in Food Science and Technology,” developed for employees of local food enterprises.

Food Industry Day
Date: November 3, 2025
Time: 13:00 – 18:00

November 4, 2025 – Opening Day of “The First Silk Road Conference on Food Science & Foodomics”

The event began with welcoming speeches by Professor Søren Balling Engelsen of the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), Rector of Bukhara State Technical University Sadoqat Siddikova, Coordinator of the National Erasmus+ Office in Uzbekistan Aziza Abdurakhmanova, and ECAMPUZ project coordinators Assoc. Prof. Bekzod Khakimov (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) and Prof. Zebo Babakhanova (Tashkent Institute of Chemical Technology, Uzbekistan).

Throughout the day, four internationally renowned scientists delivered keynote presentations on various topics:
Prof. Dr. Dennis Sandris Nielsen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) — “Complex phage communities control gut (im)balances and may hold the key to restore gut biosis”;
Prof. Dr. Martin Holle (Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany) — “The Road to the EU Food Market – Imports and Novel Foods”;
Prof. Dr. Sara R. Jaeger (Aarhus University, Denmark) — “What Is Sensory and Consumer Science?”;
Prof. Dr. José Manuel Amigo (University of the Basque Country, Spain; IKERBASQUE, Basque Society for the Promotion of Science, Spain) — “Hyperspectral and Multispectral Imaging Together with Artificial Intelligence: From Mars to Nanoplastics.”

Scientific sessions consisted of oral presentations and flash talks, covering key thematic areas such as Food Safety, Green Food Transition, Food Processing, and Foodomics.
During poster sessions and coffee breaks, participants strengthened collaboration and further expanded international scientific networking within the framework of the ECAMPUZ project.

Opening Day
Date: November 4, 2025
Time: 09:00 – 17:00

November 5, 2025 – Final Day of the International Scientific and Technical Conference “The First Silk Road Conference on Food Science & Foodomics”

The second day of the conference was dedicated to Foodomics and Food Processing and brought together scientists from Europe and Uzbekistan, along with young researchers.

The day began with a keynote presentation entitled “Ultra-processed Foods as Causes of Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases: Pathophysiological Mechanisms” by Prof. Mario Estevez García (University of Extremadura, Spain).

Young Uzbek scientists and students presented and discussed innovative research topics, including vitamin analysis, encapsulation in food technology, enzymatic processing, and other emerging approaches.
Scientific sessions consisted of oral presentations and flash talks. During poster sessions and coffee breaks, participants strengthened collaboration and further expanded international scientific networking within the framework of the ECAMPUZ project.

At the end of the day, an award ceremony was held, during which winners were recognized in several categories, including Best Oral Presentation, Most Innovative Research, Best Poster Presentation, Best Junior Student Presentation, and others.

As important news, Associate Professor Bekzod Khakimov announced that the MDPI journal Foods (Impact Factor: 5.1) has opened a call for papers for the Special Issue “Status of Food Science and Nutrition in Uzbekistan.” Articles are accepted in the following areas:

• Food processing

• Food raw materials

• Sensory science

• Food microbiology

• Diet–microbiome interactions

• Human nutrition

• Metabolomics

• Foodomics

The article submission process is open, and all articles should be submitted online via the MDPI Foods journal website.

At the end of the event, the establishment of the “Uzbek Society of Food Science and Technology” under the Foodomics Laboratory at the Center for Advanced Technologies was announced. All scientists, researchers, staff of scientific research institutions, and representatives of the food industry in Uzbekistan working in this field were invited to join as members.