Visit of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Van Tuan Tran and Collaborators

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Van-Tuan Tran visited our laboratory following his presentation at the 17th European Conference on Fungal Genetics (2–5 March 2025, Dublin, Ireland), where he spoke about the Ireland–Vietnam Coffee Project. During his visit to the Fungal Genetics and Secondary Metabolism Laboratory, led by Prof. Ozgur Bayram, Dr. Tran also delivered a talk to 4th year students of Biology and Biomedical Sciences. The visit included fruitful discussions on the fungal strains to be used in the project, as well as a detailed project presentation in our office. Alongside Dr. Tran, our collaborators also joined the visit and contributed to student engagement and scientific exchange:
• Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chris Koon Hoo Wong (University of Macau)
• Assoc. Prof. Dr. James Arnone (Le Moyne College, NYC, USA)
Both collaborators also delivered research-rich talks to 4th year students, further enriching the academic experience.

Photo: From left to right – Dr. Van-Tuan Tran, Dr. James Arnone, Dr. Chris Wong, and Prof. Dr. Ozgur Bayram

Photo: Dr. Tran is delivering his talk to 4th year students

Photo: Prof. Bayram and Dr. Tran during Laboratory visit.

Photo: Dr. Tran and Prof. Bayram are discussing the coffee project.

Photo: A Vietnamese research team visits Puc Sinh Coffee Company to collect coffee side stream samples for analysis (4th November 2025).

Photo: Members of the Vietnamese research team transport plastic canisters for collecting coffee side stream materials at Puc Sinh Coffee Company (4th November 2025).

Photo: Researchers inspect storage tanks holding liquid side streams generated from coffee pulp processing.

Photo: Researchers examine coffee beans undergoing open-air drying at the processing site.

Photo: Coffee processing side stream samples are filled into PET bottles for storage at -20°C.

Photo: Researchers freeze coffee side stream samples to ensure proper preservation for subsequent laboratory analyses.

Photo: In addition to postdoctoral researchers Dr. Hanh-Dung Thai and Dr. Han My Tran, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Eszter Sas joined the team in September 2025. The whole team, including PIs Prof. Ozgur Bayram and Assoc. Prof. Van Tuan Tran, held their first full team meeting and progress discussion on 26 September 2025 via Zoom.