On the 6th of November we celebrated our annual 3Rs day. This year, the theme was the 3Hs, an initiative created by researchers at the University of Bristol that aims to refine Housing, Handling and Habituation protocols to improve animal welfare and the quality of research using rodents. Emma Robinson, leader of the 3Hs initiative, opened the event with a talk on several of the protocols they have developed including voluntary oral dosing and habituation to restraint. Carl Tucker, the manager of our aquatic facilities, discussed best practice in management of zebrafish colonies. Roni Kirkpatrick, NVS at the LARIF, illustrated with some great videos the habituation protocols she has developed for sheep. And Vincent Bombail gave an update on his work on rat tickling, including some data on how female rats preferred being tickled with fewer pins than males.We also had 11 great presentations/posters competing for our 3Rs Prize, comprising a wide range of developments, from replacements using human tissue to refinements in husbandry in rodents and aquatic species (including axolotls). All of them of outstanding quality and a sign that the 3Rs are in good health at the University of Edinburgh!Congratulations to the 3Rs Prize Winners:1st place: Laura Arbanas, with 'Spot the difference: a non-invasive assay for sex-genotyping axolotls'2nd place: Victoria Reid, with 'Impact of Playpen Activities on Health and Longevity in Aging Rat Cohorts'3rd place: Anabel Martinez Lyons with 'Developing human LiverACE spheroids to model fatty liver disease'Some links of interest: 3Hs InitiativeRegistered Report: Refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats Publication date 11 Nov, 2025
