NEWS
Stay updated on the latest developments in plant science policy and EPSO activities!
The 2nd European-wide seminar of the new series supported by the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) and aimed at the Plant Science community and its stakeholders.
TTT: The seminar will be held online each third Thursday of the month at three (CET).
In the coming months we will be on the lookout for talented plant scientists among the EPSO membership to present their findings and perspectives to the EPSO seminar series. If we approach you to talk, we hope you will be happy to support the initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity for both eminent world leaders and talented up-and-coming early career researchers to present their research to an international audience and to network with potential collaborators. If you wish to suggest a theme for one of the autumn seminars and / or nominate yourself or one of your colleagues to give a seminar, we most welcome your suggestions. Please contact Tim George ([email protected]) to provide your name and potential talk title.
On April 15th 2021 at 15:00 (CET) we will present talks exploring The Wonderful World of Plant Microbe Interactions:
Prof Corné M.J. Pieterse, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
“The plant microbiome and plant health”
Prof Paola Bonfante, University of Turin, Italy
“Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: living in between plants and endobacteria”
Prof Gabriel Castrillo, University of Nottingham, UK
“Coordination between the microbiota and the root endodermis is required for plant mineral nutrient homeostasis”
The seminars will be hosted on Zoom and last approximately 1.5 hours. Numbers will be limited to 300 attendees and therefore please register early if you would like to join. There will be ample opportunities to ask questions and join the debate. So please join us to support this new and exciting initiative for European Plant Science by following this link just prior to the start of the seminar.
EPSO members register in advance for this meeting: https://helsinki.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Mld-uurjgvGtABFFBvwfl9444gxewj80EL
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We look forward to seeing you all for the 2nd EPSO seminar on the 15th April 2021
Tim George, Alan Schulman and Emily Breeze
EPSO Plant Science Seminar Series Organising Committee
Click here to read: Full EPSO news item 31.3.2021
Contacts:
- Tim George, Hutton / UK & EPSO Board
- Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI & EPSO President
- Emily Breeze, Warwick University / UK & EPSO Representative
We start with two senior scientists exploring the role Genome Editing has to play in modern plant sciences and its potential to help tackle some of the most pressing global issues facing people today.
TTT: The seminar will be held online each third Thursday of the month at three (CET).
In the coming months we will be on the lookout for talented plant scientists among the EPSO membership to present their findings and perspectives to the EPSO seminar series. If we approach you to talk, we hope you will be happy to support the initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity for both eminent world leaders and talented up-and-coming early career researchers to present their research to an international audience and to network with potential collaborators. If you wish to nominate yourself or one of your colleagues to give a seminar, we most welcome your suggestions. Please contact Tim George ([email protected]) to provide your name and potential talk title.
In the inaugural seminar we will present talks from:
Prof. Holger Puchta, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Germany
“Applying CRISPR/Cas to Plants: From Gene Editing to Chromosome Engineering”
https://www.botanik.kit.edu/molbio/14_146.php
Dr. René Smulders, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
“Opportunities of gene editing for breeding crop varieties that fit in sustainable agriculture”
https://www.wur.nl/en/Persons/Rene-dr.-MJM-Rene-Smulders.htm
The seminars will be hosted on Zoom and last approximately 1.5 hours. Numbers will be limited to 300 attendees and therefore please register early if you would like to join. There will be ample opportunities to ask questions and join the debate. So please join us to support this new and exciting initiative for European Plant Science by following this link just prior to the start of the seminar.
Register in advance for this meeting: https://helsinki.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Mrdu6oqTssGtydAcONLhkSdoTAA400iU5F
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We look forward to seeing you all for the inaugural EPSO seminar on the 18th March 2021
Tim George, Alan Schulman and Emily Breeze
EPSO Plant Science Seminar Series Organising Committee
Click here to read: Full EPSO news item 8.3.2021
Contacts:
- Tim George, Hutton / UK & EPSO Board
- Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI & EPSO President
- Emily Breeze, Warwick University / UK & EPSO Representative
ERC 2021 is the first Work Programme under Horizon Europe, Europe’s new Framework Programme for Research and Innovation for 2021-2027 to be published. It includes three main calls for proposals for frontier research actions for a total amount of €1.9 billion.
Over the entire long-term EU budget 2021-2027 of €95,5 Billion in current prices (accounting for inflation), the European Research Council is set to receive over €16 billion from Horizon Europe, which represents an increase of 22% vis-à-vis Horizon 2020. Thus, the ERC will benefit from the biggest single budget line in Horizon Europe.
EPSO encourages its members to apply for ERC 2021 calls following the calendar below.
| ERC
|
Starting Grant | Consolidator Grant | Advanced Grant |
| Call identifier | ERC-2021-StG | ERC-2021-CoG | ERC-2021-AdG |
| Opening date | 25/02/2021 | 11/03/2021 | 20/05/2021 |
| Deadline(s) | 24/03/2021 | 20/04/2021 | 31/08/2021 |
The Synergy Grants are not available under the 2021 Work Programme but will be likely awarded again as from Work Programme 2022. Moreover, the ERC Proof-of-Concept Grant is currently under revision by the ERC Scientific Council and does not appear in 2021 Work Programme.
Wishing you success with your proposals
Karin Metzlaff, Alexandra Barnoux and Alan Schulman
Links:
- EC announcement and ERC 2021 Work Programme, 02.2021
- Briefing on the Horizon Europe, ERC Work Programme 2021, focus for EPSO Members
Contacts: Karin Metzlaff and Alexandra Barnoux
On 3 November 2020 EPSO member-scientists and policy makers from ten countries across Europe held the third open-minded, informal meeting to assess the situation for research and development on New Plant Breeding Technologies (NPBTs) after the ruling of the ECJ in July 2018.
They exchanged views on the current situation of genome editing (GE) in Europe and possible next steps to enable Europe to better address climate change, achieve food and nutritional security, and establish a sustainable agriculture in Europe and world-wide. Such steps should bring the discussion forward on the EU legislation and facilitating potential flagships. The meeting was held under Chatham House Rules.
The next meeting will be held in May 2021.
As explained in our statement of 19.2.2019, EPSO offers to collaborate with policy makers to develop an appropriate future-ready regulation to enable the European public sector, small- and medium-sized companies and farmers to contribute more comprehensively to food and nutritional security and to use all available tools to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture. Notwithstanding the technical option retained, EPSO supports a science-based revision of the present European legislation establishing a more proportionate product-based risk assessment. EPSO is also willing to contribute to the societal debate on genome editing and to communicate in a fact-based and yet accessible manner about innovative plant science and its societal role.
Ralf Wilhelm, Jens Sundstrom, Alan Schulman, Ernst van den Ende and Karin Metzlaff
Contacts:
- Ralf Wilhelm & Jens Sundstrom, EPSO Chairs WG Agricultural Technologies
- Alan Schulman, EPSO President
- Ernst van den Ende, EPSO Board
- Karin Metzlaff, EPSO Executive Director
EPSO particularly supports the ambition that ‘R&I in the biodiversity domain will recognize that ecological, social and technological changes go hand in hand and co-evolve, and to focus on this alignment and breakdown of silos.’
EPSO appreciates that the draft SRIA links environmental sustainability, food and nutritional security, and human health. EPSO urges application of this approach across the SRIA as a whole.
Concepts EPSO suggests including, such as ‘diverse crops for diverse diets and human health and resilient production’, as well as ‘combined approaches on crop improvement, crop management and crop processing’, will enable interdisciplinary approaches with co-benefits in Europe and beyond.
The partnership rightly defines the goals and should lead the process to achieve these, leaving the pathways to reach these open – based on open and transparent approaches ranging from research to innovation, public procurement to legislation.
We provide further insight on how these concepts can benefit the evolving SRIA and its implementation and how plant scientists can contribute to this in the Annex.
Click here to read: Full EPSO statement 29.1.2021
Contacts:
- Karin Metzlaff, EPSO, BE
- Alan Schulman, LUKE, FI & EPSO President
The European Commission announced today, 26.1.2021, that further to the announcement of the delays of ERC calls, a pre-publication on the ERC website of relevant DRAFT documents for 2021 ERC calls is in preparation. The ERC is aiming to have these documents online by the end of January or beginning of February. In response to many queries on the subject, prospective applicants and panel members should note that ERC is striving to preserve the deadlines for submission of proposals and the evaluation calendar as close as possible to that initially planned.
As the ERC Work Programme 2021 is foreseen to have only very few changes compared to that from 2020, EPSO encourages its members to use the ERC WP 2020 information to already draft their ERC proposals, particularly those for Starting Grant and Consolidator Grant, and to only update their proposals slightly once the calls are published.
Wishing you success with your proposals
Karin Metzlaff, Alexandra Barnoux and Alan Schulman
Links: EC announcement, 26.1.2021 Update – 2021 Work Programme and first calls
Contacts: Karin Metzlaff and Alexandra Barnoux