NEWS

The 19th European-wide seminar 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). 

On 19th January 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present two talks exploring “Role of plants in carbon capture and mitigation of climate change”

Dr Thomas Parker, The James Hutton Institute, UK: “Going Underground: Understanding the Carbon Cycle Impacts of Tree Planting on Organic Soils”

 

 

 

Prof. Leena Järvi, University of Helsinki, Finland: “Improving our understanding on carbon sinks and storages of urban green areas by using different observation and modelling methods”

 

 

 

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. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrfuyopjsoHtOdd28MqaNXCCfo1oMtOXJc

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 spring 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.

We look forward to seeing you all for the 19th EPSO seminar on the 19th January 2023.

Tim George, Alan Schulman and Marie-Theres Hauser

EPSO Plant Science Seminar Series Organising Committee

Click here to read: Full EPSO news item 

Contacts:

Tim George, Hutton / UK & EPSO Board

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI & Adviser to EPSO Board

Marie-Theres Hauser BOKU / AT & EPSO Board

Calls for proposals for Horizon Europe 2023 are open! EPSO encourages its members to apply, especially to calls under the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) of Pillar I (Excellent Science), and Cluster 6 ‘Food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment’ of Pillar II (Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness).

EPSO published its updated EPSO briefing on Horizon Europe Work Programmes 2023-24 on the Members’ only Website* on 22.12.2022. It contains all the information plant scientists need in one document. It also provides additional researched information, useful tips and available final call texts published by the European Commission for 2023/24.

*Access to the Members’ only Website is restricted to EPSO active Members (not sleeping members, not external Personal Members) – please contact Sofia to get access.

Work Programmes covered in the briefing and open/opening for submission are:

Excellent Science

• ERC – European Research Council Work Programme 2023 & European Research Council Work Programme 2022
  • ERC-2023-StG: opened 12.07.2022, closed on 25.10.2022
  • ERC-2023-CoG: opened on 28.09.2022, closing 02.02.2023
  • ERC-2023-SyG: opened 13.7.2022, closed on 8.11.2022
  • ERC-2023-PoC: opened on 20.10.2022, closing 24.1., 20.4. and 14.9.2023
  • ERC-2023-AdG: opened on 8.12.2022, closing 23.05.2023

• MSCA – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action 2023-24
  • MSCA-SE-2023: opening on 5.10.2023, closing 28.2.2024
  • MSCA-SE-2024: opening on 10.10.2024, closing 5.3.2025
  • MSCA-COFUND-2023: opening on 10.10.2023, closing 8.2.2024
  • MSCA-COFUND-2024: opening on 8.10.2024, closing 6.2.2025
  • MSCA-PF-2023: opening on 12.4.2023, closing on 13.9.2023
  • MSCA-PF-2024: opening on 10.4.2024, closing on 11.9.2024
  • MSCA-DN-2023: opening on 30.5.2023, closing on 28.11.2023
  • MSCA-DN-2024: opening on 29.5.2024, closing on 27.11.2024

• INFRA – Research Infrastructures 2023-24

Global Challenges & European Industrial Competitiveness – Thematic clusters

• Cluster 1: Health
• Cluster 4: Digital, Industry and Space
• Cluster 5: Climate, Energy and Mobility
• Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment 2023-24
• Cluster 6 Opening date 22.12.2022
• Cluster 6 Deadline single stage 28.3.2023; 2-stage: S1 28.3.2023, S2 26.9.2023

Missions

• Missions

Innovative Europe

• EIC– European Innovation Council Work Programme 2023
• EIE – European Innovation Ecosystems
• EIT – European Institute of Innovation and Technology

Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area 2023-2024

Further Work Programmes are available on the Funding & Tenders portal

Wishing you success with your proposals

Karin Metzlaff, John Fitzgibbon and Odd Arne Rognli

Contact: Karin Metzlaff

EPSO is pleased to announce the publication of its 56th newsletter. The shorter public version of the Newsletter is available here. Please log in as a member and read the full version available in the members’ only section. The next edition of the EPSO newsletter will be spring 2023. Please send us your articles by early March. Happy reading!

Content of the full version

Editorial

• Our editorial article focuses on EPSO’s important role at European level of providing science advice to policymakers and how this is different from the lobbying activities performed by many Brussels based intermediary organisations. EPSO’s mission is to share the conclusions of plant science rather than lobby for a particular commercial objective.

EPSO activities

• EPSO reports on its annual General Meeting held last June in Bordeaux.
• The successful monthly EPSO Plant Science Seminar series is back after the summer break with a range of interesting topics providing a platform for experienced and talented young plant scientists to showcase their research.
• EPSO’s Working Groups report back on their activities over the past six months and what is in the pipeline for the coming months.
• As an official observer in the SusCrop ERA-Net, we report on the exciting SusCrop video contest offering a range of prizes of up to €1,000 in each of four categories on ‘What sustainable crop production means to you?’
• As the Fascination of Plants Day 2022 draws to a close, we profile just a few of the many examples that make this unique event a truly global affair.

Members’ news

• Good progress has been made on the Horizon 2020 InnCoCells project on cosmetic ingredients from sustainable plant sources.
• The CHIC project held a series of final events in Rome to round off the successful five-year Horizon 2020 project on New Plant Breeding Technologies using chicory for example in the development of water-soluble fibre for food products.
• Find out about the James Hutton Institute’s Root2Res and nitrogen fixing projects
• Wageningen Plant Sciences has a new General Director
• CRAG profiles its work on melon fruit ripening using genome editing and its study on the self-sufficiency of the female organ in plants
• New project launches include Forschungszentrum Julich’s HortiPrimed project and the Econutri project by the Agricultural University of Athens
• ETH-Zurich reports on interactions between root architecture and anatomy, and beneficial microbial associations
• A new Master course opens in Plant and Microbial Molecular Biology at the University Paris-Saclay
• An SLU academic wins the Bertebos Prize

National, European and global funding

• National Research Funding Opportunities in Portugal
• The 2023-24 Horizon Europe Work Programme is anticipated any time soon
• EPSO hosted a webinar on the Life programme with Executive Agency CINEA

Career opportunities and upcoming events

About EPSO

National funders in the European Research Area Network on Sustainable Crop Production (SusCrop ERA-net) opened the video contest on ‘what sustainable crop production means to you?’ on the occasion of the Fascination of Plants Day (FoPD) 2022. 

Please disseminate this widely as the contest is open to EVERYBODY across the world under the following four categories:

• School children & students
• Education / research institutes / academia
• Farmers
• Open category (artists, enthusiasts …)

to reflect, communicate and inspire on ‘what sustainable crop production means to you?’

The submission deadline is 18 December 2022. The first prize of each category is 1000 euro.

Information is available at the SusCrop video contest webpage.

We are looking forward to inspiring submissions

Karin Metzlaff (EPSO) and Nikki De Clercq (ILVO)

K Metzlaff, EPSO Executive Director and official observer of the SusCrop ERA-Net

N De Clercq, ILVO and Communication Leader of the SusCrop ERA-Net

Read the full news item, the call announcement (English) or the translations into Danish, Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Polish, Spanish, Turkish; and the Statement of Agreement.

Contact: Nikki De Clercq

We are happy to share with you the success you and plant scientists across the world already made possible with over 785 events in 54 countries which have been uploaded on the Fascination of Plants Day (FoPD) website https://plantday18may.org/  . The peak was on the 18^th May, with interactive events spreading into summer an autumn 2022.

 

A big thank you to you and the 61 National Coordinators!

 

Actions you can take now:

• You can still organize FoPD events in summer / autumn 2022 at your university, institute, schools, public places …… – Get inspired by the FoPD 2019 success stories
• Contact your national FoPD coordinator (listed on your country page) to upload events you did / will organise to the FoPD website https://plantday18may.org/
• Send your success stories to [email protected] .

 

Click here to read:     

• Facts and Figures FoPD 2022, 23.6.2022
• FoPD Press Release, 16.5.2022
• FoPD slide to include in your presentations to encourage more events, 23.6.2022

 

Any help needed with uploading events to the website, pls contact [email protected] .

 

Looking forward to your events and success stories 😊

Alexandra, Przemo, Trine and Karin

 

FoPD Global Coordinators Przemysław Wojtaszek (AMU / PL), Trine Hvoslef-Eide (NMBU / NO), Alexandra Barnoux and Karin Metzlaff (EPSO)

 

 

Contacts:

• Karin Metzlaff, EPSO Executive Director
• Alexandra Barnoux, EPSO Publications Officer

 

For 2022, 56 countries joined the 6^th edition of the worldwide event Fascination of Plants Day to offer over 358 plant-based outreach activities for all interested people from toddlers to grandparents. More events will come as they can be organized six months around its peak on 18 May 2022.  

All information about this plant scientists’ initiative can be accessed via www.plantday18may.org.

Fascination of Plants Day is supported world-wide by a network of National Coordinators who voluntarily promote and disseminate the activity within their countries and turn it into a success.

To organize an event in your country, contact its National Coordinator on the FoPD country page. Scientific institutions, universities, botanical gardens, and museums, together with farmers and companies, will open their doors. To enjoy the interactive events, check the same country page.

To read the full press release click here.