EPSO appreciates that among cluster 6 impacts ‘ensuring food and nutrition security’ (incl. fostering a dietary shift) as well as ‘biodiversity’ including ‘increasing agrobiodiversity’ are considered now throughout the strategy.  Under the expected impact #28 ‘Putting biodiversity on a path to recovery, and protecting and restoring ecosystems and their services’, “increase agrobiodiversity – e.g. by […]

The 32nd Europe-wide seminar of the 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).  On 18th April 2024 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “Potential of […]

EPSO initiated the YPSA awards to encourage the development of ideas and imaginative thinking in the plant sciences.  EPSO is happy to announce the two winners of the fourth EPSO Young Plant Scientist Award: Priyanka Chopra was selected for her fundamental plant research and Benjamin Kogelmann for his applied plant research.  Priyanka and Benjamin will […]

  The two co-funded European Partnerships “Agroecology” and “Animal Health and Welfare” have recently started and held a joint launch event together with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture on 28.2.2024. The Agroecology Partnership (coordinated by Projektträger Jülich) published its first public call for proposals under the title “Fostering agroecology at farm and landscape levels“. […]

The 31st Europe-wide seminar of the 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).  On 21st March 2024 at 15:00 (CET) we will present two talks exploring “Participatory […]

  The Bayer Foundation is seeking exceptional young scientists who see collaboration as an opportunity to increase the impact of their research and are seeking to build a global scientific network. Master & PhD students from all fields of the natural sciences or data science whose research has fundamental or applied relevance to the crop […]

EPSO welcomes the position adopted by a plenary vote of the European Parliament on New Genomic Techniques (NGT). The vote was held on the proposal by the European Commission, presented on July 5th 2023, to adopt new legislation regarding plants bred using certain NGTs such as CRISPR/Cas9. According to the proposal, NGT plants will be […]

The 30th Europe-wide seminar of the 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). On 15th February 2024 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “Harnessing […]

  EMBO launches a new award: The EMBO Lab Sustainability Award will recognise new and significant contributions to the development of sustainable wet and dry labs with a focus on their environmental impact. The award will be made to an individual representing the initiative or project. The award winner will have the opportunity to present […]

The EC proposed to introduce a new classification called NGT, which encompasses genome-edited plants and plants with targeted insertions of new DNA, as long as the DNA originates from the same species or a crossable species. The EC suggest a more relaxed regulation of NGT plants compared to traditionally genetically modified organisms, provided that the […]

The 29th Europe-wide seminar of the 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). On 18th January 2024 at 15:00 (CET) we will present two talks exploring the […]

  The fascinating world of plants will be once more in the spotlight thanks to the celebration of the seventh international Fascination of Plants Day on and around May 18th 2024. This global campaign aims to plant virtual and constantly germinating seeds in the collective intelligence of the public, recalling that plant science is of […]

The 28th Europe-wide seminar of the 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). On 14th December 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “The […]

The EPSO Working Group on Nutritional Security finalised its programme for its fourth workshop taking place online on the 4th December 2023. The food nutritional security goal foresees to ensure sufficient, safe, highly nutritious food, sustain local communities and foster correct lifestyles and healthy ageing for all. The current climate change and other stress factors, […]

EPSO is pleased to announce the publication of its 58th newsletter. The shorter public version of the Newsletter is available here. EPSO members can log in and read the full version available in the Members’ Only section. The next edition of the EPSO newsletter will be published in spring 2024. Please send us your articles by […]

EPSO welcomes the move towards a more proportionate regulatory environment for NGT crops. EPSO acknowledges that the proposal is a balanced compromise and supports most of its content, especially the quasi-equivalence of NGT1 plants with conventionally bred ones and the omission of additional labelling requirements beyond the seed labelling. EPSO has identified a few elements […]

  European Learned Societies and Research Organisations collaborate supporting all fields of science and at a European level collaborate in the Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) to engage in European science strategies and policies. They published on 26.10.2023 their main recommendations on Horizon Europe and towards FP10:  Shield Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and the European […]

The 27th Europe-wide seminar of the 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).  On 16th November 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “The […]

  EPSO wishes to encourage the development of ideas and imaginative thinking in plant science and is therefore offering two awards to young scientists to attend the Science Day (12.6.2024) of the EPSO General Meeting to be held in Oeiras, Portugal and present their research to EPSO’s representatives from across Europe. The awards will cover […]

The 26th Europe-wide seminar of the 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).  On 19th October 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “Plants […]

  The statement describes the scientific breakthroughs that need to be achieved during the next decade to foster an improved, and more directly applicable, knowledge on how trees and forests react to environmental changes – with climate and global change obviously looming large in the landscape. Forest science actions for the next decade we have […]

EPSO has published a new briefing for plant scientists: on the Life Programme Call 2023.         In addition, we updated our Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-24 Briefing to take into account the latest information on the UK and New Zealand’s association to the programme, the publication of the European Research Council Work […]

The 25th Europe-wide seminar of the series 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 21st  September 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “Epigenetic regulation […]

  National funders in the European Research Area Network on Sustainable Crop Production (SusCrop ERA-net) together with experts from science and stakeholders developed (supported by 2 workshops)  the white paper on ‘Future Research Needs in Sustainable Agriculture’.  The four main research needs are: Topic 1: Knowledge generation in relation to nutritional value and health benefits […]

Weave is a bottom-up, cross-European initiative developed by European research funders organised in Science Europe to support excellent collaborative research projects across borders. Weave currently comprises national and regional research funders from 11 European countries: AT, BE, CZ, DE, LUX, HR, NO, PL, SV, SE and CH. As chair of the ISE (Initiative for Science […]

  The EPSO Working Group on Plants and Microbiomes has the pleasure to announce that its fifth workshop will take place in Vienna on 11-12 December 2023. The workshop has three main themes: WG progress and reports on major (national & EU) projects and initiatives Development of best practices and recommendations Topic 1 – Culture […]

  Plants comprise the key component for direct or indirect human nutrition. Agriculture must be highly productive and sustainable in order to meet the increasing demand for food, feed, fuel and fibre to support a rapidly growing global human population, as well as reach higher quality providing health benefits. As a result of the large […]

EPSO welcomes the proposal and sees the move towards a proportionate, more product-based regulatory environment, with evaluation on a case-by-case basis, as an important step into the future. It will enable Category-1 NGTs (NGT1), which cannot be distinguished from conventional plants produced by random mutagenesis, to make a substantial contribution to the Farm-to-Fork and Biodiversity […]

  The EPSO Working Group on Nutritional Security finalised its statement on Nutritional Security and has the pleasure to announce its fourth workshop will take place online on 4th December 2023 Nutritional Security Statement:  Plant research and innovation can contribute through four main paths to achieve Nutritional Security (NS): Underutilised nutritious fruit, vegetable, and pulse […]

The 24th Europe-wide seminar of the series 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). This time exceptionally one week later.   On 15th June 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present […]

EPSO is pleased to announce the publication of its 57th newsletter. The shorter public version of the Newsletter is available here. EPSO members can log in and read the full version available in the Members’ Only section. The next edition of the EPSO newsletter will be autumn 2023. Please send us your articles by early November. […]

The 23rd Europe-wide seminar of the series 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). This time exceptionally one week later.   On 25th May 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present […]

The 22nd Europe-wide seminar of the series by the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) 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 20th April 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “Frontiers in the Plant […]

The EPSO Working Group on Future Proofed Crops is pleased to announce that its first workshop will take place online on 13 July 2023. This first workshop has three aims. Firstly, we will hear brief introductions from each participant to become familiar with each other and start networking scientists in the WG referring to the […]

On 24th May 2022 EPSO member-scientists and policy-makers from sixteen countries across Europe held the sixth 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 […]

EPSO initiated the YPSA awards to encourage the development of ideas and imaginative thinking in plant sciences.  EPSO is happy to announce the two winners of the fourth EPSO Young Plant Scientist Award: Jhon Venegas-Molina was selected for his fundamental plant research and Maria-Estefania Lopez Ortiz for her applied plant research.  Jhon and Maria-Estefania will […]

The 21st Europe-wide seminar of the series 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 16th March 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “Aspects of Plant […]

Today we are delighted to publish our Fascination of Plants Day 2022 Success Stories which provide an insight into the wide range of inspiring events about plants held across the world last year. The sixth biennial international Fascination of Plants Day was a huge global success with over 800 interactive events across 54 countries engaging […]

EPSO welcomes the European Commission consultation and provides input on the achievements and suggests where improve Horizon Europe and the next Framework Programme (FP) to have a higher impact.  The European Research and Innovation FPs are crucial to enable scientists and innovators across Europe to collaborate to generate knowledge, to apply this knowledge to address […]

The Bayer Foundation is seeking exceptional young scientists who see collaboration as an opportunity to increase the impact of their research and are seeking to build a global scientific network. Master & PhD students from all fields of the natural sciences or data science whose research has fundamental or applied relevance to the crop science […]

The 20th European-wide seminar of the series 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 16th February 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present two talks exploring “Development of Plant […]

The CBE Joint Undertaking allocates €215.5 million in its 2023 WP to advancing competitive circular bio-based industries in Europe across 18 topics. Europe’s climate targets for 2030 and increasing Europe’s strategic autonomy are the twin objectives of the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) in the annual Work Programme for 2023 published recently. Approved […]

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 […]

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 […]

Yesterday afternoon’s official publication contains the WPs for Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Research Infrastructures; Clusters 1-6; Missions; the European Innovation Ecosystems, and widening participation and strengthening the ERA. The published Horizon Europe Work Programmes 2023-24 are the legally binding versions replacing the pre-published versions released last week. Horizon Europe Work Programme & call documents Cluster […]

In the submission to the DG SANTE public consultation on plants produced by NGTs, EPSO reiterated previous positions and pointed out that: In relation to NGTs, the current biosafety legislation is no longer fit for purpose and needs adaptation to scientific and technological progress. Since there is no difference between mutations produced using NGTs and […]

The 18th Europe-wide seminar of the 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).  On 15th December 2022 at 15:00 (CET) we will present two talks exploring “Remote […]

The pre-publication contains the WPs for Marie Curie (MSCA), Research Infrastructure; Clusters 1-2 and 4-6; Missions; and the European Innovation Ecosystems. The pre-published Horizon Europe Work Programmes 2023-24 are made public before the adoption of the work programme to provide potential participants with the currently expected main lines of this work programme. Only the adopted […]

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 […]

The International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy (IACGB) is an independent think tank composed of about forty high-level bioeconomy leaders and experts from all hemispheres, representing different backgrounds and expertise. While the members of the IACGB serve in their personal capacity, many of them also advise the bioeconomy landscapes and governments of the countries or […]

We would like to announce the seventeenth of our Europe-wide seminar series by the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) and aimed at the Plant Science community and its stakeholders. In our second year, we continue to provide a stimulating set of seminars once a month on a hot and/or emerging topic in plant science, giving […]

EPSO welcomes the approach to evaluate organisms on a case-by-case basis. EPSO notes that the suggested criteria, triggered by the breeding technique, will not allow for the discrimination between plants produced by targeted mutagenesis and identical plants produced by random mutagenesis. EFSA has developed criteria – for consideration – for the risk assessment of plants […]

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 […]

EPSO wishes to encourage the development of ideas and imaginative thinking in the plant sciences and, therefore, offers two awards to young scientists to attending the Science Day of the EPSO General Meeting to be held in a city of a member (in Europe) in June 2023. The awards will cover registration and travel and […]

The 16th European-wide seminar of the series 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 20th October 2022 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring the “On […]

On 17 May 2022, the European Commission launched the 2022 LIFE Call, with a budget of 755.5 million €. The deadline for Standard Action projects (SAPs), the most relevant instrument for plant scientists, is 4 October 2022. Other deadlines are spread from September 2022 to March 2023 depending on the call. LIFE is the EU’s funding instrument for […]

This call will cover the following three non-exclusive research themes: Innovation and harmonisation of methods and tools for collection and management of biodiversity monitoring data Addressing knowledge gaps on biodiversity status, dynamics, and trends to reverse biodiversity loss Making use of available biodiversity monitoring data All environments (i.e. terrestrial, inland freshwater including wetlands, and marine) […]

The 15th European-wide seminar of the series 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 15th September 2022 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring the […]

While the plan contains all the well-known grant schemes: Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and Synergy Grants, there are also new elements: The budget for the Proof of Concept grant scheme will increase from €25 million to €30 million Two additional grounds for extension of the eligibility windows for the candidates for Starting and Consolidator Grants will […]

On 17 May 2022, the EC launched the 2022 LIFE Call, with a dedicated budget for LIFE of €755.5 million, the deadlines are going from September 2022 to March 2023 depending on the call. LIFE is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. It is not part of the Horizon Europe programme, but […]

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 18th May, with interactive events spreading into summer an autumn […]

The EPSO Working Group on Plant Health has the pleasure to announce the programme for its first workshop to take place online on 5 July 2022, 10:00 – 15:40. This first workshop has three aims. First, we will hear short introductions from each participant to get familiar with each other and start networking scientists in […]

The 14th European-wide seminar of the series supported by the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) and aimed at the Plant Science community and its stakeholders. TTT: usually, the seminar will be held online each third Thursday of the month at three (CET). This time it will be exceptionally on the fourth Thursday as the EPSO […]

For 2022, 56 countries joined the 6th 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 […]

The 13th European-wide seminar of the 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).   On 19th May 2022 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks […]

EPSO highlights three funding programmes supporting research and policy implementation : 1) Weave , a bottom-up, cross-European initiative by national funders to support excellent collaborative research; 2) COST, providing networking for researchers, for which you are invited to the EPSO-COST webinar on 29.4.2022 at 10 am (CET); and 3) LIFE supporting policy implementation in the fields of environment […]

EPSO is pleased to announce that the 55th issue of EPSO News for Spring 2022 is now available. EPSO encourages scientists building a better Europe and world while strengthening collaboration and integration between Western and Ukrainian research institutions, universities and scientific organisations in the context of the war in Ukraine. EPSO highlights three funding programmes: […]

The EPSO Nutritional Security Working Group will discuss and contribute to defining new paths and solutions for resilient and sustainable production systems using innovative solutions in the food and nutrition area. Plant-based foods have received remarkable attention during recent decades in nutrition research, due to the biological activities recognized for many classes of phytochemicals and […]

EPSO is pleased to announce the start of its new Working Group ‘Plant Health’. It will focus on the impact of pathogens and pests onto plants and plant protection in agriculture, forestry and the natural (non-human made) environment. It encompasses the continuum from basic to applied research. It will link for instance to our Future […]

Plants comprise the key component for -direct or indirect- human nutrition. Agriculture must be highly productive in order to meet the increasing demand for food, feed, fuel and fibre to support a rapidly growing global human population, as well as reach higher quality providing health benefits. Because of the large areas devoted to agriculture and […]

The 12th European-wide seminar of the 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).   On 21st April 2022 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring […]

On 4 November 2021 EPSO member-scientists and policy makers from seventeen countries across Europe held the fifth 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 […]

The call aims to generate knowledge on how agrobiodiversity can improve resilience of agroecosystems, especially those most at risk, reinvigorate farming practices to increase ecological connectivity and improve biodiversity at landscape level, and to monitor and identify the opportunities and obstacles to diversification. Proposals submitted to the Call must address one of the three following […]

In the last weeks, we have witnessed the incomprehensible and unimaginable descend on Europe for the first time in more than 80 years: an unprovoked, brutal, full-scale war on one of the European family of nations, Ukraine, and its people by its neighbour, the Russian Federation. As you see in our statement form 28.2.2022, while […]

The EPSO Working Group on Plants and Microbiomes has the pleasure to announce its fourth workshop to take place online on 8 April 2022, 10:00 – 16:15. This fourth workshop has two aims. First, we will hear highlights from (multi-)national plants and microbiomes research and innovation from our Working Group members. Second, we will discuss […]

The call aims to generate knowledge on how agrobiodiversity can improve resilience of agroecosystems, especially those most at risk, reinvigorate farming practices to increase ecological connectivity and improve biodiversity at landscape level, and to monitor and identify the opportunities and obstacles to diversification. Proposals submitted to the Call must address one of the three following […]

The 11th European-wide seminar of the 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).   On 17th March 2022 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring […]

The Bayer Foundation is seeking exceptional young scientists who see collaboration as an opportunity to increase the impact of their research and are seeking to build a global scientific network. Master & PhD students from all fields of the natural sciences or data science whose research has fundamental or applied relevance to the crop science […]

In the last few days, we have witnessed the incomprehensible and unimaginable descend on Europe for the first time in more than 80 years: an unprovoked, brutal, full-scale war on one of the European family of nations, Ukraine, and its people by its neighbour, the Russian Federation. While violating several international treaties securing Ukraine’s border, […]

The IACGB is an independent think tank of forty high-level policy experts and drivers of the bioeconomy worldwide. As members of the International Advisory Board on Global Bioeconomy and of EPSO, we want to inform EPSO members about the new IACGB homepage http://www.iacgb.net/. It provides broad information on the goals, activities and members of the […]

The 10th European-wide seminar of the 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).   On 17th February 2022 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks […]

EPSO members value the EPSO career page as they often find their final succeeding candidates through the EPSO career page. With this success in mind, EPSO encourages all its members to disseminate their job offers through the EPSO jobs page to find their next team members at all career stages – from PhD students to […]

The 2nd round of Mission Boards will have the role of advising on the implementation of the EU Missions under Horizon Europe 2021-2027. The five Mission Boards will have up to 15 independent top experts for each Mission. The European Commission (EC) published the call for experts on 5.1.2022. The deadline for applications is 02 […]

The 9th European-wide seminar of the 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).   On 20th January 2022 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring the […]

The fascinating world of plants will be once more in the spotlight thanks to the celebration of the sixth Fascination of Plants Day on and around May 18th 2022. This coordinated activity aims to plant virtual and constantly germinating seeds in the collective mind of people, recalling that plant science is of critical significance to […]

EPSO presents its offer to contribute to Food and Nutritional Security, environmental sustainability and Human health for society and the genomics revolution through concepts such as “diverse crops for diverse diets, human health, and resilient production’, as well as articles on its successful Plant Science Seminar Series launched this year and its participation in the […]

EPSO members can enjoy the recordings and use them for future work and to write competitive proposals for European and other funding calls. Recordings of the EPSO sessions at the Plant Biology Europe 2021 conference are now available on the EPSO members only website [link] for three months. The joint conference of EPSO and FESPB […]

The 8th European-wide seminar of the 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).   On 16th December 2021 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring […]

Biodiversity is one of the destinations of the Horizon Europe (HE) Work Programmes in cluster 6 ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’ and the focus of the Biodiversity Partnership in HE in order to achieve the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 to build the bridge between science, policy and practice. Biodiversa+ is the co-funded […]

EPSO is pleased to announce the start of its new Working Group ‘Future Proofed Crops’. It will focus on adapting our crops to the shifting climate, to improve abiotic stress, photosynthesis and resource use efficiency of crops, and to stably increase crop yield and – via the link to our Nutritional Security WG crop nutritional […]

Calls for proposals for Horizon Europe 2022 are open. EPSO encourages its members to apply, especially to calls under the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Slodowska-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 […]

The 7th 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).   On 18th November 2021 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three […]

EPSO welcomes the initiative taken by the European Commission to adjust the regulation on NGT and promote NGT for plant breeding in the European Union (EU). Taking into account recent and ongoing research activities, EPSO would like to provide the following feedback to the Inception Impact Assessment (IIA): Criteria for sustainability should refer to all […]

The European Commission is organizing info days on the Horizon Europe 2022 calls Cluster 6, the one most relevant to plant scientists, under which 77 topics will be open from 28.10.2021 on. The programme will focus on: Raising awareness about the key aspects of HE proposal preparation and the evaluation process. Giving an insight about […]

The 6th 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).   On 21st October 2021 at 15:00 (CET) we will present two talks […]

On 14 May 2021 EPSO member-scientists and policy makers from sixteen countries across Europe held the fourth 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 […]

The updated EPSO Briefing on the Horizon Europe Work Programmes 2021-22 has been published on the Members’ only website*. It contains all information for plant scientists already available in one document, It provides you as well additional researched information and final call texts published by the European Commission since 15 June 2021. Updates concern  the […]

InnCoCells – Innovative high-value cosmetic products from plants and plant cells – is a four-year collaborative research and innovation project that aims to revolutionize the way cosmetic ingredients are discovered, manufactured and developed into validated cosmetic products. For the next four years, 17 partners, representing 12 countries in Europe will be working together to develop […]

The report concludes that ‘Agricultural support Is not providing desirable results for sustainability and human health, but repurposing it can be a game changer. It offers governments an opportunity to optimize the sue of scare public resources to transform food systems in ways that make them not only more efficient, but also more supportive of […]

The CHIC project aims to develop sets of new chicory varieties to produce, on one hand, more and healthier inulin food fiber and, on the other hand, identify and produce medicinal terpenes in sufficient amounts. These varieties are developed via genome editing. Safety, socio-economic and environmental impact as well as stakeholders’ needs and concerns when […]

The report summarises the current status, goals and next steps in plants and microbiomes research. It serves the science community to further advance the field and improve collaboration. It provides recommendations as science advice to policy to the European Commission and national research and innovation funders. There are major national initiatives going on, reported were […]

The 5th 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). On 16th September 2021 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring […]

Building on the discussions from the June meeting, the September meeting of this WG will prepare a statement on research needs, discuss potential proposals to Horizon Europe 2022 calls and prepare a statement on the new EU Forest Strategy. The meeting intends to increase collaborations between the working group members both bi-and multi-lateral. In addition, […]

Our climate is changing and the world population is growing to an estimated 10 billion people by 2050. This may cause serious problems in global food supply, protection of the environment and safeguarding Earth’s biodiversity. To face this challenge, agriculture will have to adapt and a key element in this will be the development of […]

18 countries with which association negotiations are being processed, or where association is imminent: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and UK. The EC aims for ratification of the association agreements on Horizon Europe association giving third countries access to […]

These three aspects are strongly interconnected and tackling them together will improve European R&I capabilities well beyond the time span of this framework programme. Considering the relatively low funding budgeted for Horizon Europe (i.e., no substantial increase with respect to H2020), it is important to address from the beginning structural features to make it effective […]

See the programme. You can still register at https://europlantbiology2020.org/registration/ and best notify the organisers by email [email protected] to get quick access. Science themes include for example: Plant performance under abiotic stress (incl. adaptation to climate change), Cell signaling in plants, Plant Metabolism and bioactive compounds (incl. crop improvement for healthy diet), Plants in extreme environments, […]

These official calls, in combination with hints from the EPSO Brief on the Draft Work Programme which was published on the members only website 5.5.2021, can further advance your proposals. You find in the EPSO Brief on pages 39-43 the cluster topics relevant for plant scientists – this will help you to find the full […]

The Info Days will be open for participation without prior registration. During the event, prospective applicants and stakeholders of EU research and innovation get information and can ask questions about main funding instruments and the first Horizon Europe calls for proposals. During the 10 Info Days nine topics will be addressed: 28 June: Infrastructures 29 & […]

The 4th 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). On 17th June 2021 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring […]

The Strategic Plan outlined for 2021-2026 will help accelerate access to and benefit sharing from these resources that include seed and other plant collections, along with provenance and characterization data, so they can be used for the sustainable production of food, feed, fiber, medicines, and renewable natural products. Available variation can be harnessed to deliver […]

Research on carotenoids is crucial to solve the global challenge of producing health-promoting sustainable foods. The article, published in Progress in Lipid Research (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plipres.2018.04.004), reviews the biosynthesis of carotenoids in plants and other organisms, highlights their importance in agro-food and health and outlines further research needs. It is one of the outcomes of the COST […]

The EPSO Briefing on the Horizon Europe Draft Work Programmes 2021-22 has been published on the Members’ only Website*.  It contains all information for plant scientists already available in one document, It provides you as well additional researched information and final call texts already available.  *Access to the Members’ only Website is restricted to EPSO active Members (not sleeping members, […]

The 3rd 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). On 20th May 2021 at 15:00 (CET) we will present talks exploring ‘New […]

The study cites the substantial link between innovation in plant science and the ambitious goals of the EU claimed in The Green Deal and its Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, which is greatly supported by EPSO. The use of NGTs in plants can support the transition to a resilient, sustainable and secure agriculture for […]

EPSO presents its offer to contribute to developing and implementing the Biodiversity Partnership, as well as its new Plant Science Seminar Series launched first quarter 2021. We showcase EPSO’s activities  in different working groups such as Nutritional Security, Plants and Microbiomes and Tree Biology and Biotechnology, and science support. Make best use of our series […]

This is the joint conference by EPSO and FESPB. EPSO members can register as full member. Poster abstracts have to be submitted until April 30 too. Preliminary program, registration details and deadlines, and abstract submission information is available on the Congress website https://europlantbiology2020.org/ . Please disseminate through your networks to make this a unique meeting […]

On 21 April 2021 the European Commission will organise an open information session on Horizon Europe “A successful proposal for Horizon Europe: Scientific-technical excellence is key, but don’t forget the other aspects”. This webinar provides details on the preparation of a proposal for Horizon Europe, like open science, gender dimension or dissemination, exploitation and communication […]

The EPSO Nutritional Security Working Group will discuss about the latest (bio)technologies which can contribute to define a new roadmap focused on `How to achieve the Nutritional Security issue in Europe´. The meeting intends to increase collaborations between the working group members both bi-and multi-lateral. In addition, it will provide a report including recommendations on […]

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 […]

On 24 March 2021, the European Commission (EC) published a call for expressions of interest seeking experts for EU programmes in the 2021-2027 programming period. The experts will be called on to support the EC and other European institutions in the implementation of the programmes, e.g. the evaluation of project proposals in the EU Framework […]

The first webinar on ‘How to prepare a successful proposal in Horizon Europe’ will focus on Submission & Evaluation and Model Grant Agreement on 24 March 2021 from 10 AM onwards. It will be available on YouTube only. The agenda will include two main points: “Submission and Evaluation” and “Model Grant Agreement” Check the agenda […]

For the ERC Starting Grant, the submission system is now open on the ECs funding and tenders portal. This call closes on 8 April 2021, 17.00h. Please note that the date is different from the one indicated in the EPSO briefing on ERC 2021 calls published on 26.02.2021 for Members only. Members have thus more […]

The Call: “Circularity in mixed crops and livestock farming systems with emphasis on climate change mitigation and adaptation” is about research on (re-) integration of crop and livestock farming systems with the aim to enhance circularity between these systems and thereby improve the sustainability of farms. The 2021 Joint Call follows a one-stage submission procedure with a deadline […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

This interactive event aims to exchange about farmers’ needs and upcoming practical solutions to soil health problems and to discuss what needs to be done for farmers to take them up. The target audience includes farmers, land managers and researchers. In addition, the event can serve to expand your networks and to discuss future collaborations. […]

The Plant Biology Europe conference 2021 is turning 100% virtual. From June 28th, 2021  to July 1st 2021 the full virtual congress with keynote speakers, oral communications, posters and sponsors will be available on-line for all the registered participants. IMPORTANT DATE: 30 MARCH 2021: End of the early bird registration 30 APRIL 2021: Deadline for […]

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 […]

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 […]

This third workshop of the EPSO Working Group on Plants and Microbiomes has two aims. First, we will hear first highlights from (multi-)national plants and microbiomes research and innovation from our Working Group members to present. Second, we will discuss in more detail two themes which need further elaboration by the Working Group: ‘Advancing from […]

In February 2020, The ERA-Net Cofund on Sustainable Crop Production (SusCrop) launched a 2nd transnational call for proposals. Following the Co-funded Call in 2018 (1st call), the aim of this 2nd call is to support scientifically excellent transnational research, development and innovation projects that contribute to the improvement of sustainability (environmental, economic and societal) and […]

The EPSO Working Group on Plants and Microbiomes has the pleasure to announce its third workshop to take place online on 13-14 January 2021, 09:00 – 12:00 and 09:00 – 13:15 respectively. This third workshop has two aims. First, we will hear first highlights from (multi-)national plants and microbiomes research and innovation initiatives – to […]

The plant phenotyping initiatives IPPN and EMPHASIS have recently launched the Global Plant Phenotyping Survey 2021, which addresses participants from all geographic regions and in all professional disciplines in any way related to plant phenotyping. The survey is open until 9 February 2021. For the past six years, IPPN and EMPHASIS IPPN and EMPHASIS have carried out their bi-annual Plant Phenotyping Surveys covering basic and advanced […]

This international conference will be held on 18 – 22 January 2021 in a virtual format. It is  hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) an will tackle key issues regarding the future of the global agri-food industry. The programme is available at: https://www.gffa-berlin.de/en/fachveranstaltungen-2021/ Participate to the Science Slam on 21 […]

To hold the fascinating events about the world of plants, which hundreds of colleagues organise across the world, as physical interactive events, the Global and National Coordinators of the international Fascination of Plants Day (FoPD) decided to postpone the next FoPD from 2021 to 18th May 2022. The Fascination of Plants Day, initiated and coordinated […]

The award honours a discovery made in basic research on bacteria, which has led to transformative applications in the plant and medical sciences. It is the first Nobel prize to be shared by two women. In plant science, genome editing enables scientists and breeders to improve the whole range of plants, from fruit, fibre, and […]

Topics on farm to fork, biodiversity and ecosystem services, zero-pollution and toxic-free environments, wildfire prevention, end-user products and citizen information could be relevant to plant scientists to team up with other disciplines and sectors. The EPSO briefing on the EU Green Deal Call will help our members navigating this new call which differs in important […]

EPSO welcomes the Concept and proposed actions towards a new ERA published by Commissioner Gabriel on 30.9.2020 and offers to collaborate in further shaping and implementing these. EPSO is focusing regarding the ERA for instance on critical mass investments in research and innovation, balancing basic, applied research, demonstration and innovation action support; widening participation; creating […]

On the occasion of the German Presidency of the European Union Council, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina kindly invite you to the international scientific advice conference “Genome Editing in Europe: New Agenda or New Disputes?”. The conference deals with genome-edited and genetically modified organisms (plants), and associated […]

Deforestation of tropical rainforests causes irrecoverable damage to biodiversity in terms of ecosystem and species loss and has long-term negative impact on global and regional climate through increased carbon release into the atmosphere. It is therefore crucial to stop deforestation. In this context, EPSO welcomes the initiative, taken by the European Parliament, to explore the […]

Does a point mutation look different when it is made by one process or another? No! One cannot tell from the mutation itself whether it was spontaneous or triggered by genome editing, and additional information on the history of the genetic material is needed as a precondition to evaluate from which breeding process it originates. […]

The CHIC project aims to develop sets of new chicory varieties to produce, on one hand, more and healthier inulin food fiber and, on the other hand, identify and produce medicinal terpenes in sufficient amounts. These varieties are developed via genome editing. Safety, socio-economic and environmental impact as well as stakeholders’ needs and concerns when […]

  At the mid-term meeting, project consortia will provide a status update of their ongoing research in the field of sustainable and resilient crop production. The meeting will bring together the research projects of the first transnational co-funded call (see list at https://www.suscrop.eu/call-information/1st-call. It will be held digitally on September 15 from 13:00 to 17:00 […]

On 20 May 2020, the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies were released by the EC. Both are at the heart of the EU Green Deal for which an EU Green deal call for proposals will be opened by Mid-September 2020. Areas of interest for plant scientists in the EU Green Deal call for proposals […]

Therefore, we ask European leaders for an increase of the Horizon Europe budget in general and a specific allocation of additional 5Bn€ to Pillar I. The Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE), published today its statement on the EU Council’s President proposal on MFF and Horizon Europe, stating it is perplexed by the downward spiral […]

Promoting diverse crops and livestock with a variety of farming systems for diverse diets, human health and resilient production, is a joint responsibility of policy makers and actors in many areas: agriculture, health, education, environmental and R&I services. Experts from three Technology Platforms developed the following R&I recommendations to address climate change, biodiversity loss, consumer […]

EPSO urges the European Commission to take action to prevent the French draft legal proposal from being enacted. The European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) is concerned about the draft legal proposal on the genetic modification techniques mentioned in Article L531-2 of the French Environment Code, which would modify the list of techniques of mutagenesis exempt […]

EPSO agrees with the general statement of EFSA that risk-assessments should be done in a case-by-case manner and that the suggested procedures for risk assessment of SDN-3 that pertain to risk assessments of transgenes do not apply to SDN-1, SDN-2 and oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis, and should be simplified for these. Furthermore, EPSO suggests clarifications in the […]

CHIC is an Horizon 2020 project aiming to develop with genome editing sets of new chicory varieties to produce more and healthier inulin food fiber as well as to identify and produce medicinal terpenes in sufficient amounts. These varieties are developed via genome editing. Safety, socioeconomic and environmental impact as well as stakeholders’ needs and […]

EPSO welcomes the EC First Draft Implementation Strategy for Horizon Europe and offers to collaborate with the European Commission, the Member States, and stakeholders to finalise and implement it.  EPSO congratulates the EC for defining expected impacts (goals), but not the path to get there, inspiring innovative comprehensive solutions. EPSO fully supports including the UN […]

EPSO welcomes the EC Farm to Fork Strategy and offers to collaborate with the European Commission, the Member States and stakeholders to implement it. EPSO appreciates that the strategy links Food and Nutritional Security, environmental sustainability and human health. EPSO urges to apply this approach across the strategy as a whole. Concepts like diverse crops […]

The European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) welcomes the ongoing European Commission (EC) study on new genomic techniques (NGTs). These are defined as techniques capable of changing the genetic material of an organism, which have emerged or have been developed since 2001. In this statement, EPSO refers specifically to genome editing leading via mutagenesis (point mutations […]

The Research and Technology Organisation Association Lithuania (RTO Lithuania) and The Lithuanian Research Development and Innovation Liaison Office in Brussels (LINO). would like to invite you to the webinar: Post-COVID Green Deal Technology-Powered Recovery in Europe, which will take place on the 2nd of June 2020, 14-15 CET. How COVID-19 pandemic will affect European Green […]

TOMRES is a Horizon 2020 project offering “A novel and integrated approach to increase multiple and combined stress tolerance in plants using tomato as a model”. It aims to reduce N and P application by at least 20%, water input by 40%, while granting environmental sustainability and economic viability of the solutions proposed through novel […]

ERC Advanced Grant support established, leading principal investigator who can demonstrate a ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal. The call is open to any field and nationality. It offers up to a maximum of EUR 2 500 000 for a period of 5 years. Up to an additional EUR 1 000 000 […]

Plant research and innovation can contribute through three main paths to achieve Nutritional Security (NS): Underutilised nutritious fruit and vegetable crops: improve their economic performance and further increase their nutritional quality – emerging over the past years and providing co-benefits in terms of NS and sustainable environment – the focus of this statement. Biofortification: increasing […]

The University of Cologne Competence Area “Food Security” and the Institute of Geography invite you to the “2nd Cologne Conference on Food for Future” to be held between 13-14 September 2021 in Cologne, Germany (initially scheduled for 14 – 15 September 2020) The general objective of the conference is to bring together scientists with different expertise to discuss […]

The ISDC has a mandate for: Foresight work to inform CGIAR’s longer term research strategy; Horizon scanning to provide analysis on how emerging trends and developments can be taken into account in CGIAR’s work; Priority setting exercises and analyses integrating both ex-post and ex-ante analyses; Guidance for periodic proposal assessment processes; and Other functions, on the strategic direction of CGIAR […]

The CHIC project aims to develop sets of new chicory varieties to produce, on one hand, more and healthier inulin food fiber and, on the other hand, identify and produce medicinal terpenes in sufficient amounts. These varieties are developed via genome editing. Safety, socio-economic and environmental impact as well as stakeholders’ needs and concerns when […]

CGIAR, the world’s largest public research network on food systems, is changing identity to One CGIAR with a sharpened focus to 2030, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It will integrate management, policies, and services; finding new, more impactful ways of doing research; sharing and investing more, pooled funding; and unifying its governance, […]

Genome editing: Improving legislation and starting flagships to better address climate, environmental, food and health challenges 2nd Informal meeting in Brussels 24.1.2020 Brussels, 24.4.2020 On 24 January 2020 EPSO invited tandems of member-scientists and policy makers from a dozen countries across Europe to a second open-minded, informal meeting to assess the situation for research and […]

RESPONSE DP is offering 7 early-stage researcher’s positions for 36 months (100%) at the interface of science and policy, as well as science and innovation at one of the three world-leading academic host organization – ETH Zurich, University of Zurich or University of Basel. RESPONSE DP will train ESRs to reflect on their role as […]

The majority of Norwegian consumers are positive about sustainable and societally beneficial use of gene editing in Norwegian agriculture and aquaculture – this is the main conclusion from the population survey performed and published by the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board early April  2020. However, many consumers are concerned about risk, although they have fairly high […]

This science advice will inform the development of the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy to be published this year (originally in spring) and all actions related to sustainable food systems under the ‘European Green Deal’ and beyond. The group ‘urges the European Commission to take the lead and drive change towards a sustainable food system in […]

The European Commission has published a Question&Answer on Covid19 and food safety. It presents answers on the following areas: Risk of infection through food; Food production; Food at home, Member States recommendations, and Other sources of information. Two examples What is the risk of COVID-19 infection from food products? Despite the large scale of the […]

The European Commission is reviewing its 2020 work programme in light of the coronavirus crisis and is expected to publish in the coming weeks, possibly on April 29, 2020 its updated work programme 2020. According to Euractive, indications are that although climate policies remain broadly on track, it might include delays for some initiatives of […]

EFSA has launched a public consultation on the draft scientific opinion “Applicability of the EFSA opinion on site-directed nucleases type 3 for the safety assessment of plants developed using site-directed nucleases type 1 and 2 and oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis”. The deadline for submitting comments is 27 May 2020. EFSA would appreciate if you could share this information with your […]

FoPD 2020  will be ongoing in some countries, led by the respective National Coordinators, while respecting  the regulation and restriction regarding the coronavirus. We invite you to post your FoPD news on Twitter with #FoPD and #PlantDay. FoPD also has a new Instagram account @fascinationofplantsday. You can follow us for updates on FoPD as well […]

Strasbourg: 8 April 2020 The European Research Council (ERC) Scientific Council has made a clear statement on 8 April about the reasons that led to their unanimous vote of no-confidence in Mauro Ferrari as ERC President on 27 March. Mauro Ferrari announced his resignation on April 7, three months after starting in his new position. […]

The European Commission invites European scientific and research community organisations to nominate high-level candidates to be put on the short-list of candidate-members for the Commission’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors. The Group of Chief Scientific Advisors consists of seven members who provide high-quality independent scientific advice to the College of European Commissioners on specific policy […]

The European Commission has awarded a contract for the setting up of an open access publishing platform for scientific articles from all disciplines (as well as to host pre-prints) as a free service for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe beneficiaries. Publications via this platform will undergo a peer review process and will meet all open […]

The European Commission has published a new article on the FAQ website of the Funding & Tenders Portal, which addresses possible disruptions of the implementation of H2020 projects, additional costs and travel cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission refers to the possibility of applying Article 51 of the H2020 Model Grant Agreement (MGA), […]

The deadline for pre-proposal submission is postponed from April 9 to April 28 2020, 13:00h (CEST) due to the current public health situation in Europe. Following the Co-funded Call in 2018 (first call), the aim of this second call is to support scientifically excellent transnational research, development and innovation projects that contribute to the improvement […]

Due to the impact of the corona virus, the EPSO Board decided last week to hold the 2020 General Meeting as simultaneous regional General Meetings in 9 different regions across Europe, each one chaired by one Board member. Though an unforeseen change, this can foster engagement of the EPSO Representatives, of EPSO Supporting Scientists and […]

EPSO welcomes the EC’s ‘Orientation paper’ and looks forward to actions across clusters and pillars to better address the Sustainable Development Goals and the EU Green Deal including the farm to fork and the biodiversity strategies. To this end, EPSO makes the following key recommendations to policy makers at European and national level:  1-Combine genetic, […]

Today, the European Commission publish its Farm to Fork Strategy as part of the EU Green Deal policy. EPSO welcomes this publication and invites you to submit feedback to the European Commission’s public consultation on the “Sustainable food – ‘farm to fork’ strategy” Roadmap. This strategy can create more efficient, climate-smart systems that provide healthy […]

EPSO submitted key recommendations towards the Strategic programming to the European Commission including: 1 – Clusters 1 (Health) and 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment (FBNRAE)) should jointly address Food and Nutritional Security (FNS) and Environmental sustainability and human health: EPSO welcomes the link between Food and Health Clusters: 1) Crops without diseases, […]

Informal meeting in Brussels 19.9.2019 Brussels, 4.11.2019 On 19 September 2019 EPSO invited tandems of member-scientists and policy makers from a dozen countries across Europe to an 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. The difficulties […]

Diverse crops with diverse microbiomes for diverse diets for human health and resilient production – the main message from the 2nd EPSO workshop on Plants and Microbiomes held in Vienna October 2018. Diversity matters increasingly and is fundamental towards achieving the UN Sustainability Goals, such as SDG 2 ‘Zero hunger’, SDG 3 ‘Health and wellbeing’, […]

48 participants representing 200 research institutes and universities from 31 countries will discuss at the EPSO General Meeting their short, medium and long term activities towards science strategy and science advice to policy, focusing on the transition from Horizon 2020 to Horizon Europe and how better to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals with […]

EU health Commissioner Andriukaitis stated in his interview with EURACTIV on 27.3.2019 (link) “From my point of view, we need a new legal regulatory framework for these new techniques,”, adding that it should be dealt with by the new European Commission after the EU elections in May. He added  “We are currently analysing the ruling […]

EPSO publishes its statement to the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on organisms obtained by mutagenesis (case C-528/16) stating that the ruling disregards scientific evidence. Genome editing is not the only answer to current challenges of agriculture and society, but it represents an important tool for harnessing plant science knowledge toward a […]

Following the European Court of Justice ruling, that plants obtained by recent techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome editing mutagenesis are regulated as GMO, the VIB statement addresses the huge problems Europe will face in plant breeding in the future. EPSO anticipates the same problems as depicted in the statement, which is in line with our […]

European Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Roadmap 2018 published, identifying 8 projects with ESFRI Landmark status and 6 new projects entering the roadmap.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2018 setting out actions to achieve the goal by 2030 and confirming a rise in world hunger: the number of people who suffer from hunger has been growing over the past three years, returning to levels from almost a decade ago. Multiple forms of […]

High level event: Sustainable and circular Bioeconomy Conference on 22.10.2018 in Brussels. Online registration opened. See more information.

2018 IPBO Conference: “Scientific Innovation for a Sustainable Development of African Agriculture”, 30-31 August 2018, Ghent, BE

EPSO publishes a first reaction to the Court of Justice of the EU ruling regarding mutagenesis and the GMO Directive in which European Plant Scientists express their disappointment on the ruling which classifies plants obtained by recent techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome editing as GMO that are subject to extensive pre-market risk evaluations. It is […]

Announcement: EPSO is looking for a PhD student in life sciences to do either a remote or an on-site three months traineeship in EPSO starting September 2018. Applications by 9th September. For more information, see the Call for Trainee.

Access to Digital Sequence Information must remain open; calling upon the convention of parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), national and EU decision makers to maintain Open Access to Digital Sequence Information as part of the ‘Open Science’ principle and therefore NOT to include this in the Nagoya Protocol as this would substantially […]

Funding opportunities for Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) at PAEPARD Blog covering areas such as: 1. Agriculture; 2. Agribusiness; 3. Bio-diversity, environment, climate change; 4. Fellowships/scholarships/grants; 5. Awards.

‘Plants for Human Health’ report on the European Parliament – Plant ETP workshop held on 23.5.2018 at the EP in Brussels.

Plant Biology Europe Congress, Copenhagen 18-21.6.2018 – Join lively debates in the Science Communication Workshop on Mo, 18 June 13:15 – 14:15 and in the Open Science – Science policy Panel Discussion on Tu, 19 June 13:15 – 14:45. Program on the Official conference page. EPSO Information. One day and full registration open.

Proposal for the Specific Programme implementing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP9) – for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council. Specific Programme proposal, Annex to SP proposal. Provide feedback to EC until 2 August 2018 to be summarised to EP and Council.

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council establishing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP9), laying down its Rules for Participation and Dissemination. Regulation proposal, Annex to Reg proposal. Provide feedback to EC until 2 August 2018 to be summarised to EP and Council.

Plant Biology Europe FESPB/EPSO 2018 Congress, Copenhagen 18-21.6.2018 – complete program at Official conference page. EPSO Information. One day registration open in addition to full registration.

Announcement: 2nd Workshop of the Working Group on Plants and Microbiomes “Implementing a Plants and Microbiomes Strategy in Europe” will take place in Cologne on 12 Oct 2018. Register by 2nd October.

Welcoming the Advice of the British Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) on genome-edited camelina plants with increased levels of oleic acid, Opinion.

The unofficial Fascination of Plants Day (FoPD) 2018 is held today across the world as a warm up for the next official Fascination of Plants Day in May 2019. Follow up on Twitter via the #PlantDay.

A renewed agenda for research and innovation – Europe’s chance to shape its future – Urging EU leaders to adopt the EU budget 2021-27 including proposed innovation funding, increase investments in R& I to meet the 3% target, make regulations fit innovation, create synergies between EU programmes, modernise public research with an open science label, launch […]

AgriResearch – Innovating for the future of farming and rural communities – conference presentations online, following up the Strategic approach to EU agricultural research and innovation, 20.7.2016.

Register for the “Research & Innovation for Food and Nutrition Security – Transforming our food systems” conference in Plovdiv / BG on 14-15.6.2018, continuing the Food 2030 EU R&I policy response.

Proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 (MFF) including 97.9 Bill € for Horizon Europe (vs 70 Bill € for H2020). Commissioners Moedas and Hogan announced on 3 May a 10B€ budget proposal for the Horizon Europe (FP9) Global Challenge Food and natural resources (successor of H2020 SC2 which had 3.85 Bill €). MFF […]

EPSO Newsletter – Spring 2018 public shortened version has been published. The full version of the EPSO Newsletter – Spring 2018 is available exclusively to the EPSO members.

Booklet on New Plant Breeding Techniques in a new era in which Scientists of Wageningen University & Research gives new insights into plant breeding techniques such as genome editing.

The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) Call for proposals 2018 (H2020-BBI-JTI-2018) is now open. Call closure forseen: 6 September 2018. To view the topics and submit proposals visit the Participant Portal.

Manifesto “More funds for research and innovation” launched by CNR, CNRS, CSIC, Leibnitz and Helmholtz to highlight the need of more funds to research and innovation in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Heads of organizations, institutes, companies as well as individuals are invited to endorse this online so the initiators can bring it to […]

Submission to the EC consultation on EU research and innovation missions (FP9), based on the Mazzucato report, welcoming the mission concept and offering to help further develop and implement it as it highlights similar principles we proposed in the EPSO position on FP9(19.9.2017). EPSO suggest three mission ideas: 1) 1001 Crops – diverse crops for diverse diets and human […]

Comment on the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Synthetic Biology: The report was commissioned under the UN Environment programme (UNEP), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). See here original report of the AHTEG and all submitted comments.

Use the new partnering tool at suscrop.eu/call1 to help find suitable partners. It can be used to Post a Partner Offer/Request and / or to Search List of Partner Offers/Requests posted by others . See SusCrop-ERA-NET: Announcement first transnational Call in the field of sustainable crop production, 17.1.2018 Deadline pre-proposals 4.4.2018, full proposals 31.8.2018

Submission to EC consultation “EU funds in the area of investment, research and innovation, SMEs and single market”, highlighting Research and Innovation across the EU as top priority for the EU funds post 2020 to bring European scientists and societies closer together to help build an inclusive, collaborative Europe and world and help achieving the UN […]

Launch of the Horizon 2020 project, CHIC (Chicory Innovation Consortium), studying chicory as a multipurpose crop for dietary fibre and medicinal terpenes. Press release.

LIFE Multiannual Work Programme 2018-2020: In 2018 proposals to the LIFE’s sub-programme for environment will, for the first time, follow a two-phase submission procedure of pre- and full proposals. Call publication mid-April 2018.

Updated Fascination of Plants Day Success Stories 2017. Over 1000 fascinating events were organised in 52 countries, inspiring worldwide interest in plant science. EPSO welcomes scientists, farmers, industry and educational institutions to join the next official FoPD around 18 May 2019.

First reaction on the Advocate General’s Opinion regarding mutagenesis and the Genetically Modified Organisms Directive, welcoming this as an important step in clarifying the GMO directive. EPSO awaits the decision of the Court of Justice of the EU foreseen for 2018.

Advocate General’s Opinion in Case C-528/16 (regarding mutagenesis and the Genetically Modified Organisms Directive). – Press Release in EN; Opinion in EN

Scientists call for GMO opt-in option: The EC should “develop a Directive for individual member states to authorize cultivating a GM crop in their territories after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded that the GM crop in question is as safe as the organism from which it is derived” to overcome problems of the […]

EPSO Young Plant Scientist Award – Winners are Shumei WANG (fundamental plant research) and Andreas CARSTENSEN (applied plant research). EPSO encourages the development of ideas and imaginative thinking in the plant sciences; Shumei and Andreas will present their research at the Plant Biology Europe EPSO/FESPB joint congress in Copenhagen 17-21.6.2018.

EASAC: Report from European science academies calls for urgent action on food and nutrition security.

Position on the next EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, FP9, welcoming the continued inclusion of the successful Excellent Science pillar in FP9, and setting out our position for research priorities and mechanisms to engender a mission-based approach to close the research and innovation cycle through increasing support for collaborative basic research, encouraging increased […]

Opinion on the SAM Explanatory Note on New Techniques in Agricultural Biotechnology welcoming the science based view on applications and implications including risk and benefits. EPSO calls for urgent action to promote progress in plant science and commercial breeding in Europe to meet challenges for agriculture in due time. EPSO encourages the European Commission to […]

Synthetic Biology should not be confused with the application of new breeding techniques, updated statement, reemphasizing that the techniques themselves do not define whether an organism or product is of synthetic origin just by their mere application; and that a synthetic organism should be substantially different from any organism that can occur in nature.

Implementing the Nagoya Protocol by national legislation in the countries of Europe, statement, asking the European Commission and the Member States to support the adoption of uniform legislation across Europe for the exchange and use of Plant Genetic  Resources by applying the multilateral system enshrined in the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for […]

The 4th international Fascination of Plants Day took place around the world in 52 countries around 18th May with over 830 interactive events celebrating the fascination and manifold uses of plants for food and nutritional security, paper, medicine, chemicals, energy and enjoyable landscapes. Find all you need to promote the event in the PR toolbox, […]

FoPD Success Stories 2017

Genome editing: scientific opportunities, public interest and policy options in the EU, report launch in Brussels, Explanatory Note from EC’s High Level Group of Scientific Advisors

Synthetic Biology is much more than the application of new breeding techniques, statement.

TempAg: a new international research network to facilitate cross-country collaboration on sustainable agriculture in the world’s temperate regions. The foresight workshop 5-7.10.2016 identified emerging priorities and research challenges for policy & industry (blog posts by Global Food Security and GPC)

European research and innovation for Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) – FOOD 2030 Conference background document, 13.10.2016, comprising the FNS priorities NUTRITION for sustainable and healthy diets, CLIMATE smart and environmentally sustainable food systems, CIRCULARITY and resource efficiency of food systems, and INNOVATION and empowerment of communities. More on Food 2030 policy. See EPSO submission […]

Fact sheets on New Breeding Technologies, including: Site-Directed Nucleases (e.g. genome editing), Oligonucleotide-Directed Mutagenesis, RNA-directed DNA-Methylation, Cisgenesis, Grafting using GM plants, Reverse breeding, and Agroinfiltration.

Updated Statement: Crop Genetic Improvement Technologies

Updated Statement: Crop Genetic Improvement Technologies, EPSO welcomes the majority opinion of the Member States “New Techniques Working Group” report and asks the EC to follow these recommendations and provide legal certainty for science and industry regarding application and exploration of New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) to allow the plant sector addressing the Grand Challenges […]

Updated Statement: Crop Genetic Improvement Technologies

Submission to EC consultation on the Role of Research in Global Food and Nutrition Security (summary reply). Completed online questionnaire here.

EC-EPSO EXPO Conference on ‘Crop genetic improvement technologies’ on 14 July 2015 at the CNR headquarter in Milano was a major success with excellent and well balanced presentations and very open discussions – see discussion on twitter hashtag #expocrops. Read the background information here.

FoPD Success Stories 2015

Crop Genetic Improvement Technologies, Statement

Plant breeders’ rights and patent rights, Statement

GMO cultivation – national opt-out, Statement

The Fascination of Plants Day 2015 is launched today, with 39 countries who have already confirmed their participation | See success stories from 2013,

Working Group Meeting ‘Towards longer term partnerships of scientists from Europe and Developing Countries’, 16.10.2014, Meeting report.

Towards longer term partnerships of scientists from Europe and Developing Countries for sustainable intensification of agriculture, statement.

Meeting 1 – report

Submitted input to EC consultation on Science With and For Society, suggesting support for ‘Science with society snowball initiatives that are directly bringing scientists together with society, are interactive, regular and long-term and give the research community the capacity to build their communication activities to the society at large’.

New communication adopted on international cooperation for Horizon 2020.

EPSO Draft White Paper: Horticultural Research in Europe – to 2020 and beyond.

Submission to EC consultation on Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2

Action needed to safeguard genetic diversity of the world’s forests.

EPSO Green Paper (November 2013): Horticulture Research in Europe. EPSO Workshop ‘Horticulture for the 21st Century’ was held in 11-12th November 2013 in Berlin, DE.

Science Based Policy

Proposal for an International Society for Plant Molecular Farming – Expression of Interest – deadline 31.7.2013

FoPD Success Stories 2013

Summary FAO EPSO joint workshop.

Plant Sciences for Sustainable Crop Production: Strengthening Partnerships between Europe and Developing Countries. Report joint workshop, April 2013.

Submitting input to the EC’s consultation on Organic Agriculture in Europe

10.09. 2012 Plant ETP: Statement on New Breeding Technologies

Statement on agricultural technologies

Europe has an enormous potential and responsibility to be one of the leading science forces globally. There is an urgent need to enable European scientists to join and lead longer term global partnerships. International Cooperation

EPSO statement on Plant breeders’ rights and patent rights

Plant Research to Save the Planet.