NEWS

The 44^th 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 is held online each third Thursday of the month at three (CEST), although this month is an exception .

On 26^th June 2025 at 15:00 (CEST) we will present three talks exploring “Harnessing plant-plant interactions both beneficial and allelopathic”

 Dr. Alexandre de Saint Germain, INRAE, France

“Unveiling the Genetic and Metabolomic Basis of Allelopathy in Arabidopsis thaliana“

  Dr Christian Schöb, University Rey Juan Carlos, Spain

“Ecological mechanisms supporting yield benefits in crop mixtures.“

Dr. Caroline De Clerck University of Liège, Belgium

“Green Weapons: Allelopathy in the Battle Against Weeds”

The seminars will be hosted on Zoom and last approximately 1.5 hours. Numbers will be limited to 300 attendees and therefore please register early if you would like to join. There will be ample opportunities to ask questions and join the debate. So please join us to support this new and exciting initiative for European Plant Science by following this link just prior to the start of the seminar.

EPSO members register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CcJwgq4IQdK0gV0M7frj7w
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In the coming months we will be on the lookout for talented plant scientists among the EPSO membership to present their findings and perspectives to the EPSO seminar series. If we approach you to talk, we hope you will be happy to support the initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity for both eminent world leaders and talented up-and-coming early career researchers to present their research to an international audience and to network with potential collaborators. If you wish to suggest a theme for one of the autumn seminars and / or nominate yourself or one of your colleagues to give a seminar, we most welcome your suggestions. Please contact Tim George ([email protected]) to provide your name and potential talk title.

We look forward to seeing you all for the 44^th EPSO seminar on the 26^th June 2025

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 & Advisor EPSO Board

Marie-Theres Hauser BOKU / AT & EPSO Board

Calls for proposals for Horizon Europe 2025 are open. EPSO encourages its members to apply, especially to calls under the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Skłodowska 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).

The EPSO briefing on Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 has been published on the Members’ only Website*. It contains all information for plant scientists in one document. It provides additional researched information and useful tips. Complete call texts from the EC (Annex III) will be added soon. 

*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 still open for submission are:

Excellent Science

• ERC – European Research Council Work Programme 2025
  • ERC-2025-AdG: opened 22.05.2025, closing 28.08.2025
  • ERC-2025-PoC: opened 13.11.2024, closing 13.03.2025. and 18.09.2025

• MSCA – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action 2025
  • MSCA- COFUND -2025: opened 23.01.2025, closing 24.06.2025
  • MSCA-PF-2025: opened 9.04.2025, closing 8.09.2025
  • MSCA-MSCA4UA-2025: opened 6.05.2025, closing 16.09.2025
  • MSCA-SE-2025: opened 7.03.2024, closing 8.10.2025
  • MSCA-CITIZENS-2025: opening on 17.6.2025, closing on 22.10.2025

• INFRA – Research Infrastructures 2025

Global Challenges & European Industrial Competitiveness – Thematic clusters

• Cluster 1: Health
• Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment 2025
  • Opened 6.05.2025; closing single stage 16.09.2025; 2-stage: S1 4.09.2025, S2 1or 18.02.2026

Missions

• Missions

Innovative Europe

• EIC– European Innovation Council Work Programme 2025
• EIE – European Innovation Ecosystems
• EIT – European Institute of Innovation and Technology

Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area 2025 

The association agreements with the following member countries from EPSO membership have now started to produce legal effects: New Zealand, United Kingdom and Ukraine.

Further Work Programmes are available on the Funding & Tenders portal

Wishing you success with your proposals

Karin Metzlaff, Maija Malnaca and Odd Arne Rognli

Contact: Karin Metzlaff

The main Work Programme 2025 publication includes:

• Research infrastructures
• the six thematic Clusters à most relevant for plant scientists is cluster 6 ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’
• the EU Missions
• European Innovation Ecosystems
• Widening participation and strengthening the ERA
• New European Bauhaus Facility

The European Commission aimed to reduce the work programme in length by decreasing the overall number of topics, shortening topic descriptions and minimising single-project topics. Topics are kept more open by being less prescriptive, leaving more freedom to applicants for different pathways towards expected outcomes. The roll-out of lump sum grants was continued: they represent more than 35% of the budget of the Work Programme 2025. A number of non-financial obligations (such as the approach to the ‘do no significant harm’ principle and the check on the robustness of AI tools) were revised and simplified, resulting in a shorter proposal form.

The Work Programme 2025 features 29 topics using two-stage evaluation (mainly in Clusters 1, 4 and 6). Around 20 of these will be evaluated blindly in the first stage to collect additional evidence for a sound assessment of the blind evaluation methodology, which aims to avoid the potential risk of bias.

In addition, an updated Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) version of the Work Programme 2023-2025 has been published.

The European Research Council (ERC) Work Programme 2025 was published 9 July 2024.

The ERC WP 2026 is foreseen to be adopted at the beginning of July, after which the call opening dates and call deadlines will be available.

EPSO will publish its briefing soon.

Sources: KoWi 16.5.2025, EC 14.& 16.5.2025

 Links to:

• Horizon Europe Main WP 2025, 14.5.2025  cluster 6
• Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions MSCA Open Calls
• European Research Council ERC WP 2025, 9.7.2024

Contact:           Karin Metzlaff, EPSO

The 43rd 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 (CEST).

 On 22nd May 2025 at 15:00 (CEST) we will present three talks exploring “Breakthroughs in horticultural species”

  Dr. Cristina Zepeda Cabrera, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands  

“Using Plants as A Buffer for Climate Fluctuations in the Greenhouse”

  Dr Giovanna Frugis, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy  

“Decoding Hormonal Regulatory Networks: Strategies for Enhancing Resilience in Horticultural Species”

Dr Giuseppe Carlo Modarelli, Leibniz Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops IGZ, Germany

“Sustainable strategies to improve resource use efficiency in controlled environment agriculture”

The seminars will be hosted on Zoom and last approximately 1.5 hours. Numbers will be limited to 300 attendees and therefore please register early if you would like to join. There will be ample opportunities to ask questions and join the debate. So please join us to support this new and exciting initiative for European Plant Science by following this link just prior to the start of the seminar.

EPSO members register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/INZGvrItTBq3MaZZYFq8Mw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In the coming months we will be on the lookout for talented plant scientists among the EPSO membership to present their findings and perspectives to the EPSO seminar series. If we approach you to talk, we hope you will be happy to support the initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity for both eminent world leaders and talented up-and-coming early career researchers to present their research to an international audience and to network with potential collaborators. If you wish to suggest a theme for one of the autumn seminars and / or nominate yourself or one of your colleagues to give a seminar, we most welcome your suggestions. Please contact Tim George ([email protected]) to provide your name and potential talk title.

We look forward to seeing you all for the 43rd EPSO seminar on the 22nd May 2025

 Tim George, Alan Schulman and Marie-Theres Hauser

Click here to read: Full EPSO news item

Contacts:

Tim George, Hutton / UK & EPSO Board

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI & Advisor EPSO Board

Marie-Theres Hauser BOKU / AT & EPSO Board

EPSO is pleased to announce the publication of its 61st 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 in autumn 2025. Please send us your articles by mid-October.

Happy reading!

Click here for the content of the full version:

Contacts:
Karin Metzlaff, EPSO
Maija Malnaca, EPSO

41 organisations from civil society, academia, and industry have sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, calling for a strong and independent Research and Innovation Framework Programme 10 (FP10) with a dedicated budget.

The signatories express concern over political narratives that would effectively dissolve FP10 into a broader European Competitiveness Fund, cautioning that this could jeopardise its important mission, strategic focus, and legal basis under Article 182 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

“Science must serve as a unifying force, not a source of division. It is a cornerstone of Europe’s prosperity, resilience, and the long-term sustainability of its economic and social model. It is also a means to strengthen global collaboration, enhance social cohesion, and ensure human security,” the letter states.

The call echoes recent positions adopted by both the European Parliament and the Council of the EU in favour of an independent and well-funded FP10. The signatories stress that research and innovation are essential not only to EU competitiveness, but importantly also to democratic resilience, strategic autonomy, and the long-term sustainability of Europe’s economy and society, to improve food and energy sustainability and global health while delivering on the green and digital transitions.

The full letter is available here: https://docs.sciencescitoyennes.ovh/s/YPt9M3irWELqcPt

See as well here the ISE main recommendations for FP10 calling for a stronger stand-alone R&I Framework Programme with a ringfenced budget, 27.2.2025. This was led by Karin Metzlaff in her role as ISE Vice-President & chair Working Group FP10.

Contacts:

Karin Metzlaff, EPSO Executive Director

Lisa Goerlitz, DSW [email protected]

Glen Millot, Sciences Citoyennes [email protected]