RI-VIS Publishes White Paper on African-European Research Infrastructure Cooperation
The White Paper provides recommendations on how to increase collaboration between European and African research infrastructures and is targeted at funders, policy makers and research infrastructure managers. It collates the insights of experts from both the research infrastructures and the policy side into sections that cover examples of successful collaboration, lessons learned and possible bottlenecks.
The key recommendations cover themes such as the framework of collaborations, global challenges, co-creation based on needs, access, funding and best practices.
The EU-funded RI-VIS project, a consortium of 13 partners from European research infrastructures, aims to increase the visibility of research infrastructures and raise awareness of European research infrastructures to new communities beyond Europe.
What kind of bioinformatics do plant scientists need?
de.NBI provides bioinformatics services to users in life sciences research and biomedicine in Germany and Europe. More information about de.NBI can be found here.
Special Issue: "From Phenotyping to Phenomics—Techniques for Exploring Plant Traits and Diversity"
IPPN member AgResearch (New Zealand) kicks-off new Special Issue in “plants”. This Special Issue aims to bring together a range of research papers that cover plant phenotyping at large-scale from hundreds of genotypes using simple and repeatable technology to small-scale using high-tech and accurate methods and anything in between.
Special Issue Editor
- Dr. Kioumars Ghamkhar Website
- Guest Editor Plant Functional Biology, AgResearch, New Zealand
- Interests: plant phenotypic diversity; crops and forages; genetic resources; plant phenomics; plant phenotypic evolution
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Due to the recent surge in food consumption and the need for global nourishment of the fast-growing world population, breeding better adapted crops for the future is imperative. The complex interactions of plants with several factors—including their genes as well as soil, climate, pests, and humans—determines their final overall performance. In the last decade, a revolution in phenotyping approaches as well as digital technologies have enabled researchers to start collecting high-quality and repeatable phenotypic data to almost the same extent as genomic data. Employing machine vision for discriminating useful data from sensors and cameras is now a norm for monitoring plant phenotype over time. These techniques also enable researchers to integrate plant analyses into a monitoring system which also includes soil and environment data.
This Special Issue aims to bring together a range of research papers that cover plant phenotyping at large scale, from hundreds of genotypes using simple and repeatable technology to small scale using high tech and accurate methods and anything in between.
Dr. Kioumars Ghamkhar
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI’s English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- digital technologies
- plant phenotyping
- plant phenomics
- machine vision
- computer vision
- plant visualization
Belgium: VIB acquires CropDesign site from BASF and launches its first agricultural biotechnology incubator
VIB, a leading life sciences institute in Flanders, has signed an agreement with BASF to acquire its CropDesign site in Nevele, Belgium. VIB and CropDesign have had a close scientific relationship for more than 15 years. CropDesign, currently part of BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division, was established in 1998 as a VIB spinoff and has grown into a biotech company specializing in plant phenotyping technology. The divesture includes site infrastructure and intellectual property. All former CropDesign employees found new jobs within or outside BASF.
VIB will establish a plant science and agricultural technology incubator at the CropDesign site. These facilities will serve as Flanders’ premier center for agricultural biotechnology (AgBio) innovations for start-ups. VIB will provide a physical space for early-stage companies that work on the future of sustainable agriculture and food production, offer greenhouse space and provide an environment for likeminded companies. Together with ILVO, the Flanders research institute for agriculture, fisheries and food, VIB will also deliver mentoring programs, explore collaborative opportunities and unlock networks to help early-stage companies mature quickly.
The initiative is backed by the Flemish government to support economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic in Flanders.
“Our vision is to establish Flanders’ first AgBio incubator as the driving force behind innovations that produce the agricultural solutions of tomorrow. This will further fuel the growth of the AgBio R&D cluster around Ghent. With the acquisition of the CropDesign site, we want to create opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop their company in Flanders, taking advantage of the unique life sciences ecosystem and bringing high value jobs to the area,” said Jérôme Van Biervliet, Managing Director at VIB.
“Plant science with an emphasis on sustainability and climate change is an important sector for us at VIB. Leveraging the phenotyping platform will allow us to complement our commitment to support agricultural research and dedicated companies,” added Dirk Inzé, Science Director of VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology.
“By divesting our CropDesign site, we enable our long-term partner VIB to further develop and apply the innovative phenotyping technology in which CropDesign is highly skilled,” said Linda Trolinder, Senior Vice President Research & Development Seeds & Traits at BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division. “In the past years, we have developed many innovations in phenotyping at CropDesign that are successfully used at different BASF sites around the world. At the same time, this move allows us to adapt our portfolio and to focus even more on future key projects of our business strategy. We are proud of our long-standing commitment to the scientific community in the Ghent area.”