Italy
PHEN-ITALY
Website: www.phen-italy.it
Italy’s role in EMPHASIS
The Italian Phenotyping community has participated in the establishment of EMPHASIS since 2017 through the preparation phase EMPHASIS-PREP. Italy has actively contributed to the development of the European infrastructure on plant phenotyping, especially by supporting stakeholder engagement, communication, and training.
Italy strongly recognizes the value of EMPHASIS in providing access to a network of collaborators and expertise for research proposals and projects, engaging in the development of common experimental and data standards, and fostering knowledge and technology transfer.
For these reasons, Italy will join as a Member of the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (EMPHASIS ERIC).
The PHEN-ITALY network
The Italian plant phenotyping community, PHEN-ITALY, is composed of:
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11 Universities
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5 Research Institutions
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1 International Organisation
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1 Contract Research Organisation
As a Joint Research Unit (JRU), PHEN-ITALY has its own governance structure, which includes:
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The General Assembly of members
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The Coordinator
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The Executive Board
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The President
Its structure and functioning are defined by a formal collaboration agreement.
National infrastructure and funding
The installations that form part of the JRU are distributed across the national territory. PHEN-ITALY is included in the Italian National Research Infrastructure Roadmap (PNIR 2021–2027) as a high-priority research infrastructure, and as such, it receives annual funding from the Ministry of University and Research.
These funds support a wide range of activities, including:
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Providing access to infrastructures
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Supporting infrastructural upgrades
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Delivering training and knowledge transfer
Additional support comes from PHEN-ITALY’s participation in several EU projects, primarily focused on the provision of infrastructural services.
Scientific capabilities and research focus
From a scientific point of view, beyond traditional plant phenotyping based on the use of optical sensors in controlled and field conditions, PHEN-ITALY’s core facilities also allow the phenotyping of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plants.
These VOCs serve as sensitive indicators of abiotic and biotic stresses, act as elicitors of plant defense mechanisms, and play a key role in plant interactions with other organisms (both beneficial and harmful).
Advancing AI applications in phenotyping
PHEN-ITALY also develops and implements artificial intelligence (AI) applications in plant phenotyping, working closely with the National PhD School on AI applied to Agrifood and the Environment (PhD-AI).
This collaboration strengthens the integration of digital innovation with biological research, positioning Italy at the forefront of AI-driven plant science.
More Community members
Austria
APPN brings together Austria’s plant phenotyping community; researchers, breeders, data scientists, technology developers to build shared infrastructure and methods, promote collaboration, and raise the profile of phenotyping nationally and in Europe
Belgium
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France
Phenome-Emphasis develops and provides access to a series of highly skilled indoor and field platforms while supporting tissue biochemistry, image analysis and data management services. These multi-scales evaluation of collections of genotypes across…
Ireland
Irish agriculture is a cornerstone, driving crop yield and disease research. PPN-Ireland (2016), an SFI-supported network, links eight institutes with major phenotyping investments. Teagasc phenotypes diverse crops across all environments, integrating…
Israel
More information coming soon.
Netherlands
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Norway
PheNo provides a distributed national infrastructure across Norway for high-resolution controlled environment, field and seed phenotyping and data analysis services to support research and educational needs in academia and industry.
Portugal
Under EMPHASIS.PT, Portugal has established a cohesive plant phenotyping community. This network joins leading universities, research institutes, and collaborative labs from mainland Portugal and Madeira, ensuring a wide territorial coverage. The…
Switzerland
The research themes of the SPPN cover a wide range, from fundamental ecological and biological research using model plants and crops, to applied research in field and orchard crops. Plant phenotyping infrastructure is available at the landscape, field and…
United Kingdom
PhenomUK comprises 15 research centres and universities housing controlled and field environment platforms organised into 8 targeted clusters: photophysiology, 3D and growth, health and disease, protected environments, drones, deep field, advancing…