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 project 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:
- 11 Universities
- 5 Research Institutions
- 1 International Organisation
- 1 Contract Research Organisation
As a Joint Research Unit (JRU), PHEN-ITALY has its own governance structure, which includes:
- The General Assembly of members
- The Coordinator
- The Executive Board
- 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:
- Providing access to facilities
- Supporting facilities upgrades
- 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
EMPHASIS-Belgium, the national node located in the host country for EMPHASIS-ERIC, takes a collaborative and service-oriented approach around multiscale plant phenotyping in Belgium via cutting-edge facilities, access provision and community engagement.
France
PHENOME-EMPHASIS provides indoor and field platforms with linked biochemistry, imaging, and data services to evaluate genotypes in diverse settings, advancing climate resilience and agroecology transitions.
Ireland
Irish agriculture drives crop yield and disease research. PPN-Ireland (2016), an SFI-backed network, connects eight institutes with key phenotyping facilities. Teagasc integrates diverse crop data with molecular tools to enhance global breeding innovation.
Israel
More information coming soon.
Netherlands
NPEC (Wageningen/Utrecht/NWO) is a high-throughput, high-resolution phenotyping facility. It provides above and below-ground data that dramatically accelerates the breeding of novel, adaptive crops—crucial for future food security—by analysing plant performance under diverse biotic/abiotic factors.
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
EMPHASIS.PT established a cohesive phenotyping network (12 institutes and 2 labs) across mainland Portugal and Madeira. Leveraging diverse agro-climates, they invest in advanced technologies (drone/satellite imaging, metabolomics) to study plant adaptation, strengthen international standing, and drive capacity in EU projects.
Switzerland
The SPPN's research spans from fundamental ecological/biological studies using model plants to applied research on field and orchard crops. It provides comprehensive phenotyping infrastructure available at multiple scales: landscape, field, individual plant, and organ levels.
United Kingdom
PhenomUK comprises 15 research centres/universities housing controlled and field phenotyping platforms. These are organised into 8 targeted clusters: photophysiology, 3D/growth, health/disease, protected environments, drones, deep field, advancing practice, and digital.