New MSCA staff exchange PHENOVOL to advance VOC phenotyping across Europe and beyond

To accelerate the integration of high-resolution phenotyping and genomic insights in plant science, a new Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchange project — PHENOVOL has been awarded funding. Funded through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), the goal of PHENOVOL is to deepen scientific understanding of plant VOC diversity — the complex blends of plant volatiles, aromatics and essential oils that vary among species and organs and shift in response to environmental stress. Since changes in VOC profiles often occur at early stages of stress exposure, robust and high-throughput VOC phenotyping has huge potential for boosting stress resilience and early signalling in crops. PHENOVOL will see scientists and technical staff across continents collaborate to transform this natural phenotypic complexity into actionable insights for agriculture and plant science.
MSCA Staff Exchanges: Fostering international knowledge transfer
The MSCA Staff Exchanges action funds short-term international and inter-sectoral mobility of research and innovation staff, enabling participating organisations to share knowledge, build lasting collaborations, and strengthen capacities across research ecosystems. Consortia must include at least three partners from three different countries (with a mix of academic and non-academic organisations), and staff mobility is used to exchange expertise, conduct joint research, and organise training and networking events. Importantly, seconded staff return to their home institutions to disseminate knowledge and reinforce cross-institutional linkages.
Through this scheme, PHENOVOL will promote exchanges between academic and industrial partners, enhancing both scientific skills and practical know-how in VOC phenotyping technologies.

A broad consortium driving VOC phenotyping innovation
Co-ordinated by Italy’s CNR (National Research Council), the PHENOVOL consortium spans Europe, South America and beyond, linking leading research institutions with industrial stakeholders. Participating institutions include:
• NOVA University Lisbon (Portugal)
• University of Helsinki (Finland)
• Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Bulgaria)
• CONICET (Argentina)
• Trakya University (Turkey)
Industrial partners from Italy, Argentina and Turkey will contribute practical perspectives and technological expertise, ensuring results are relevant for both academic discovery and real-world application.

Empowering the next generation of phenotyping scientists
Beyond its scientific mission, PHENOVOL will deliver targeted training activities designed to equip early- and mid-career researchers with state-of-the-art skills in VOC analysis and the interpretation of multidimensional phenomic data. By embedding mobility and hands-on exchange within the project, PHENOVOL also supports professional development and cross-sectoral career pathways — a core objective of the MSCA Staff Exchanges programme.

Strengthening the European phenotyping community
PHENOVOL contributes directly to the strategic goals of the EMPHASIS infrastructure by advancing phenotyping methodologies and fostering cohesive links between laboratories and industrial users across the globe. Its emphasis on VOC profiling expands the phenotyping toolkit available to plant scientists and helps bridge phenotypic complexity with genomic insights — a key challenge for tomorrow’s sustainable agriculture.