About EPSO
EPSO, the European Plant Science Organisation, is an independent non-profit academic organisation that currently represents more than 204 research institutes, departments and universities from 29 countries.
As its core mission, EPSO works on behalf of its members to increase the impact and visibility of plant science in Europe by informing policy-makers about the importance of plants, boosting funding for plant research, and coordinating research activities at national and European levels - and beyond.
EPSO was founded in 2000 to represent the needs and interests of the European plant science community. Since then, it has focused its work on two key areas: science policy and support to plant scientists.
Science policy
EPSO provides recommendations on European science policy to the European Commission, members of the European Parliament and national politicians. EPSO ensured that funding was available for plant research in Sixth Framework Programme for Research (FP6) and has increased in FP7. It facilitated and supported the establishment of the European Research Area Network on Plant Genomics (ERA-PG), an EU-supported network which supports international research efforts in the field. EPSO, through membership of the Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) and of the European Life Sciences Forum (ELSF), helped define and establish the European Research Council (ERC).
In 2004, EPSO and EuropaBio started one of the first Commission-backed European Technology Platform, ‘Plants for the Future’, that launched in June 2007 its Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) at the European Parliament in Brussels. The SRA presents a vision of plant research for the next 20 years and identifies challenges for Europe’s society and economy to which the plant sector can contribute. The Technology Platform currently works on the SRA implementation at the European and national levels, with a focus on promoting and advocating strategic research and internationally competitive research.
EPSO regularly publishes position papers to give plant scientists an important voice and to demonstrate how plant research can address current societal challenges. For example, the EPSO position paper on bioenergy and renewable materials was released in September 2007 and shows how plant research can contribute to energy security and alleviating global climate change. In October 2008, EPSO contributed to the debate on food security by replying to the Royal Society call for evidence on 'Biological approaches to enhance food-crop production'.
Support to plant scientists
Over the years, EPSO has built a strong reputation among plant scientists in Europe and has become the preferred European contact for scientists and companies worldwide interested in plant-related issues.
Every two years, EPSO organises a conference that attracts top-level scientists and speakers. This major event brings together plant scientists from Europe and around the world to present and discuss cutting-edge science and, uniquely, plant science policy and its societal relevance. After Switzerland (2002), Italy (2004), Hungary (2006), and France (2008), the next EPSO conference will take place from 18 to 22 April 2010 in Finland. Equally important, EPSO workshops have established a reputation for being visionary and high-quality 'think-tanks' in emerging areas of plant science. These workshops bring together different disciplines to break down barriers and facilitate collaboration. Workshop participants typically compile a white paper with prioritised objectives that are communicated to the European Commission and national policy-markers. The workshop on biofuels, was held in May 2008 in London (UK). The next workshop, on Plant Productivity, will be held from 7 to 8 September 2009 in Ghent (BE).
EPSO News, the organization’s bimonthly e-newsletter, presents the latest developments in plant research and provides EPSO members with information on the various international, European and national funding programmes. The online newsletter is only accessible to EPSO members.
Two types of membership: institutional and personal
Institutional membership is open to European universities, research institutions and departments in the field of plant science, and since 2008 also to selected plant science institutions worldwide. Representatives of the institutional members actively participate in EPSO's science policy work at the European and national levels. EPSO representatives are key to forging EPSO's position on future European plant research policy and recommendations to important decision makers, for example in the development of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7). Only EPSO institutional members can organise and participate in EPSO workshops.
Personal membership is available to individuals interested in plant science, regardless of their nationality, profession, seniority or age. People working at EPSO institutional members can automatically become members free of charge. EPSO personal members have full access to information collected by EPSO and specifically tailored to plant scientists (such as EU and national funding opportunities, structural funds). They can also use the FP7 partner search tool, browse the database of plant scientists and the EPSO online portal; and read EPSO News, the organisation's bimonthly e-newsletter. Moreover, personal members can apply for an EPSO conference support grant.
