International Institutional Awards Tranche 1 Rothamsted
Lead Research Organisation:
Rothamsted Research
Department Name: Sustainable Soils and Crops
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Gibbs DJ
(2024)
Primed to persevere: Hypoxia regulation from epigenome to protein accumulation in plants.
in Plant physiology
Sichinga-Ligowe I
(2024)
An introduction to conducting responsible and reproducible agricultural research
in CABI Reviews
| Description | Funds were allocated to a range of projects to collaborate with institutions across the world, via an internal competitive funding call within RRes. All projects were assessed by an level internal panel consisting of Science Directors, the CEO and the International Programmes Manager. During this assessment process applications were evaluated and scored on their scientific value alongside consideration of EDI principles. There were two levels of funding offered: larger projects up to £40k and smaller projects up to £5k. The scope of the smaller awards was to support staff to initiate and/or strengthen international research partnerships with international high-quality researchers and institutions, and ECRs were encouraged to bid for these awards. The scope of the larger awards was to support more substantial activities that demonstrably accelerate international research partnerships. Examples of three of the 23 projects are: 1. RRes-Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia."Exploiting Genetic Variation to Deliver High Calcium in Wheat Products". The funding gave RRes the opportunity to collaborate with a leading group in plant ionomics and provided access to technologies to image minerals in plant tissues. This collaboration can have long-term benfits to the UK, as it will also support the access to more sophisticated technologies, including nano-PIXE, that is currently under construction at Dept of Low and Medium Energy Physics of Jožef Stefan Institute, and allow for more detailed resolution of mineral location using different synchrotrons including Diamond Light Source, UK or ESRF, France. 2. RRes-CGIAR-NARS "Optimising microbial interactions in drought-prone agricultural areas in sub-Saharan Africa". This workshop bought together research expertise from four CGIAR Centres, and leading National Agricultural Research Services (NARS) with expertise in in soil microbiology, agronomy, and social sciences, to discuss the challenges of dryland agriculture and their solutions, and to forge a pathway to develop new science in bio-inoculants to tackle climate risks. This new partnerships, that also includes leading stakeholders and extension services, have already initiated the drafting of a position paper and are now a working group in this area, with group communications and meetings planned. The group are currently writing an application for funding from the Dawin Initiative. The RRes leads for this project are two women ECR researchers at Rothamsted with experience in two different areas of science (soil microbiology and social sciences. As recently promoted Band Es, they have used this funding opportunity to develop their own network of researchers with CGIAR, NARS, and wider stakeholders. The strength and depth of this network will allow the group to be in a leading position to access funding from a diverse range of funders. 3. RRes Univeristy of Neuchatel, Switzerland "Beyond the host plant, how Fusarium graminearum establishes beneficial interactions with the microbiome". This project was developed and conducted by an ECR, with close support from their PI, and has developed a new strategic partnership for the Institute. The PI and the ECR interacted with Univeristy PI on several occasions in 2023 and it was a prioirty, on both sides, to develop a partnership and collaboration o testing various bacterial-fungal interactions. The ECR is on track to apply for a Future Leaders Fellowship in 2024 and through this internal funding, is in a stronger position to take their career forward. |
| Exploitation Route | The collaborations developed by the sub-projects have strengthened UK-international activities, and is leading to the development of new outputs and funding bids. A smaller amount of funding (Tranche 2) was made available for further activities in 2025 and 2026 and will continue to support UK-international activities. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment |