PROFICIENCY

"Strengthen IUNG’s proficiency on “Managing the Production of Food and feedstuff, their safety and quality under global Climatic Change”"

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation (IUNG) is a brilliant Polish Research Institute. ProFiCiency aims at strengthening IUNG’s excellence, through technological, human and partnership capacities fostering, and most of all through a complete reshaping of its internal organisation. IUNG ambitions to adopt a totally integrated interdisciplinary approach around four interdisciplinary priority research areas (Soil Quality; Land Use; Production Systems and Techniques; and Plant Products Quality and Safety) to converge towards excellence on a crucial topic: “Managing the Production of Food and feedstuff, their safety and quality under global Climatic Change”. This ambition is the red line of the whole Action Plan, derived from the SWOT analysis. Measurables objectives are the acquisition of 17 pieces of equipment; the reorganisation of laboratories, a new HR policy, the hiring of 5 experienced researchers, intense mobility trainings (56 outgoing, 30 incoming), a sustainable agriculture platform, 2 international conferences, 8 workshops, 3 trainings, 1 open day and 2 farmers days, 1 website, 8 newsletters. The ProFiCienCy project will rely on 16 partners all across the EU. It has raised wide support reactions from official bodies (Polish Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Chamber of Lublin, Foundation for Polish Science, Regional Agrochemical Stations, Association of Tobacco Growers, National Council of Individual Farmers Union “Solidarity”). The main expected project outcomes are a better penetration within the ERA and IUNG’s recognition as the most promising research centre in Poland on the interaction between climate changes and the production of food and feedstuff of quality and high safety. ProFiCienCy also corresponds to a complementary funding of IUNG from cohesion funds and the FP7, since IUNG benefited from €3M funding from the European Regional Development Fund.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU project has helped to upgrade the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation (IUNG) in Pulawy, Poland. The work involved equipment upgrades and new buildings, various kinds of exchanges and visits, and the creation of new partnerships.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Poland's IUNG, part of the State Research Institute in Pulawy, is one of the country's best research organisations. The EU has strengthened the Institute through effective partnerships.

The EU-funded http://proficiency-fp7.eu (PROFICIENCY) project managed changes at IUNG over five years to May 2014. Apart from fostering partnerships and exchanges with other European agencies, the undertaking aimed to reorganise IUNG's research around four integrated interdisciplinary fields. The priority fields converged on managing food production and quality under global climate change. Other goals included: upgrading research equipment; enhancing scientific knowledge and collaboration in the topic area; and IUNG's full integration with the European Research Area (ERA).

Project activities included the purchase of 24 items of scientific equipment or software. To extend the capacity of IUNG's personnel, the project made four appointments of experienced researchers.

Knowledge exchange was achieved through mobility training. A mixture of experienced and inexperienced IUNG research staff participated in 172 outbound visits, lasting from weeks to months. Similar learning opportunities were offered to IUNG researchers through participation in numerous national and international conferences and workshops. The team organised a total of 57 incoming visits from partner organisations.

PROFICIENCY created various partnerships and collaborations with other European players in the field. The team launched a soil and land use platform. The project also formed an Advisory Board, which met four times. Furthermore, an Expert Panel review positively assessed the project.

Overall, PROFICIENCY succeeded in expanding the research capability and connectivity of IUNG.