image: Professor Richard Morris of the John Innes Centre view more
Credit: Andrew Davis
A major grant to fund curiosity-driven research into plant communication has been awarded to a John Innes Centre researcher and colleagues from two European institutes.
Professor Richard Morris, programme leader in plant health at the John Innes Centre, is part of an interdisciplinary team which includes Dr Friedrich Kragler from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam, Germany, and Professor Julia Kehr from the University of Hamburg.
The successful team, which receives €6.1m over six years, is one of only 27 from across Europe to be awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant.
"It's been a highly rewarding experience to develop new ideas within such an excellent team," said Professor Morris. "The synergy was apparent early on and, of course, we're super-excited about what we're proposing to do. We're absolutely delighted to have been selected for funding."
The philosophy of the ERC Synergy programme is simple, said Professor Morris: "They encourage researchers from different disciplines to come together think freely and develop a research programme 'bottom up' following their curiosity.
He continued: "In my view, it's a recipe for success and innovation. Scientific progress is driven by the free flow of ideas, data and people and the ERC Synergy programme promotes exactly that."
John Innes Centre Director, Professor Dale Sanders congratulated the team and said: "The ERC Synergy programme fits really well with the philosophy of the John Innes Centre, achieving excellence in fundamental research and giving scientists the freedom to follow their curiosity. This is a fantastic achievement for the team and it is encouraging to see European partnerships coming together to answer key questions which will push the boundaries of our understanding."
The highly-coveted grants, worth €250 million in total, enable groups of 2 to 4 lead researchers to bring together complementary skills, knowledge and resources to address research problems at the frontiers of knowledge.
Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said: "The purpose of this EU funding is to group together top scientific talents and bring out their best. It equips researchers on their quest to put European science on the global stage and make discoveries that will ultimately improve European lives."
Professor Morris's research uses mathematical modelling and computational approaches to solve problems in biology. His focus is on how plants encode, transmit and decode information about their environment. He believes the ERC funding is a "game-changer" for his long term scientific goals.
"This grant will be game-changing for my interest in biological information processing in that it brings together leading groups from across Europe in the areas of cell biology, protein biochemistry and mathematical modelling to unravel the mechanisms of RNA-based communication. This funding gives us the freedom to build and develop truly interdisciplinary research teams and train the next generation of researchers. It's very exciting," he said.
The fundamental research, explained Professor Morris, will have broad implications in helping to understand how plants adapt to their environment and how grafted plants may use communication strategies to increase specific traits such as disease resistance.
"This is blue skies science that will shed light on how plant cells can talk to one another over long distances to co-ordinate development," he said.
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The grants are part of the EU's research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020.
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Notes for Editors
Contacts
Press Contact: Adrian Galvin - Adrian.Galvin@jic.ac.uk
Tel: 01603 450238
About the John Innes Centre
The John Innes Centre is an independent, international centre of excellence in plant science and microbiology.
Our mission is to generate knowledge of plants and microbes through innovative research, to train scientists for the future, to apply our knowledge of nature's diversity to benefit agriculture, the environment, human health, and wellbeing, and engage with policy makers and the public.
To achieve these goals we establish pioneering long-term research objectives in plant and microbial science, with a focus on genetics. These objectives include promoting the translation of research through partnerships to develop improved crops and to make new products from microbes and plants for human health and other applications. We also create new approaches, technologies and resources that enable research advances and help industry to make new products. The knowledge, resources and trained researchers we generate help global societies address important challenges including providing sufficient and affordable food, making new products for human health and industrial applications, and developing sustainable bio-based manufacturing.
This provides a fertile environment for training the next generation of plant and microbial scientists, many of whom go on to careers in industry and academia, around the world.
The John Innes Centre is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The John Innes Centre is also supported by the John Innes Foundation through provision of research accommodation and long-term support of the Rotation PhD programme.
For more information about the John Innes Centre visit our website http://www.jic.ac.uk
About BBSRC
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government.
BBSRC invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.
Funded by government, BBSRC invested £469 million in world-class bioscience in 2016-17. We support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals
For more information about BBSRC, our science and our impact see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk
For more information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/institutes