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Twinning for European excellence in Island Biodiversity Genomics

Project description

Sustaining island biodiversity in Cyprus

Islands are unique ecosystems comprising different plant and animal species, some of which are endemic and cannot be found anywhere else. Therefore, island biodiversity is vulnerable and requires sustainable management strategies. The EU-funded iBioGen project focuses on genomics to understand island biodiversity and limit its decline. The mission is to strengthen the infrastructure of the University of Cyprus to carry out biodiversity genomics, stimulate research excellence and promote international collaborations and visibility. The project will also help promote conservation initiatives as well as public awareness of the uniqueness and importance of island biota.

Objective

Biodiversity genomics is transforming our understanding of biological diversity and leading to new discoveries that can limit biodiversity decline and therefore benefit human societies. Island biotas are highly vulnerable and thus require efficient conservation and sustainable development. They are also prime model systems for applied and fundamental research in organismal biology. iBioGen aims to significantly enhance the scientific and innovation performance of a Widening country (Cyprus) in biodiversity genomics, with focus on island biodiversity. As the third-largest island of the Mediterranean, Cyprus is an ideal site for island biodiversity research, but local capacity is currently lacking. iBioGen is recognising the great potential of novel DNA methodology for future island biodiversity research and the need for methodological unification and theoretical synthesis in this new field. Twinning of the University of Cyprus (UCY) with three internationally-leading partners in biodiversity genomics (NHM), island biodiversity research (CSIC) and biodiversity modelling (CNRS) will: (i) stimulate research excellence and international visibility of UCY, (ii) improve networking efficiency and interdisciplinarity, and (iii) have broad societal and environmental impact towards valuing and protecting island biodiversity. These objectives will be achieved through a set of training, networking and dissemination activities, including: staff exchanges, on-site training and an international summer school, international symposia on methodological unification and theoretical synthesis, outreach events directed towards biodiversity stakeholders and local communities. The expected impacts include an increase in scientific output and successful research proposal applications of UCY, establishment of an EU island network of Genomic Observatories, and integration of new technologies in biomonitoring and environmental policy at regional and EU level.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) H2020-WIDESPREAD-2016-2017

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Sub call

H2020-WIDESPREAD-05-2017-Twinning

Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS
Net EU contribution
€ 319 608,75
Address
AVENUE PANEPISTIMIOU 2109 AGLANTZI
1678 Nicosia
Cyprus

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Region
Κύπρος Κύπρος Κύπρος
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 319 608,75

Participants (3)

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