Designing a Nationwide Phenotyping Infrastructure
PhenomUK Research Infrastructure is a £2.4M Scoping Activity supported by the UKRI Infrastructure Fund. Launched in February 2023, this two-year project aims to define and pilot a nationwide distributed research infrastructure, with regional sites, which will enable new ways of working and a cultural shift in the UK’s approach to plant phenomics.
The UK plant phenomics landscape is therefore fragmented, with specialist methods operated independently at geographically distinct locations. Data standards and representations vary, as does training and support for developers, facility managers and operators, and scientific users. PhenomUK will transition from a Technology Touching Life network into a national research infrastructure, taking on the work of the previously termed “UKPCPI” Infrastructure scoping activity to ensure continuity in community identity. The PhenomUK Research Infrastructure will bring together and enhance the UK’s powerful but dispersed resources. This initiative mirrors and is closely related to international activities. Specifically, it seeks to produce a UK node of EMPHASIS, an EU ESFRI project aiming to create a pan-European plant and crop phenotyping infrastructure.