Botany & PLANT SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS

The Discipline of Botany and Plant Science has established formal and informal linkages with a range of institutional partners in Ireland and internationally. These include the following:

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA): The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the world's leading agricultural research organizations developing solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. IITA's award-winning research for development (R4D) addresses the development needs of tropical countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. IITA works with research partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. The mandate crops of IITA are cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava and maize.

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT): ICRISAT is a non-profit crop research organization conducting agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi-arid or dryland tropics is home to over 2 billion people, and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor living on less than 1$ per day. ICRISAT and its research partners help empower these poor people to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through agricultural research for development. ICRISAT is headquartered in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, with two regional hubs and four country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT is a member of the Consortium of Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ICRISAT conducts research on five highly nutritious, drought-tolerant crops – chickpea, pigeonpea, pearl millet, sorghum and groundnut. It also develops sustainable management of semi-arid tropic (SAT) systems through efficient and sustainable management of natural resources, and enables policies and institutions for improving livelihoods and achieving food, nutrition and health security while protecting the environment.

University of California, Davis, USA Biotechnology Program: The multi-institutional National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program, entitled Collaborative Research and Education in Agricultural Technologies and Engineering (CREATE), provides a structured, well-integrated graduate research and educational training program that focuses on the use of transgenic plants and in-vitro plant systems for the production of industrial non-food products and biopharmaceuticals. Throughout the training program, particular attention is devoted to the scientific, engineering, environmental, regulatory, economic, intellectual property, societal and global issues associated with plant biotechnology.

European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO): EPSO, the European Plant Science Organisation, is an independent academic organisation currently representing 61 institutional members bringing together more than 204 research institutes, departments and universities from 29 countries in Europe and beyond. EPSO’s mission is to improve the impact and visibility of plant science in Europe. EPSO's top priorities are to facilitate the understanding of plant science, to boost funding for basic research and to coordinate research activities at the national and European levels - and beyond. The association was founded in 2000 to represent the needs and interests of European plant science. Since then, it discusses with the European Commission, Members of the European Parliament and national politicians recommendations on European science policy. Botany & Plant Sciences at NUI Galway is an institutional member of EPSO.

Tropical Biology Association: The Tropical Biology Association (TBA) is working in partnership with African institutions to build expertise in biodiversity conservation and research through (1) Training, (2) Providing information & resources and (3) Creating links. The TBA provides key practical training for conservation biologists and practitioners with the potential to have a significant impact on biodiversity management and research. This is achieved through field courses, specialist skills workshops and applied research.
The TBA's funding database and follow-up support programme is assisting African conservation biologists continue to apply their skills once back at their home institutions. The bulletin board complements this by posting the most recent opportunities and announcements that focus on current job vacancies and funding sources for conservation biologists.  The TBA promotes regional and international collaboration by creating links between African and European conservation biologists and their organisations. Its network spans 60 countries and includes a growing list of alumni groups. NUI Galway Botany and Plant Science is a member of the Tropical Biology Association.

National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Ireland: The National Botanic Gardens were established in 1795 by the forerunner of what is now called the Royal Dublin Society (RDS). The original purpose of the Gardens was to promote a scientific approach to the study of agriculture. In its early years the Gardens demonstrated plants that were useful for animal and human food and medicine and for dyeing but it also grew plants that promoted an understanding of systematic botany.  The Botanic Gardens came into state care in 1878 and since then have been administered variously by the Department of Art and Industry, the Department of Agriculture, Dúchas the Heritage Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage the Gaeltacht and the Islands, and the Office of Public Works (OPW), which currently has responsibility for the Gardens. The mission of the National Botanic Gardens is to explore, understand, conserve, and share the importance of plants. The Gardens house the National Herbarium containing 750,000 dried plant specimens that are scientifically documented. Researchers at the Gardens are actively describing new species; increasing our knowledge of the Irish flora; conducting collecting expeditions; and investigating the needs of our most threatened native plant species.

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