Aims and objectives

AGRI-net will foster collaborations between leading cross-disciplinary groups and encourage partnerships with “end-users”. This will provide opportunities to further develop high-impact multidisciplinary research targeted at one of the world’s grand challenges, Crop Sustainability, and will strengthen the development of next-generation solutions for the agri-sciences.

This type of cross fertilisation helps to provide a realistic and accurate problem-led pull for newer technologies and inserts an additional technical push into established technologies.

This will be achieved by:

• Providing a unique communication forum for academia, industry and government agencies
• Hosting showcase 'show & tell' events, scientific creativity for 'sandpit' events, industrial based conferences and seminars
• Providing access to a variety of web-based systems, including a state-of-the-art virtual networking environment, which can be used for meetings, discussions and collaboration between participants in real time without need for co-location
• Providing a platform to steer future research and policy directions
• Creating opportunities to develop high impact multidisciplinary research e.g. by funding feasibility studies based upon ideas and strategic themes arising from the network interactions.
• Encouraging external outreach to engage with the general public. This is essential given the societal impact of the global challenge that the network is addressing.