About PhenomUK

The Technology Touching Life network PhenomUK will build on new advances in fundamental engineering and physical sciences, bringing the necessary disciplines into closer contact and promoting an integrated, holistic view of the phenotyping process across the UK.

We wish to see both the practical importance of plant phenotyping and the challenges it presents more widely appreciated outside the life sciences, and the development of phenotyping solutions, in partnership with plant and agricultural scientists, become a mainstream activity in the engineering and physical sciences.

PhenomUk’s goal is to promote greater involvement in the development of plant phenotyping technology by the UK’s engineering and physical science base and increased and closer collaboration between plant, crop and agricultural scientists and those working in the engineering and computational sciences.

Specific objectives are:

• Identification of the UK’s key phenotyping needs, driven by the scientific questions facing the national plant, crop and agricultural science community.
• Identification of research and development strategies, driven by technological innovation, which will lead to more efficient integrated plant phenotyping solutions.

PhenomUK will achieve its aims through: 

• An annual UK conference on Crop Phenotyping
• Issue-based Workshop on topics identified by network members
• Outreach Workshops seeking to increase engagement with other research communities
• Network Visits supported by PhenomUK travel bursaries
• Funding Pilot projects and Feasibility Studies ( £5k – £25k each )
• E-infrastructure and online training