The Network of Excellence (NoE) project aims at following general objectives:

• to contribute to further development of IHAR PIB as an internationally recognized research centre in plant improvement, biotechnology, germplasm conservation and enhancement,
• to contribute to sustainable development of the Institute in three complementary areas: basic research, education and training, as well as biotechnology and crop improvement research,
• to build up networking activities of IHAR PIB with leading European countries,
• to enhance involvement of the Institute in joint European research programmes, mostly within FP6 anf FP7, and to disseminate its results with commercial breeding companies and biotechnology centers,
• to build up the IHAR PIB capacity as a potential research partner for breeding and seed production companies in Poland and for Polish farmers as well.

Specific objectives:

To achieve the above general objectives, the following specific objectives must be attained:

• to strengthen the international position of IHAR-PIB by:

1. organizing international conferences of general scope in the field of advanced crop improvement technologies in order to disseminate new ideas and promote new achievements,
2. organizing series of specialized workshops and seminars with keynote lectures provided by internationally recognized experts, enhancing the international cooperation of IHAR-PIB with European universities and research centres by exchange of visits in order to set up cooperation programmes and initiate joint research,
3. to improve skills of the PGR (Plant Genetic Resources) management staff and to stimulate, develop and coordinate exchange of information on PGR in ex situ collection,
4. re-organizing and expanding the Promotion and Publishing Department of IHAR-PIB,
5. re-organizing and expanding the PR activity,
6. disseminate information on the Centre in order to have a better link to practice, stimulating participation of Polish researchers in 6FP.

• to increase the number of highly qualified young researchers at IHAR-PIB by:

1. studies and highly specialized training at international level,
2. organizing advanced courses and inviting top European specialists to provide lectures in selected areas oriented towards advanced methods in crop improvement, biotechnology, germplasm conservation and enhancement,
3. organizing medium-term visits of young researchers from IHAR-PIB to cooperating European universities and research centres in order to learn about modern methodologies and to initiate joint research projects,
4. attracting young scientists to specific research projects in preparation of their Ph.D. dissertations.

• to expand co-operation with plant breeding companies and biotechnology centres by:

1. creating joint research projects aimed at improvement of specific crops, stimulating involvement of Polish breeding companies and organizations of Polish farmers in international research projects,
2. disseminating ideas of Sustainable Agriculture among Polish farmers,
3. stimulating a market-oriented research conducted by IHAR-PIB.

The relevance of the research work and problem orientation

All programmes carried out by IHAR-PIB and the Network are relevant to the needs of Polish agriculture. The experimental basis of the Institute includes recently modernized and very well equipped laboratories for molecular, cytogenetic, cell engineering and transformation research. The unique library serves scientists from Poland and abroad with extensive literary coverage of crop improvement and biotechnology.