This we have done by investing in high-potential European Union (EU) research and innovation projects as part of our science strategy, focusing on the priority areas we have identified; Crop Health, Next Generation Diagnostics, Food Integrity and Sustainable Agri-food Systems. This has enabled us to advance current knowledge and build momentum to focus on product innovation and improved services.

EU Projects

Listed below are projects that have either been supported by the European Commission through the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) or has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Fera Science Limited either coordinates or is a partner in the project consortium.

DROPSA - FP7 Coordinator

This project is about sustainable & effective solutions to control new pests and pathogens for fruit production. Fruit crops account for 17% of the value of the EU's agricultural production and the fruit and vegetables supply chain has an estimated turnover of more than €120 billion with over 550,000 employees and around 1.4 million growers. It is estimated that insect pests destroy approximately 14% of all potential food production globally. Therefore it is reasonable to estimate that fruit losses from pests and pathogens accounts for over €10 billion in revenue and 3 million tonnes of produce to the EU fruit industry.

Why not watch the Dropsa Animation

HEALS-FP7 Partner

The general objective of HEALS is the refinement of an integrated methodology and the application of the corresponding analytical and computational tools for performing environment-wide association studies in support of EU-wide environment and health assessments. The exposome represents the totality of exposures from conception onwards, simultaneously identifying, characterizing and quantifying the exogenous and endogenous exposures and modifiable risk factors that predispose to and predict diseases throughout a person’s life span. The HEALS approach brings together and organises environmental, socio-economic, exposure, biomarker and health effect data; in addition, it includes all the procedures and computational sequences necessary for applying advanced bioinformatics coupling thus effective data mining, biological and exposure modeling so as to ensure that environmental exposure-health associations are studied comprehensively.

CBRN GIFT FP7 Partner

Forensic investigation is a key component in the fight against crime and the protection of EU societies. At present it is hampered by a lack of protocols and training in carrying out forensic analysis on CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) contaminated materials. The aim of GIFT-CBRN is to develop a forensic tool box for investigating CBRN incidents. This tool box would provide 

(1) procedures, sampling methods and detection of CBRN agents at the crime scene, 

(2) traditional forensic laboratory methods for contaminated evidence and 

(3) laboratory methods for profiling the CBRN agents released at the incident. 

The procedures and methods are will be set up and validated according to ISO17025 and the system validation will be performed by a final exercise. Procedures for chain of custody, QC (quality control) to ensure the integrity of the evidence and investigations done on the evidence from crime scene to court will be developed. An education and training curriculum related to the developed procedures, best practices and methods will be designed and progressed to implementation.

Underpinning the above aims, research will be carried out to develop novel methodologies to enable traditional forensic science (DNA, fingerprint and electronic devices) on CBRN contaminated exhibits and analytical procedures to be carried out that not only provide information about the CBRN agent itself but also through CBRN profiling provide in-depth information which can give valuable forensic information, for example points of origin.

The project team includes forensic research laboratories, potential users of the expected developments, including public and private users, and SMEs (small-medium enterprises) who will be able to bring the new technologies developed within the project to market.

EMPHASIS H2020 Partner

EMPHASIS is a participatory research project addressing native and alien pests threats (insect pests, pathogens, weeds) for a range of both natural ecosystems and farming systems (field crops, protected crops, forestry, orchards and amenity plants). The overall goal is to ensure a European food security system and the protection of biodiversity and of ecosystems services while developing integrated mechanisms of response measures (practical solutions) to predict, to prevent and to protect agriculture and forestry systems from native and alien pests threats.

The project is not focused on a single management systems but the plant/pest ecosystems dealt with are treated with a multi-method approach to design true IPM (integrated pest management) methodology that will be developed for key systems with portability to other similar systems, thereby having a large impact.

EU CHINA SAFE H2020 Partner

EU-China-Safe will mobilise resources in Europe and China to develop a cohesive partnership that will deliver a shared vision for food safety and authenticity and work towards “mutual recognition”. Comprising 16 participants from the EU and 17 from China, EU-China-Safe contains key research organisations, Government and industry needed to develop and jointly implement major advances in improving food safety and combating food fraud in the two trading blocks. EU-China-Safe will build the core components needed for a joint EU-China food safety control system comprising: control management, food legislation, food inspection, food control laboratories, and food safety and quality information, education and communication. The project will develop an EU-China Joint Laboratory Network that will achieve and demonstrate equivalency of results, and will develop a state of the art virtual laboratory, with interchangeable staff from two continents, that will be used as a “showcase” to communicate and demonstrate best practice. Innovative traceability tools will strengthen the most vulnerable supply chains. New or improved detection capabilities for chemical/microbiological hazards and food fraud will be implemented in a harmonised way across the EU-China network.

Trade barriers caused by food safety and fraud issues will be analysed and recommendations of how to predict and prevent future events disseminated. The project will focus on the most commonly reported foods linked to chemical and microbiological contamination and fraud (infant formula, processed meat, fruits, vegetables, wine, honey, spices). Substantial knowledge transfer and training actions will build high-level and long-term collaboration, synergies and trust between a wide range of EU and China actors.  These advances, in addition to a wider range of confidence building measures towards food safety, authenticity and transparency, will address consumer expectations and facilitate an expansion of EU-China trade.

NA-TOX-AQ 7 H2020 Partner

Clean drinking water is crucial to human health and well being. The ambition of the NaToxAq ETN network is to expand the research basis for EU’s leading role in securing high quality drinking waters for its citizens. Focus is on natural toxins – a large group of emerging contaminants with unknown impact on drinking water resources. Both known toxins, like cyanotoxins, cyanogenic glucosides and terpenes and not yet explored toxins will be investigated. Twenty leading universities, research institutions, and water enterprises will pioneer the field through joint training of 15 ESRs (early stage researchers) investigating natural toxin emission via water reservoirs to water works and consumers. The natural toxin challenge is addressed by the concerted work of the ESRs within 4 scientific work packages comprising origin, distribution, fate and remediation. Priority toxins are selected using in silico approaches accompanied by novel non-targeted and targeted analyses to map natural toxins along vegetation and climatic gradients in Europe. Invasion of alien species, toxin emission, leaching and dissipation will be under strong influence of climate change. Data collected for toxin emission, properties and fate will be used to model effects of climate, land use, and design of remediation actions. Special attention will be paid to toxin removal at water works including development of new technologies tailored to remove natural toxins. The results will contribute to strengthening of European policies and regulation of drinking water, while new business opportunities within the fields of water supply and treatment, chemical monitoring and sensing, and the consulting sector will arise from academia-industry collaborations. The urgency of the challenge, its eminent knowledge gaps, its multifaceted and multidisciplinary nature, and the need for scientific and public awareness to be communicated by ESRs in a balanced way makes the topic ideal for a European mobility and training network.