LifeWatch (01/02/2008 – 31/01/2011)
Project description
LifeWatch is a distributed infrastructure to support interdisciplinary scientific research on biodiversity, whose construction is planned under the Strategy for the European Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).
The executive plan of LifeWatch, produced during the preparatory phase ended in 2011, has identified four main lines for infrastructure development:
- tools for generating and processing data and their integration and interoperability;
- a network of observatories, institutions, research groups, researchers and users of biodiversity
research - a series of virtual laboratories on specific topics, to make available data analysis and modelling tools;
- a dedicated Service Center which offers services to users and also training and research opportunities for young researchers.
Partners:
Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Freie Universität Berlin, Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Fraunhofer Institute, Cardiff University, Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, University of the West of England, Bristol, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Health Grid, Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Kristineberg Marine Station, University of Gothenburg, Swedish Research Council, Finnish Environment Institute, National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands, The Natural History Museum in London, Aarhus University, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Italian National Research Council, University of Bucharest, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgian Science Policy, Museum and Institute of Zoology – Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Landscape Ecology Slovak Academy of Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Comunità Ambiente.
Go to the project file in the European Commission database.
Post-project activities (since February 2011)
The activities for the realization of the research infrastructure are continuing even after the conclusion of the FP7 project.
The current implementation phase concerns, first, leading the process to arrive at the signing of a European Research Infrastructure Consortium and, simultaneously, the implementation of the initial elements of the infrastructure to be implemented by organizations belonging to Member States interested in participating actively in the construction.
Based on existing agreements, the consortium will be organized in a series centers participating in a central facility, which will constitute the “core” infrastructure and will be divided into three branches:
- Seville (Spain) will host the headquarters office and the basic ICT structures.
- Amsterdam (Netherlands) will host the center for Virtual Laboratories.
- Lecce (Italy) will host the Service Center.
Many EU countries are contributing to the construction of LifeWatch proposing and developing centers and activities.
Preparatory project for the LifeWatch infrastructure for biodiversity research in Italy
A JRU (Joint Research Unit), called LW-ITA, has been set up, through an agreement signed in 2011, aimed at coordinating the contributions of various Italian institutions for the construction of the LifeWatch Infrastructure. The JRU has among its participating academic and research institutions, scientific societies and federations, associations, NGOs and private companies and is still being expanded.
LW-ITA has developed a plan for implementing the national component of the infrastructure. In particular, the commitment in LifeWatch, creates the conditions for the realization of a distributed Biodiversity Research Institute, designed as a distributed research infrastructure. The distributed Biodiversity Research Institute will also host the LifeWatch Services Center.
Partners
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Università degli Studi di Bari ‘Aldo Moro’, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Università degli Studi di Roma ‘Tor Vergata’, Università del Salento, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoli, Istituto Agronomico Mediterraneo di Bari (IAMB), Agenzia Regionale per l’Ambiente in Puglia, Comunità Ambiente.