KU - University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Kobenhavns Universitet is one of the largest universities in northern Europe, with 37,000 students, #1 in Scandinavia according to the Shanghai and THES rankings and a member of the International Alliance of Research Universities (www.iaruni.org). The Faculty of Science has an applied and business-oriented approach to the natural sciences. The academic staff totals around 1000, and 3500 BSc and MSc and 400 PhD students are enrolled at the faculty. The Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences focuses on research into ecological interactions and agricultural production with a particular focus on climate and environmental effects – molecule, organism and populations of eco-systems. The research group Crop Physiology and Production Systems is conducting research focusing on plant growth and quality at the crop, crop rotation, and cropping system level. Optimization of crop production and quality include improvement of plant potential through breeding, based on studies on genetic diversity of especially root growth. In addition, the group works on modelling root growth and effects on nutrient and water utilization for single crops and entire cropping systems.

Role in the project

KU will have two main roles in the project. In WP1, KU will be providing data for the database created in Task 1.2 and modelling root growth of different species in relation to multiple stresses in Task 1.3.

In WP2, KU will be part of Task 2.3, screening selected cultivars of potato in its unique semi-field phenotyping facility RadiMax. In addition, KU will lead Task 2.4: (Eco-) Physiological analysis of durum / bread wheat and microbiome responses to combined limitations, and in this task, screening of selected cultivars of wheat will be conducted in the root screening facility.

Key persons involved

Prof Dr. Kristian Thorup-Kristensen
Associate Professor Dorte Bodin Dresbøll