News from our blog
Recognising our infrastructure specialists
At the APPF, our Infrastructure Specialists are vital to our capabilities and our capacity to deliver cutting-edge phenomics for clients and partners. With that in [...]
APPF proudly supports Plants For Space!
The Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) is proud to announce we are a supporting partner for the newly announced Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of [...]
Connecting and cooperating: ICRI 2022
The biennial International Conference for Research Infrastructures (ICRI 2022) was held in Brno, Czech Republic, from 19th to 21st October. ICRI 2022 was a fantastic [...]
APPF Team visits Medicago facilities in Quebec
In August 2022, representatives from the ANU Canberra node of the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility visited the Quebec City headquarters of Medicago R&D Inc. The [...]
APPF ANU welcomes first ARC Training Centre student
Traditional PhD training in crop science is getting an overhaul with the establishment of the new ARC Training Centre for Future Crops Development. The Centre [...]
First nations knowledge in Australian research
As part of NAIDOC Week 2022, Australia's national research infrastructure recognised Indigenous knowledge and research. APPF is proud to be contributing its skills and resources [...]
The APPF in the media
NBN News – “APPN-University of Sydney partnership blossoms”
The APPN University of Sydney Node staged its official launch as part of the annual University of Sydney Narrabri Plant Breeding Institute Open Field Day on Wednesday 11 September 2024.
CEO Richard Dickmann travelled north to join Node Director Dr William Salter, University of Sydney Dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor Marcel Dinger, academics and educators, plus over 200 local growers, agronomists and researchers from industry for the day. Dr Salter introduced the attendees to the new APPN infrastructure and end-to-end data support the node will offer. He was also able to demonstrate some of the new APPN drones, handheld sensors and ground-truthing physiological tools.
“It is incredibly exciting to launch our new node of the APPN here in Narrabri, one of the agricultural heartlands of Australia,” he said
Expanded plant phenomics facility to accelerate crop development
The Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF), Australia’s national plant phenomics research infrastructure, will receive $60 million in core funding over the next five years to expand its world-leading network of facilities across Australia and accelerate the development of improved crops.
APPF headquarters is hosted by the University of Adelaide and supported by the Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
The $60 million NCRIS investment is planned to be matched by contributions from university partners, state governments and industry for a total investment of nearly $135 million.
Read more here:
APPF welcomes Richard Dickmann as new CEO
The Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF), Australia’s premier national plant phenomics research infrastructure facility, is delighted to announce the appointment of Richard Dickmann as its new Chief Executive Officer.
APPF Board Chair, Dr. Ron Sandland, expressed his enthusiasm for Richard’s appointment.
“Following a competitive recruitment process, I am delighted that Richard has accepted this critical role,” he said.
“Richard’s hands-on experience and vision make him the ideal leader for our ambitious future.”
Read more here:
ABC Catalyst – “Feeding Australia”
The two-part series, Feeding Australia, was produced by the Catalyst team on ABC TV. In Part 2, Chef Paul West, Professor Clare Collins and Dr Noby Leong reveal how technology is set to transform food production, including talking with the APPF and Dr Trevor Garnett in Part 2 here (start from 44:30).
Feeding Australia – Part 1 “Foods of Tomorrow”, and Part 2 “A Sustainable Future”, are available to watch on ABC’s iView.
Preview here:
Channel 7 News – “Helping drought-stricken farmers”
As farmers across the country struggle with drought, researchers at the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) and the University of Adelaide’s Waite Institute are developing wheat varieties resilient to climate change. They are improving genetic diversity and crop yields – and they are doing it using state-of-the-art drone technology and robotics.
Watch:
ABC News – “Opening of Boorowa Research Facility”
APPF technology used at the newly opened Boorowa Research Facility featured heavily in an ABC News announcement. See research drones and the APPF developed phenoMobile® in action, along with an interview with the APPF’s Jamie Scarrow.
Click to watch: