The JRU coordinates the Italian contribution to LifeWatch and the national activities of the LifeWatch Service Centre
and the e-Biodiversity Research Institute of LifeWatch-ITA.
Policy Developments
The Italian Ministry of Research has implemented the national contribution to LifeWatch through the following steps:
- Signature of the “Memorandum of Intent” before the intergovernmental agreements for the Research Infrastructure and appointment of the National representative in the “Stakeholder Board” to coordinate the transition from the preparatory to the construction phase of the infrastructure (August 2010);
- Constitution of the Joint Research Unit of LifeWatch Italy (December 2010);
- Constitution of LifeWatch-ERIC.
The JRU has been acting on behalf of LifeWatch Italy and has been leading the national initiatives:
- Reinforcement and enlargement of the partnership from 9 to 31 member institutions;
- Set up of the e-Biodiversity Research Institute of LifeWatch Italy, a distributed research facility, marking a new and unique development at the national level;
- Support to the Italian Ministry for Research in the process of implementation of LifeWatch-ERIC.