Researchers from the University in Toruń in cooperation with researchers from Austria will carry out a research project under Weave-UNISONO. They will analyse the processes triggered by the absorption of light energy by photoreceptors.
Dr hab. Krzysztof Jaworski from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń is the principal investigator of the project “Light signalling via cAMP/cGMP second messengers in plants” carried out in collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria headed by Prof. Jiří Friml.
The Polish and Austrian research teams will study signal transmission within the cell or between neighbouring cells that determines the survival of the plant organism.
The ability of the cell to receive signals depends on the presence of appropriate receptors that are activated in response to a stimulus. This triggers a sequence of physico-chemical reactions of transmitting information to the effector and triggering a physiological response adequate to the stimulus. This process, called signal transduction, has been relatively well studied and documented. The recent studies of the research team shows that there are elements in the structure of these proteins and in the transduction of the light signal which still need to be discovered and considered. In the project submitted to Weave-UNISONO, the researchers will focus on the characteristic sequences encoding adenylate and guanylate cyclases, i.e. enzymes responsible for the synthesis of cyclic nucleotides (cNMP), cAMP and cGMP, molecules referred to as secondary messengers.
The proposal was evaluated by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and their outcome was approved by the National Science Centre under the Weave collaboration. The NCN will provide funding of over PLN 1 million to the Polish research team, while the Austrian team will fund by FWF.
Ranking list No. 13/2024 (pdf)
Weave-UNISONO and Lead Agency Procedure
Weave-UNISONO is launched within the framework of multilateral cooperation between research funding agencies associated in Science Europe. The programme aims to simplify the submission and selection procedure of research proposals in all academic disciplines, involving researchers from two or three European countries.
The selection process relies on the Lead Agency Procedure (LAP) according to which a full merit-based evaluation is performed by one partner institution, whilst the other partners approve its results.
Under the Weave programme, partner research teams submit their funding proposals to the lead agency as well as their respective research-funding agencies. Joint proposals must include a coherent research programme and identify the added value of international cooperation.
Weave-UNISONO is carried out on an ongoing basis. Research teams intending to cooperate with partners from Austria, Czechia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium-Flanders are encouraged to read the cal text and submit their funding proposals.