ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS KEW

Their core work

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is a world-leading plant science research institution based in Richmond, UK, with living collections of over 50,000 species and one of the largest herbaria globally. Their H2020 work spans plant taxonomy, evolutionary biology, biodiversity assessment, and crop wild relative genomics. They contribute deep botanical expertise to projects ranging from tropical forest ecology and legume diversity mapping to genebank data management and natural history digitisation. Their research directly supports conservation policy, food security through crop diversity, and the scientific infrastructure underpinning European biodiversity research.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), Kew focused heavily on individual Marie Curie fellowships in classical plant evolutionary biology — flower head development (CAPITULA), legume assessments (GLDAFRICA), palm hydraulics, and yam phylogenomics. From 2019 onward, their work shifted toward large-scale digital infrastructure for biodiversity (SYNTHESYS PLUS, ICEDIG), applied crop genomics and FAIR data management (AGENT), and climate-driven conservation biology (FORECAST). This evolution shows a clear move from specimen-level taxonomy toward data-driven, infrastructure-scale biodiversity science with stronger applied dimensions.

Kew is shifting from hosting individual researchers toward contributing to large-scale European biodiversity data infrastructure and applied conservation genomics — future partners should expect them to bring both taxonomic depth and digital collections expertise.

How they like to work

Kew predominantly leads projects: 6 of 10 H2020 projects were coordinated by them, almost all Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowships where Kew served as the host institution for early-career researchers. As a participant, they join larger research infrastructure consortia (SYNTHESYS PLUS, ICEDIG, AGENT) with broad European partnerships. With 78 unique partners across 27 countries, they operate as a well-connected hub in European biodiversity research rather than relying on a fixed set of repeat collaborators.

Kew has collaborated with 78 distinct partners across 27 countries, reflecting a genuinely pan-European and global network. Their participant-role projects (SYNTHESYS PLUS, AGENT) connect them to major natural history and agricultural research networks across the continent.

What sets them apart

Kew is one of very few institutions that combines centuries-old living plant collections with modern genomics and informatics capabilities, making them irreplaceable for projects requiring both physical specimens and digital biodiversity data. Their dual strength in tropical botany (Africa, Madagascar, Mediterranean) and European research infrastructure (ESFRI-linked DiSSCo network) means they can bridge field ecology with large-scale data standardisation. For consortium builders, Kew brings instant credibility in biodiversity science plus practical access to one of the world's most comprehensive plant reference collections.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AGENT
  Largest funded project (EUR 380,832) and their only food/agriculture entry — positions Kew at the intersection of genebank management, crop genomics, and FAIR data principles for wheat and barley diversity.
• SYNTHESYS PLUS
  Major European research infrastructure project (ESFRI roadmap) for digitising and integrating natural science collections — connects Kew to the continent-wide DiSSCo initiative.
• FORECAST
  Most recent coordinated project (2022-2025) combining orchid conservation with climate change modelling and mycorrhizal ecology — signals Kew's growing focus on climate-biodiversity interactions.