Project Structure

The project is composed of four Networking Activities (NA), three Joint Research Activities (JRA) to warrant the realization of the objectives outlined above, one Management work package and ten Trans-National Access (TNA) work packages.

Networking Activities will foster a culture of co-operation between RI and all concerned stakeholders. WP1 will be dedicated to the logistics of organizing TNA to the participating installations. WP2 will deal with the harmonization of protocols, methods and ethics, WP3 with data practices and data management, and WP4 with the dissemination of project results, training, and technology transfer. All NA work packages will ensure the sustainability of the network beyond the EU funding period.

The WPs of the JRA aim to improve the services provided by the infrastructures. They are organised per type of tool or service they focus on. WP5 will work on the development of non- or minimally-invasive methods for experimental pig research. WP6 will work on novel experimental tools and technologies to study welfare, behaviour, and body composition and will yield at least two outcomes with a high TRL. These will be developed in collaboration with industrial partners and will be exploited during the course of the project or shortly after its end. WP7 will evaluate, integrate, and demonstrate different existing and newly developed methods in a distributed, multisite experimental setting.

Ten WPs are proposed to provide access to experimental facilities for pig research. Each partner proposes one TNA, with one or more installations gathering different types of access (e.g., a feed mill, a facility to work on different lines or breeds of pigs, a CT-scanner). External users will use the TNAs for various purposes related to pig production such as feed evaluation and feed technologies (including development of new additives or enzymes), pig nutrition, genetics, improvement of health and welfare, improvement of the efficiency of pig production systems, and reduction of their environmental impact.

Work Package Leaders

WP 1 – Sam Millet

WP 2 – Rebecka Westin

WP 3 – Catherine Larzul

WP 4 – Geena Cartick

WP 5 – Jan Værum Nørgaard

WP 6 – Cornelia Metges

WP 7 – Giuseppe Bee