Objectives

RESEARCH COORDINATION

The project’s general aims with respect to research coordination are:

• establish a European network addressing the fragmented landscape of agricultural phage research by connecting experts across microbiology, bioinformatics, plant pathology, and social sciences;
• generate and disseminate integrated knowledge on phages infecting phytopathogenic bacteria through collaborative studies on plant-bacterium-phage interactions, prophage content, and bacterial defence systems;
• develop shared resources, including a European phage repository and an open-access database linking bacterial hosts, phage genomes, and phenotypic data, to facilitate comparative studies and rational cocktail design;
• validate phage efficacy in controlled and field conditions, producing standardised application protocols to guide deployment under different environmental contexts; and
• encourage teaching and training for future research on phages of phytopathogenic bacteria and to promote the use of phages by proactively informing regulatory authorities, farmers, and industry, providing evidence-based recommendations for safe and effective phage use as sustainable alternatives to harmful agrochemicals.

CAPACITY BUILDING

The Phage4Crops COST Action will:

• provide continued education of European investigators and build bridges between research teams and companies in different countries through annual conferences, fostering innovation and cross-sector collaboration;
• coordinate target-oriented training of European young researchers and innovators (YRIs) through dedicated workshops and training schools;
• propagate inter-laboratory exchange of personnel, enabling direct skill transfer and standardisation of experimental workflows across partner institutions;
• lower entrance hurdles for young scientists and newcomers in the field by collecting, drafting, and making open-access guidelines for experimental approaches; and
• foster contacts with key stakeholders (e.g., farmers organisations, extension services, the European Food Safety Authority, committees of the European Parliament, national regulatory authorities) to translate research findings into policy and practice.