Welcome to SYNTHESYS

Welcome to SYNTHESYS: the European Union-funded Integrated Activities grant. This four year project which began in September 2009 comprises 20 European natural history museums, Universities and botanic gardens. It aims to create an integrated European infrastructure for researchers in the natural sciences. SYNTHESYS is split into three activities: Access, Networking and Joint Research Activities

This is a follow on to the previous SYNTHESYS project which ran from February 2004 to July 2009.

The Project

SYNTHESYS aims to produce an accessible, integrated European resource for research users in the natural sciences. SYNTHESYS will create a shared, high quality approach to the management, preservation, and access to leading European natural history collections.

A core element in SYNTHESYS is to provide funded researcher visits (Access) to the 337,204,000 specimens housed by SYNTHESYS institutions. In particular, the 4,058,500 type specimens.

Alongside the Access, a Joint Research Activity (JRA) will deliver new tools to enable Users to more efficiently extract DNA from valuable archive material. Network Activities (NA) will provide enhanced quality and quantity of online collections information to virtual Users and will implement best practice benchmarks in collections care to raise standards and improve accessibility to collections for all physical Users.