Nitrous Oxide Research Alliance (NORA)
Goals
The overarching scientific goal is to improve our understanding and predictive ability with regard to the ecology and regulatory biology of microbes involved in oxidation and reduction of mineral N species affecting atmospheric N2O. Sub-goals are:
- Improved understanding of regulatory networks in denitrification model strains (systems biology).
- Systematic characterization of regulatory responses of organisms isolated from habitats (key strains) and relationships between genotypes and regulatory phenotypes
- Characterization and quantification of relationships between microbial community function and composition, and how these are affected by environmental factors
- Translation of increased understanding to generate qualitative and quantitative predictive capacity in assessing the influence of environmental factors and land management strategies on nitrous oxide emissions.
The training goal is to produce a new generation of nitrogen researchers, within both academic and private sectors, with inter- and cross-disciplinary skills and understanding and appreciation of both fundament science and its direct application to environmental, industrial and societal issues. Sub-goals are:
- Cross-disciplinary education of experimentalists and modellers to provide seamless and unencumbered communication and integration of respective approaches in research
- Increased creative, innovative and imaginative research through exposure to, and appreciation of concepts and approaches of other disciplines
- Ability to direct fundamental research towards specific applied goals, through direct involvement (including secondments) with industrial and agronomic researchers
- Better informed applied research through training in cutting edge fundamental research
The impact goal is to exploit the power of fundamental scientific understanding, developed through interdisciplinary research and close interactions between academia, industry and policy makers, to generate specific recommendations, strategies and solutions to reduce nitrous oxide emissions. Specific goals are to:
- invent novel approaches to reduce N2O:N2 product ratios in various ecosystems
- test the validity of such approaches at scales ranging from the cellular level to ecosystems
- strengthen the momentum and value of European industries in nitrogen issues generally, and N2O-mitigations specifically
