Members of the Centre, prof. Dr. Dragana Miladinović, Dr. Ankica Kondić Špika, Dr. Sonja Gvozdenac, participated in the first annual meeting of members of the HelEx project (“HelEx- Use of extremophile Helianthus species to mitigate climate change impact on feedstock and ecosystem services provided by sunflower“, Horizon Europe project, no. 101081974), in Graz (Austria), organized by JOANNEUM RESEARCH – Forschung und Technologieentwicklung aus Österreich, which was held on October 14-17, 2024.
HelEx is a 4-year research and innovation project supported by the EU’s Horizon Europe funding program, which aims to identify molecular and genetic strategies for adapting sunflower cultivation to climate change while improving its environmental footprint.
The main objective is to create new sunflower varieties more resistant to drought and extreme weather conditions, using Helianthus Extremophilus varieties and applying new plant breeding techniques (NBT).
In addition, the members of the center also visited the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences in Klagenfurt, where they exchanged information with colleagues, who are also members of the HelEx project, about the activities of their teams and current projects, and visited their laboratories for molecular analysis and biotechnology.
For more information on the HelEx project follow the link.
