SYNTHESYS+ Program

The SYNTHESYS+ Program is composed by United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Israel, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden and Spain. It is the biggest European infrastructure that finances and gives access to the natural history collections that have every country. In total, the collections of the 21 European centers gives more than 400 million specimens, including more than 3 million "type" specimens.

SYNTHESYS+ also establishes the standard to the collections and data management. This gives opportunities to scientific and technician staff in management, storage and conservation of collections. Lastly, the program gives access to the technology and installations use in the systematic and biological evolution, like DNA sequencing analysis, chromatography, ecophysiology, scanning electron microscopy or X-ray micro computed tomography (micro-CT).

The main services of the MNCN and the RJB

The National Museum of Natural Sciences and the Royal Botanic Garden takes part of the SYNTHESYS+ Program since it's establishment, in February of 2004. This is part of the succession of a previous program, BIODIBERIA, that only worked in Spain. Since it's establishment, hundred of researchers of different countries of the European Union have visited both institutes thanks to this grant program.

The MNCN offers grant holders more than 15,000 minerals from the Iberian Peninsula; a palaeontology collection with plant fossils and vertebrate and invertebrate animals from all geological ages; the collection of tissues and DNA with almost 80,000 samples; an important entomological collection and numerous collections of fauna from the European, African and American continents.

The Royal Botanic Garden offers its Herbarium which, with more than one million specimens, is the most important in Spain and one of the largest in Europe.

Both institutions offers, access to the laboratories and services for the research, and assessment of their professionals.

More information in: www.synthesys.info