Will a Society member be making corrections to the ISPP entry for your society on-line? Yes
Society Contact: Laura Mugnai
Email : laura.mugnai@unifi.it
Society membership. 173 members in 2006; 179 members in 2007; 176 members in 2008
Report for 2003-2008.
Society Activities and publications. A brief background, and information about the aims and achievements of the MPU is given in the society website, with links to the journal published by MPU, to the MPU Newsletter and links to MPU activities.
The Society publishes in print and on-line, an international plant pathology journal, Phytopathologia Mediterranea (www.fupress.com/pm/), and a Newsletter available only on-line in the MPU website. A lot of efforts in the Union has been recently devoted to promoting the journal and improving its quality and impact on the scietific community. An on-line edition has been created which very recently entered the Open Journal System, which improves a lot the access and indexing of the journal. It will soon allow (next October) a fully working on-line submission of papers. Having a good journal with an "Impact Factor" is considered an important achievement and necessary platform on which to create a common base for plant pathologists with a common interest in crops grown in regions with a Mediterranean climate. In this frame the journal has devoted special attention and space to diseases of one of the more typical crops in the area, grapevine. This is reflected in the coorganization of Workshops by MPU, and in the publication in Phytopathologia Mediterranea special sections and special issues dedicated to the subject.
Society Conferences and Workshops
. The Society organizes an international MPU Congress every 3-4 years, hosted by a different country every time. The last one, the XII MPU Congress, was held in Rhodes (Greece) in May 2006. The XIII Congress, which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of MPU establishment, will be held in May 2010, Rome, Italy.
Other plant pathology conferences in the Mediterranean Region
MPU also organizes intermediate meetings jointly with other organizations such as the one held in Lamezia (Italy) in November 2003 on Molecular diagnosticof Plant Pathogens, organized by the past President Prof. Franco Lamberti, or the one to be held next September 2008 in Firenze (Italy) on Grapevine Trunk Diseases.
Plant Pathology in the Mediterranean Area.
MPU dedicated reviews and research papers to many aspects of Plant pathology in the Mediterranean area in its journal. Following its Statute MPU relies on the activities of the single National Societies (via the help, to be further encouraged, of MPU National Delegates), as its function is intended to create links and contacts among plant pathologists. At present MPU is guided by a President, helped by a President elect and 4 Board Members elected from different countries usually included the Mediterranean area, and a Secretary. Contacts with National Societies are maintained by National Delegates, forming in the whole the MPU Council. National Societies interested in collaboration within the Union are invited to join
MPU.
Funding opportunities
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MPU does not deal with those aspects. It just does offer opportunities to establish contacts and start collaborations among plant pathologists in the different Mediterranean countries and has helped starting joint research programmes.
Plant pathology in the Region Served by the Society 2003-2008
MPU uses the journal and the MPU congresses and satellite meetings as a way to stimulate and create contacts and spreading of information on research carried out in the area.
