Responsibilities and functions
150 years of history tell the story of the Edmund Mach Foundation's commitment to the key sectors of agriculture, environment and food with research, training and technology transfer activities that make it a unique centre in Europe with 700 employees including researchers, technologists and lecturers and over 1,000 students and trainees.
It was founded on 12 January 1874 when the Tyrolean Regional Diet of Innsbruck, which had purchased the monastery and its assets, resolved to set up an agricultural school with an adjoining experimental station in San Michele all'Adige, each of which was to jointly cooperate in the rebirth of agriculture in the Tyrol.
The FEM is Italy's first One-Health research centre, capable of integrating, with a multidisciplinary approach, research into the quality and environmental sustainability of agro-livestock production processes and that of food solubility, nutritional value and safety.
Research ranges from genomics to nutritional studies, from the environment to biodiversity and the study of phytosanitary emergencies to sustainable defence and studies to reduce chemical inputs in the countryside.
In its latest evaluation, the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Research (ANVUR) judged 88% of FEM's research products in the Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences area to be 'Excellent', 94% in the Chemical Sciences area and 99% in the Biological Sciences area.
On the training front, the San Michele institute is a leader, promoting a complete, multi-level training chain from technical and professional education to the post-diploma course and the doctorate programme in cooperation with some fifty institutions and universities.
The institution is structured in:
Education and Training Centre
A complex educational structure, unique in Italy, which simultaneously manages training and education in the agricultural, environmental and forestry sectors
Research and Innovation Centre
A research centre that conducts studies in the fields of agriculture, food and the environment to contribute to economic growth and improve the quality of life
Technology Transfer Centre
The Foundation's structure for applied research and experimentation activities, services and consultancy for companies in the agro-forestry sector
The relationship between the Provincial Government and the Edmund Mach Foundation is defined in the Programme Agreement.
Research infrastructures
A decisive role in the Trentino research and innovation system is played by Research Infrastructures (IR), which can be traced back to laboratories or facilities with a high scientific and technological profile.
They represent incubators of scientific and technological knowledge and nuclei of aggregation between the worlds of research and enterprise.
Among the laboratories that structurally reflect the characteristics of an IR in the FEM are:
- FRUITOMICS, which concentrates various high-tech platforms for use in the sectors
agri-food and environmental