BullNet-Sperm biology and associated reproductive biotechnologies to assist the dairy and beef industries meet growing demands

BullNet由8个受益人和13个相关合作伙伴组织组成，将建立一个多学科和跨部门的研究计划，旨在揭示个体公牛生育能力受损的复杂潜在生物学。尖端的基础、应用和机器学习方法将用于提供来自年轻、适当饲养和管理的第一季精英公猪的稳健、灵活的精液产品，这些精液产品可以成功用于人工授精（AI），具有可预测和一致的生育力，从而为行业提供满足当前排放和动物福利需求的关键工具。BullNet还将推动公牛管理策略和精液处理如何影响精子的功能和分子特征的知识进步，从而为辅助生殖领域的新应用开辟科学视野。该计划的总体目标是培养新一代的创造性，企业家精神和创新的博士候选人（DC）在公牛生育领域。BullNet将使发展中国家接触到不同的部门，他们将获得一套全面的可转让技能，在与其个别研究项目有关的特定研究领域工作，重点是从学术机构向商业用户转让技术的需要。此外，由于参与的学术和工业组织范围广泛，区议会将有能力面对当前和未来的挑战，将知识和创意转化为产品和服务，从而带来经济、科技和社会效益。

BullNet, consisting of 8 beneficiaries and 13 associated partner organisations, will build a multi-disciplinary and inter-sectorialresearch programme designed to unravel the complex underlying biology of compromised fertility of individual bulls. Cutting-edgebasic, applied and machine-learning approaches will be used to deliver a robust, flexible semen product from young, appropriatelyreared and managed, first-season elite sires that can be used successfully for artificial insemination (AI) with predictable andconsistent fertility, so as to provide the industry with key tools to meet current emissions and animal welfare demands. BullNet willalso lead to the advancement of knowledge in how bull management strategies and semen processing affect the functional andmolecular characteristics of sperm, thus opening scientific horizons for new applications in the area of assisted reproduction. Theoverall aim of this programme is to train a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative doctoral candidates (DCs) in thearea of bull fertility. BullNet will expose DCs to different sectors and they will acquire a comprehensive set of transferable skillsworking in the specific research area relating to their individual research projects, with an emphasis on the need for technologytransfer from academic institutions to commercial users. Moreover, given the wide range of academic and industry organisationsinvolved, the DCs will be able to face current and future challenges in order to convert knowledge and ideas into products andservices for economic, technological and societal benefit.