"COSI integrates young researchers in a network of 10 leading European research centres, including Bayer BioScience as industrial partner. We aim at identification of regulatory principles governing chloroplast metabolism, a crucial factor for agricultural productivity. Specifically we want to identify chloroplast-related protein kinases and their targets and associated calcium signals. A long term objective of COSI is increased plant productivity under stress conditions. COSI has expertise in various aspects of photosynthesis in algae and higher plants and in plant signal transduction. This unique combination will be used to identify major regulatory principles of plant organellar metabolism principally also applying far beyond the plant field. Thus training and knowledge can be transferred to many other fields in life sciences. An integrated working programme consisting of working packages, jointly coordinated by two groups of the network, guarantees maximal use of complementary expertises and strengthens ongoing interactions between partners. In addition to intensive exchange and collaboration of the involved young researchers, special training courses will introduce the young researchers in basic methods, which are required for their work and furthermore help them to develop complementary skills. Early stage researchers will be supported by a mentoring programme to enhance their personnel development. Special emphasis will be placed on promotion of women. A training course at Bayer BioScience will expose young researchers to an industrial environment and provide them with industrial relevant skills. COSI will offer hands-on training in cutting-edge technologies such as bioinformatics, live-cell imaging, mass spectrometry and metabolomics and establish an outstanding European research community in organellar signal transduction, an emerging new and competitive research field of central importance in life sciences."