Bob Zeigler to Take Up Post as Director General of IRRI, Theo van Hintum to Serve as Interim Director of GCP

Bob Zeigler, director of the GCP, will leave the Generation Challenge Program in late March to take up the position of Director General at the International Rice Research Institute, one of the GCP member institutions. He will be much missed, as his contributions to the GCP during his tenure as director have had tremendous impact, but he will continue to enthusiastically support the Challenge Program in his new role, and we congratulate him on this achievement! Theo van Hintum, SP4 leader and Senior Scientist at the Centre for Genetic Resources at WUR in the Netherlands, will assume the position of Interim Director while we undertake a search for a new Program Director. Theo van Hintum can be reached via email at theo.vanhintum@wur.nl.

Job Announcement for GCP Director

The job announcement for the director position of the Generation Challenge Program can be found here: Program_Director_job_announcement.pdf. Applications are due to Jenny Nelson (j.nelson@cgiar.org), GCP communications coordinator, by 15 April 2005.

GCP Welcomes Two New Consortium Members ? ACGT in South Africa and ICAR in India

At its meeting in December 2004, the Program Steering Committee of the GCP approved the membership of two new institutions: the African Centre for Gene Technologies in South Africa and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in India. We welcome them to the Generation Challenge Program and look forward to working with these two strong institutions! At its next meeting in October 2005, the PSC will decide upon criteria for admitting additional new members to the GCP consortium.

2004 Annual Report and Year Two Workplan Posted to Web

You can find the PDF version of the 2004 Annual Report and Year Two Workplan here: YR2Workplan.pdf. The report summarizes our progress over the first year of operation and details the competitive and commissioned projects to be carried out in 2005. This report and workplan were approved by the Program Steering Committee at the December 2004 meeting.

Competitive and Commissioned Research Proposal Process ? Your feedback wanted!

Now that we?ve completed the competitive and commissioned research proposal processes and are commencing with the approved projects, we?d like your feedback on how the process went. Please fill out this form and return to Jenny Nelson:

Commissioned_and_Competitive_feedback_request.doc. Your input will help us design the next proposal processes!

NEW SECTION: Capacity Building NEWS AND VIEWS!

We are introducing a new section of the e-newsletter with exclusive information about capacity building ? opportunities within the GCP and outside, and highlights of GCP research for those interested in what the GCP does and how to get involved.

GCP Travel Grants for Non-GCP Member NARS

8 travel grants available for up to US $5,000 for non-GCP NARS scientists. Awards must be used to travel to a GCP workshop, or to visit a GCP member institute. Application criteria can be found here: GCP_TRAVEL_GRANTS.pdf. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 30 April 2005. Contact Ibti Vincent, GCP communications assistant (i.vincent@cgiar.org), for more information.

Pioneer-Generation Fellowship for PhD Study in the U.S.

Supported by gifts from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. to the Generation Challenge Program, this fellowship aims to attract high quality students whose careers will continue to advance the science of plant improvement, with an emphasis on international agriculture. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 1 MAY 2005. The fellowship announcement can be found here: 2005_Pioneer_Generation_Fellowship.pdf. For more information, please contact Carmen de Vicente (c.devicente@cgiar.org), GCP capacity building coordinator.

Project Proposal Development Workshop ? 22-28 May 2005 in Benin

The GCP will host a project proposal development workshop in Benin in May 2005 for 25 participants from the region. This workshop will impart the basics of scientific project proposal writing, with a focus on how to develop proposals that mesh with the GCP research agenda. We aim to attract participants who are likely to partner with the GCP in the future. NARS scientists and GCP members are welcome to apply. For more information, contact Karine Malgrand (k.malgrand@cgiar.org), workshop organizer, or Carmen De Vicente (c.devicente@cgiar.org), capacity building coordinator. There will be two other proposal development works in other regions; more information on these workshops will come in the next e-newsletter.

GCP Training Program: Diversity/Breeding Course - 22 May-3 June 2005 in South Africa

The GCP will inaugurate its Training Program with the first of its Diversity/Breeding courses for NARS scientists in Pretoria, South Africa. This training course in plant genetic diversity assessment and molecular marker-assisted breeding concepts and techniques aims to increase research capabilities of the scientists involved and pave the way for further strong and extensive collaborations among those scientists, with the University of Pretoria and the GCP. Invited participants will include both researchers with a plant breeding emphasis in their work and those concentrating on molecular biology. For more information, contact Theresa Fulton (tf12@cornell.edu), workshop organizer, or Carmen de Vicente (c.devicente@cgiar.org), capacity building coordinator. More information on two other Diversity/Breeding courses in other regions will come in the next e-newsletter.

GCP Capacity Building Workshop Organizing Guidelines, Application Form, and Evaluation Form

Planning a capacity building activity or a workshop with NARS involvement in 2005? Check out these guidelines to help in your activity planning and quality assurance: latestnews.php?i=156. Contact Carmen de Vicente (c.devicente@cgiar.org), GCP Capacity Building Coordinator, with questions or for more information.

Announcements

The GCP website has a "Latest News" feature where we can post announcements about events, publications, etc. of interest to GCP members and the global genomics community. The website gets over 2000 hits per month, so here?s a way to get some publicity for your news! If you have an announcement you would like posted, please send it to Ibti Vincent (i.vincent@cgiar.org) for posting to www.generationcp.org.

Your feedback on this newsletter is much appreciated. Is this e-newsletter useful for you? Is there information that is not here that you would like to see? Please email Jenny Nelson with comments or questions. Be sure to check the website - www.generationcp.org - for updates!