30th June 2010
‘New beginnings’ marks the main focus of this issue of GCP News. We report on the approval and initiation of the second phase of a major GCP project, and inform you of staff changes at GCP, including at management level – this representing a significant shift in GCP’s managerial and project management structure.
We also invite you to take a peek into in our ever-burgeoning basket of resources, with new workshop materials, publications, and the launch of Beta versions of two Community of Practice websites being amongst the goodies on offer.
Finally, we take a broad look at the panorama of news, views and events from GCP’s network of collaborators.
From GCP…
1. Phase II of Tropical Legumes project approved and underway
It is with great excitement that we announce the approval and initiation of Phase II of GCP’s ‘Tropical Legumes I’ project, following the submission of a second phase research proposal to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this year. The overall objective of the second phase, which commenced in May 2010 and is due to span four years in total, is to improve the productivity of groundnut, cowpea, common bean and chickpea for sub-Saharan Africa through the application of modern breeding approaches. In particular, the second phase will focus on the application of the outputs obtained during the project’s first phase, using the genetic resources and genomic tools developed in that phase. More
2. GCP bids adieu to Jean Christophe…and prepares for changes ahead
Jean Christophe Glaszmann moved on from the GCP Management Team (MT) at the end of March, having diligently served as Subprogramme 1 (SP1) Leader since GCP’s inception. Over the six years he served at GCP, Jean Christophe (popularly known as JC) was on a joint appointment with CIRAD (Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement), where he now resumes work on a fulltime basis. GCP is deeply thankful to Jean Christophe for his outstanding contribution to the Programme, to which he brought not only his remarkable expertise on genetic diversity but also his vision as an experienced leader, combined with an amiability appreciated by all. The MT is losing a colleague and a friend, but fortunately, Jean Christophe will continue to be involved in GCP’s work in various capacities in the months and years to come.
....and a few more changes
As GCP moves from the exploration and discovery that characterised the five years of Phase I, the Management Team is evolving appropriately in synchrony with the project structure of Phase II that will emphasise application and impact. The Team will now comprise of the Programme Director and five Theme Leaders (TLs), who will oversee the following theme areas: Comparative and Applied Genomics (Rajeev Varshney), Integrated Breeding (Xavier Delannay), Crop Information Systems (Graham McLaren), Capacity Building (Carmen de Vicente) and Product Delivery (Larry Butler).
Research projects previously falling under Subprogramme 1 will be redistributed accordingly within the revised structure of GCP, with care taken to ensure they continue without disruption or inconvenience. Principal Investigators (PIs) of continuing SP1 projects will be informed individually on the new reporting lines for their respective projects.
3. Rice Challenge Initiative Launch Meeting materials now online
Materials from the highly stimulating launch meeting for GCP’s Rice Challenge Initiative – held in Montpellier, France, from 13–15 April 2010 – are now online. More
4. GCP scientists produce academic journal…and more
GCP scientists continue to keep our bookshelves fully stacked, with yet more tantalising new reading. Taking pride of place is Volume 13, Issue 2 of the prestigious academic journal Current Opinion in Plant Biology. The volume contains contributions from multiple GCP authors and is edited in its entirety by GCP Subprogramme 2 Leader Rajeev Varshney and GCP collaborator Douglas R Cook. The journal issue focuses on Genome studies and molecular genetics and Plant biotechnology. More
We are also pleased to share the following recent publications with you:
- Multifunctional crop trait ontology for breeders' data: field book, annotation, data discovery and semantic enrichment of the literature. This journal article, authored by numerous Subprogramme 4 scientists and published in academic journal AoB Plants, details main achievements from SP4 Project G4009.03: Development of data standards and community of practice enabling the capture of and access to GCP quality data sets. More
- Challenges and Strategies for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Data Analysis. Published in the Journal of Computer Science & Systems Biology, this article provides a commentary on the major outcomes of GCP Subprogramme 4/Subprogramme 2 workshop on Next generation sequencing (NGS) technology data analysis, held at ICRISAT in July 2009. More
5. Beta websites for GCP’s Communities of Practice
GCP’s Rice in Asia and Cassava in Africa Communities of Practice (CoPs) have newly-created websites, accessible via GCP’s Capacity-building corner. These sites, to be expanded and developed further with time, provide both useful information and communication space for both community members and visitors. More
6. Staff Changes in GCP’s Communications Unit
After more than three years with the Programme, Kate Durbin will step down from her position as GCP Communications Assistant, with the position to be filled by enthusiastic new recruit Gillian Summers. More
From GCP’s wide circle of partners and collaborators…
1. Wheat variety thrives on saltier soils
A variety of wheat that thrives on saltier soils has been bred by scientists who promise to make it freely available to the developing world. More
2. Collection of conference abstracts available online
Unable to attend recent conferences or events of interest but keen to find out what went on? We point you in the direction of abstracts from the following past events:
- 2nd International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources (24–27 April 2010, Bologna, Italy)
- Africa Rice Congress 2010 (22–26 March 2010, Bamako, Mali)
- 6th International Rice Genetics Symposium (6–19 November 2009, Manila, The Philippines)
More
3. Forthcoming event: 5th World Cowpea Research Conference
- Date: 27 September to 1 October 2010
- Location: Dakar, Senegal
- Target: Researchers working towards improving livelihoods in the cowpea value chain through advancement in science
- Early application deadline for reduced fees: 16 July 2010
More
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