Latest news from GCP                                                      

Capacity-building à la carte winners announced

The Generation Challenge Programme is pleased to announce the winning teams of GCP’s latest capacity-building grant support programme. This programme is for applied research teams in national programmes, working on GCP-related research. We have dubbed this brand-new customised concept, ‘Capacity-building à la carte’. Lead institutions for these 1st round winners are from Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal. For details on both the winners and the concept, see http://www.generationcp.org/capacity_building_a_la_cartehompage.

Winners of our individual fellowship awards were announced earlier in the year, and the full list of fellowship awardees is at: http://www.generationcp.org/fellowships__previous_winners_by_year_entry_poin

ATTENTION ARM participants: Data handling support available, on and offline:

1.      Microarray data analysis workshop: This year’s Annual Research Meeting (ARM) will be preceded by a one-day workshop on microarray data analysis on 11th September. The workshop is open to anyone registered for the ARM. For more information, see http://www.generationcp.org/microarray_data_analysis_workshop.

2.      GCP Data Templates HelpDesk at your service: The ARM will also feature a face-to-face physical HelpDesk throughout the ARM for personalised data support. So please bring along your data if you need assistance in uploading it to the templates. More details at: http://www.generationcp.org/gcp_data_templates_help_desk.

The online HelpDesk provides support to GCP researchers in using the templates. Alternatively, please send your request to crilservices@cgiar.org giving your full name, email address and institute. Describe the problem with the templates, or the type of data you wish to upload onto the template.

Workshop on product management and delivery in GCP rice research in Asia

Dates:                    6 and 8 November 2007 (6th, all day; 8th, afternoon only)

Venue:                   Bangkok, Thailand

Target:                  Generation partners and selected stakeholders working on rice in Asia

Participation:        By invitation only

Convenor:             BIOTEC Thailand and GCP

Contact person:    TBD

More details: www.biotec.or.th. The BIOTEC–GCP workshop is a side event in the 6th Asian Crop Science Association Conference and the 2nd International Conference on Rice for the Future (details in ‘Announcements’ below).

Resources
GCP publications:
GCP’s Medium-Term Plan for 2008–2010 is available online at: http://www.generationcp.org/brochure.php. A belated announcement that our 2006 Annual Report is also online at: the same location. For a hard copy of the annual report, please send a request, with your full mailing address, to a.okono@cgiar.org
2.      Materials from the workshop on ‘Molecular characterisation of inbred lines and populations in maize’ are available online at: http://www.generationcp.org/molecular_characterization_of__maizenew_delhi_april_2007. The workshop was hosted by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, India, 1–3 April 2007.

Additional Resources
From FAO:

• ‘Marker-assisted selection: Current status and future perspectives in crops, livestock, forestry and fish’. A book edited by E P Guimarães, J. Ruane, B D Scherf, A Sonnino and J D Dargie. For details, visit http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a1120e/a1120e00.htm, or request a copy by sending your full postal address to nadia.sozzi@fao.org. 
•  ‘Genomics and genetic resources for food and agriculture’. A paper by R Fears. Download the paper at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/bsp/bsp34e.pdf or contact cgrfa@fao.org for more information. 
•  Food Security and AgBiotech News, is now available in French, including the daily news service. Details and subscription at http://merid.org/fs-agbiotech/fr/
• Two articles of interest from SciDev.Net: 1) funding for global gene banks at: www.scidev.net/genebanks and, 2) preserving and improving crop seeds in Africa at: www.scidev.net/foodsecurity

Announcements

• The Institute for Genomic Diversity (IGD) at Cornell University USA) is now accepting applications for its African Scientist Fellowship Programme.

Duration and scope:   4–6 month training and research at IGD in genetic diversity assessment, molecular marker development, marker-assisted breeding, and related studies

Deadline:                     June 30, 2007.
Eligibility: minimum of an M.Sc or Ph.D or currently enrolled in a Ph.D. programme; citizen of an African nation; proficient in English.

For more information and details on how to apply, go to http://www.igd.cornell.edu

• Symposium on the Genomics of Drought

Dates:                    22–24 October 2007

Deadlines:              Abstracts by 31st July and registration by 31st August 2007. Attendance strictly limited so early registration advised

Venue:                   Adelaide, Australia

Target:                  Grain growers, industry and researchers

Convenor:             Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics Pty Ltd (ACPFG)

Contact person:    Lara Birchby, Symposium Secretariat lara@themeetingpeople.com.au

More details: http://www.acpfg.com.au/news/conferenceDetail.aspx?ID=13

• BioAsia 2007: 6th Asian Crop Science Association Conference and the 2nd International Conference on Rice for the Future

Dates:              7–9 November 2007

Venue:             Bangkok, Thailand

Target:            Senior management and agricultural researchers

Convenor:       National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC)