Following the recent Subprogramme 4 Leader recruitment GCP is delighted to announce Graham McLaren as the successful candidate to head our Bioinformatics and Crop Information Systems Subprogramme (SP4) on a full-time basis.
Graham, who will take on the reins from current SP4 Leader, Theo van Hintum, on 15 September this year, holds a wealth of qualifications and experience in the field of international agricultural research and management. Theo steps down on 30 June to return to Wageningen University full time. Theo has headed SP4 on a half-time basis since its foundation in 2004, during which time he has ably steered the Subprogramme. He leaves behind the legacy of a full-fledged Subprogramme that has evolved from a development phase and is now entering a management phase. Theo will be greatly missed.
With a degree in Mathematics, Statistics and Genetics from the University of Natal, South Africa and an honours degree in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Cape Town, Graham, a British national, went on to gain a first-class MSc and PhD in Mathematical Statistics from Simon Fraser University, Canada. He has headed biometrics and bioinformatics departments for the past 20 years. In this capacity, Graham has held leadership positions in rainfed rice breeding, genetic resources management and development of crop information systems. This includes heading the Biometrics and Bioinformatics Unit at IRRI in 1993, before moving on to his current role as head of the IRRI–CIMMYT Crop Research Informatics Laboratory (CRIL).
We very much look forward to having Graham on board later this year. Please join us in welcoming him to the GCP team!
Following GCP's 3rd Competitive Call for proposals announced in January this year, 24 concept notes have qualified for the next stage of the selection process, which is full proposals.
Full proposals are to be submitted by 20 June 2008. Winners will announced on 31st July 2008, with projects expected to begin in October 2008.
A workshop organised by GCP's Subprogramme 2 on Tropical Legume Genomics will be held on Sunday 7th December 2008 as part of the IV International Conference on Legume Genomics and Genetics, to take place from 7th-12th December 2008 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Workshop speakers will focus on advances in genomics for various tropical legumes, namely groundnut, cowpea, bean and chickpea. Discussions on comparative legume genomics, genome organisation in legumes, and genetic analysis of germplasm will also take place.
Contacts: Rajeev Varshney and Doug Cook
For information on this event and on how to register, and for details on other happenings in the GCP calendar, please visit our Events page
Effective 1 June 2008, the Executive Board replaced the Programme Steering Committee (PSC) as GCP's peak governing body. This change is the culmination of efforts undertaken by the PSC to reform GCP governance.
The functions of the new Executive Board, are outlined in the PSC resolution on new Executive Board—December 2007.
GCP is pleased to announce the launch of a new Bioinformatics and Biometrics (BB) Helpdesk. This new service, geared towards GCP scientists with questions on the handling, storage or analysis of data, aims to create both transparency in available resources, as well as expertise in the fields of biometry, bioinformatics and software engineering.
The helpdesk, a service from GCP's Subprogramme 4, provides GCP scientists with solutions by linking them with relevant experts. Any questions on bioinformatics- and biometrics-related issues, be they basic or complex, are welcome.
A new Frequently Asked Questions page, including a section on troubleshooting DNA extractions, has recently been launched in the GCP's Interactive Resource Centre & Helpdesk.
We warmly invite you to visit the 'What's New' section of the GCP Interactive Resource Centre & Helpdesk homepage for more information, or to go directly to Frequently Asked Questions or Troubleshooting DNA extractions.
For further details on this and other GCP Helpdesks accessible to the GCP Community, please click here . For other services and resources supported by GCP's Subprogramme 5, please visit the Capacity-building Corner.
Following on from the final meeting for the SP1-funded project 2005-07: ‘Whole plant modeling of drought response in cereals’, organised by Principal Investigator Delphine Luquet and held from 4-7 February 2008 in Johnston, Iowa, USA, materials, including Proceedings and presentations, are now accessible to the GCP Community.
For information on other GCP workshops, including GCP project-specific workshops and workshops directly linked to the Capacity-building arm of Subprogramme 5, please click here
Two days prior to the GCP's 2008 Annual Research Meeting, an SP2-SP4 organised workshop will be held on Data analysis for Candidate Gene Discovery. The workshop, to take place on 14th and 15th September 2008, will cover the following aspects: Microarray analysis, QTL meta analysis, Integration of Microarray and QTL data and EST analysis. The focus will be the analytical and data management tools useful for candidate gene discovery.
The event will be held at the Rama Gardens Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. It will ONLY be open to ARM participants, with priority being given to PIs and researchers who are working or expecting to work on relevant projects.
For further details on the workshop contact Guy Davenport
To view details on this and other events in the GCP Calendar, please visit our Events page
GCP is pleased to announce the winning candidates for the 2008 Travel Grant programme.
GCP is delighted to announce the winners for the 2008 Capacity-building à la carte Programme.
Now in its second year, this tailor-made and team-focused support programme is for national agricultural research programmes in the developing world.
To view this year's winners, please click here
A capacity-building workshop for molecular breeders supported by GCP’s Subprogramme 5 and Drought Tolerance Maize for Africa (a project supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation) will be held at Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa (BecA), Kenya, from 1st-7th June 2008.
Five places are available for scientists in developing country national research programmes working on GCP projects, or on themes closely related to GCP. National research programme scientists working on maize are strongly encouraged to apply.
The workshop will primarily comprise application-related issues including: an overview of molecular breeding strategies and applications, the theoretical background to, and practical methodologies of, molecular markers and genotyping systems, the principles of genetic diversity assessment and applications, an overview of genetic maps and marker-trait association, theory of marker-assisted selection, the study of DNA extraction methods, the examination of PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis and breeding informatics.
Travel and accommodation through course organiser: Yunbi Xu
Participants seeking GCP funding: please fill in this form and submit it to Laura Ruiz and Yunbi Xu
Application deadline: 20th April
More information: Programme and Course Content
For details on this and other Events in the GCP calendar, please click here
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