To respond to the need for more plant scientists trained in developing drought-tolerant cultivars, Colorado State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Oklahoma State University will offer a short course in Plant Breeding for Drought Tolerance from 14–25 June 2010. The course will be held at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and at experimental field sites in Eastern Colorado and Western Nebraska.
Target audience
Graduate students in the plant sciences, as well as professionals in the public and private sectors. The course will provide three transferable graduate-level credits.
Content
The course will consist of classroom lectures, hands-on lab exercises, and field research activities appropriate for a drought breeding and genetics programme. Course activities are designed around three modules:
- Whole Plant Physiology of Drought Stress
- Plant Breeding for Drought Stress Tolerance
- Genomic Approaches to Drought Stress Tolerance
Prerequisites
Participants should have a solid understanding of basic plant physiology and genetics. Prior to the short course, students will review online material on these topics to provide a common background in breeding and physiology concepts.
Symposium
The course will culminate in a two-day Plant Breeding for Drought Tolerance symposium,
also open to the public, to be held at Colorado State University.
Deadline for application: 1st February 2010
For more details on course content, fees, funding opportunities and for information on how to apply for the programme, please consult the course brochure.
The 'LINK' programme of UNU–Merit (a joint research and training centre of United Nations University and Maastricht University, The Netherlands) is seeking six research fellows to work on a major study of agricultural innovation processes and policies in Asia and Africa. The programme is open to regional candidates with a research track record allied to innovation studies who are interested in writing cases studies, undertaking reviews and publishing in peer review journals.
Eligibility criteria:
• Research experience in agricultural and rural innovation policies and processes
• A recent relevant PhD is desirable, but candidates with a strong relevant publication record would also be considered
Positions could be full- or part-time.
From 12–16 April 2010, the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (IAMZ) of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) will hold an advanced course on Applications of bioinformatics in plant breeding in Zaragoza, Spain.
The aim of the course is to introduce the bioinformatics tools needed to help breeders and plant scientists realise the full potential of new molecular breeding approaches. The course will not only focus on the use of public data, but also show how groups with limited resources can use next-generation sequencing technologies to address issues directly relevant to the plant breeding community.
Through a combination of lectures, structured tutorials, demonstrations and case histories, course participants will be introduced to the major aspects of bioinformatics relevant to the application of genomics in plant breeding. A particular feature of the course will be to offer participants realistic options for integrating these new approaches into their own working practices.
Target: Plant breeders with some background in molecular genetics and geneticists, molecular biologists and computer scientists interested in plant breeding.
Deadline for application: 25th January 2010
Registration fee (tuition only): €450
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