| It’s almost spring, and we have a lot of upcoming activities and positions to report. Browse through the newsletter to get an update on plant activities. Now we look forward to see more signs of spring! |
| 1. PlantLink mentorship program and job fair completed 2. NordPlant workshop on big data and standards in plant phenotyping, 29-30 April in Lund 3. ELLS summer schools in Plant Health and Plant Molecular Breeding and Biotechnology – and more! 4. Host-Microbe Symbioses PhD Summer School 14-26 July 2019 Bioeconomy Research school, Lund university Master thesis projects updated 5. Phd student in Plant Breeding with focus on automated phenotyping at SLU Alnarp 6. PhD student in Early warning systems for prevention of dispersal of human pathogens in horticultural production chains at SLU Alnarp 7. Fascination of Plants Day 25 May, Lund 8. Stakeholder workshop on invasive plants completed 9. SPPS2019 conference and general assembly Umeå 10. QS ranks SLU 3rd university in the world in Agriculture and Forestry Save the date for the annual PlantLink Day 3 October! |
| 1. PlantLink mentorship program and job fair completed It is fair to say that the PlantLink mentorship program and job fair, organized by Maja Brus-Szkaley, Lene Rasmussen and Erik Alexandersson, became a success! Over 70 participants from Copenhagen university, SLU Alnarp and Lund University met at the beautiful Ystad Saltsjöbad for two packed sunny days. The plenary speaker Sofia Gape from IKEA kicked off the job fair with a personal reflection on her career path from a biology exam in Gothenburg to working with sustainability at IKEA. This inspiring talk was followed by presentations on entrepreneurship and a panel discussion with university alumni. Day two started with a presentation on science outreach by Jessica Abbott from Lund University, well known from her participation in “Fråga Lund”. Throughout the workshop, PhD students and Postdocs met up with participants from industry and researchers on speed dates that they had booked previously. With the help of a speed dating app for researchers and industry more than 100 one-to-one meetings took place. |
| 2. NordPlant workshop on big data and standards in plant phenotyping, 29-30 April in Lund This is a 1 1/2 days introductory workshop hosted by NordPlant and INRA on datastandards for plant phenotyping led by Célia Michotey (INRA) and Anne-Françoise Adam-Blondon (INRA). It will be held 29-30 April in Lund and is open for maximum 20 participants. Employees at the five NordPlant university have priority, but a number of places are also reserved for researchers at other Nordic Universities. To register please send an email to Erik Alexandersson including a short motivation why this workshop would benefit you. It is open to PhDs, post docs, university staff and researchers. |
| 3. ELLS summer schools in Plant Health and Plant Molecular Breeding and Biotechnology – and more! With the slogan “Spend a different summer – study ELLSwhere!”, the Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS) invites you to this year’s summer schools. The schools are intensive and set in beautiful surroundings ,so be sure to check out the information on courses ranging from plant breeding to rural development and bioeconomy. Find more information here. |
| 4. Host-Microbe Symbioses PhD Summer School 14-26 July 2019 The Summer School course will be held at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, and is organized by Martin Blaser, Thomas Bosch, Margaret McFall-Ngai, Luis Teixeira and Karina Xavier. The course is targeted at PhD students of all nationalities and countries of origin, interested in host-microbe interactions. Deadline for applications is the 20th March. Registration and more information at: http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt/education/symbioses2019 |
| 5. Bioeconomy research school, Lund The Bioeconomy Graduate Research School (GRS), coordinated by Deniz Koca, is a transdisciplinary graduate research school at Lund University with an overall aim of developing the competencies necessary for participating PhD students to:adopt systems approach in order to identify and assess the full range of technological, economic, social and ecological challenges and opportunities in transition to a circular bioeconomy;lead the way in innovative inter/trans-disciplinary research and education for a sustainable bioeconomy in the international arena. Stay tuned here for upcoming courses, and contact Deniz.Koca@cec.lu.se for more information. Plant Link’s Assistant Director Tina D’Hertefeldt and board member Rajni Hatti-Kaul are member of the school’s steering group and can also give you more information. |
| 6. Master thesis projects updated Looking for a plant MSc project or plant course? here we have collected MSc projects and courses in one place! Researchers – if you have suggestions for Master’s projects, please contact Erik och Tine and we will put your project on the web page! |
| 7. Phd student in Plant Breeding with focus on automated phenotyping at SLU AlnarpPhd student in Plant Breeding with focus on automated phenotyping at SLU Alnarp The PhD student project aims to develop novel methods to evaluate target traits of plants using high-throughput phenotyping techniques and machine learning. The project will lead to development of phenotyping platform integrating multiple sensors for phenotyping in the field and associated software. Find more information here. Contact person is Aakash Chawade. |
| 8. PhD student in Early warning systems for prevention of dispersal of human pathogens in horticultural production chains at SLU Alnarp A healthy diet and enhanced public health implies consumption of vegetables, fruit, berries, herbs, nuts, medicinal plants and mushrooms. Horticultural production systems are characterized by high input of production means and output in terms of high quality products. The main objective for this PhD research project will be on plant-microbe interactions and contamination-specific parameters. Find more information here. Contact persons are Beatrice Alsanius, Marie Bengtsson and Head of Department Linda Tufvesson. |
| 9. Fascination of Plants Day, Lund On 25 of May, PlantLink will together with NordGen participate in the Fascination of Plants Day 2019! The theme is “Food and plants in a future landscape” and we will be present alongside the “Våryran” event at Lund Botanical Garden. Come along for a nice Saturday in May with tours on food plants and more. We will show old varieties, demonstrate weeds that have today become redlisted rarities and have books and other nice things at our table outside the greenhouse in the Botanical garden. |
| 10. Stakeholder workshop on invasive plants completed The BECC-financed stakeholder workshop on invasive plants was held on 6 March in Lund. The around 30 participants discussed existing and upcoming issues in this topical field. Nils Carlsson from the County Administration Board Skåne and the Swedish EPA kicked off the day with an update on the new legislation in Invasive Alien Species, and Mikael Svensson from the Swedish Species Information Center presented the recently published Swedish list on Invasive Alien Species. Jan Pergl from the Department of Invasion ecology, Prague University, provided an international angle on the work with IAS. In line with the aim of PlantLink, researchers from Lund University and SLU Alnarp joined in on discussions on this topic that permeates many aspects of Plants, People and Society. |
| 11. SPPS2019 conference and general assembly Umeå The SPPS2019 conference will be held at the Elite Hotel Mimer in Umeå, Sweden on 28-30 of August. Early bird registration until 25th of May 2019. Please note that the maximum number of participants is 200, and there are some adventurous activities that only 100 persons can actively take part in, so hurry to sign up! Find the schedule and other information here. |
| 12. QS ranks SLU 3rd university in the world in Agriculture and Forestry SLU climbs in the ranking lists and is now ranked as the third best university in the world in the field of Agriculture & Forestry by the QS organization, which recently released the list for 2019. |
| 13. Save the date for the annual PlantLink Day 3 October! For the eighth time we invite you to our annual PlantLink Day. This is an excellent opportunity to meet other plant researchers in the region both in academia and the private sector. This time abiotic stresses will be in focus and the preliminary title of the day is “Robust plants for future climates – science and policy”. We will be in the Crafoord Hall in Alnarp and start with lunch at 12:00. |