In this month’s Newsletter, there are several activities with short deadlines. Take a quick scroll to check for these. We continue to provide information on online webinars, and this information can also be found on the PlantLink website. Finally we present this month’s Researcher in the Spotlight – Allan Rasmusson.
- PlantLink teacher exchange SLU Alnarp-LU
- Plant phenotyping and modelling for improved resilience in changing climate” NordPlant’s annual meeting online, 4-6 November
- The 2nd sugar beet symposium hosted by MariboHilleshög, 3 November
- The annual Plant Biologicals symposium 12 November
- 6th annual Nordic Plant Phenotyping Network Workshop 27November
- ELLS Student conference 20 and 21 November 2020
- ReThink Protein Challenge competition WU
- Course on Legal frameworks for research and innovation with plant genetic resources
- Course Plant disease epidemiology
- Post doc position in plant genomic pre breeding for optimized interactions between crops and biologicals at SLU Alnarp
- Postdoctoral position on Small-RNAs role in Plant-microbe interactions at SLU Alnarp
- Two postdocs in Plant Cell and Developmental Biology, NTNU Norway
- Upcoming webinars in November
- Book circle on “Africa’s Gene Revolution!”
- LU Land breakfast seminar (in Swedish)
- Summary of the webinar “Plant Biotechnology in sub-Saharan Africa” online
- Swedish Oikos meeting 2021 online
- Researcher in the Spotlight Allan Rasmusson, LU.
1. PlantLink teacher exchange SLU Alnarp-LU
PlantLink again announces the possibility to exchange teachers between courses at Lund University and SLU Alnarp. The aim is to promote cooperation in teaching between courses. Interested main teachers should send a motivation for the teacher exchange, where the background and value of the exchange is explained in less than half an A4. A condition is that 2 courses, which can benefit from the exchange – one at each university – are suggested. The extent of the exchange is in the order of 2-3 lecture hours per course. PlantLink will cover the cost of these teaching hours. In total 20000 SEK has been set aside for this. The courses should be given in 2021. Last date for submission is 5th December 2020 and decisions will be given first half December. Get in touch with Tina D’Hertefeldt (tina.dhertefeldt@biol.lu.se) if you wish to participate or if you would like more information.
2. Plant phenotyping and modelling for improved resilience in changing climate” NordPlant’s annual meeting online, 4-6 November
The next annual meeting for NordPlant will take place online, 4-6 November with the title “Plant phenotyping and modelling for improved resilience in changing climate”. More information and sign up here.
3. The 2nd sugar beet symposium hosted by MariboHilleshög, 3 November
On the 3rd of November there will be an online version of the 2nd sugar beet symposium hosted by MariboHilleshög. Contact Louise Holmquist (louise.holmquist@maribohilleshog.com) for more information.
4. The annual Plant Biologicals symposium 12 November
The annual Plant Biologicals symposium where PlantLink is covering the membership fee for both LU and SLU will be online on the 12th of November. More information here
5. 6th annual Nordic Plant Phenotyping Network Workshop 2020
The Nordic Plant Phenotyping workshop will be held on on the 27th of November. Keynotes are Prof. Fred van Eeuwijk, (Wageningen University) and Matthew Reynolds (CIMMYT). You can find more information here
6. ELLS Student conference 20 and 21 November 2020
If you have MSc students currently doing MSc work or just finished their MSc thesis they might want to join the online ELLS Student conference 20 & 21 November 2020. More information here.
7. ReThink Protein Challenge competition WU
An invitation has come for the second time Wageningen University & Research organizes ReThink Protein Challenge. In this international student competition, BSc, MSc and PhD students are challenged to come up with a sustainable solution to meeting protein needs of 9 billion people.
For universities the Challenge offers opportunities for their students. As we know from our past experience, participation in this Challenge is a unique learning experience for the students as well as an opportunity to network and profile themselves on the job market. The formula and open topic of the Challenge make it interesting for students with various disciplinary backgrounds and interdisciplinary teams are warmly encouraged.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Annabel Oosterwijk, WUR Student Challenges. Find more information on how to participate here: https://2019.rethinkprotein.nl/
8. Course on Legal frameworks for research and innovation with plant genetic resources – deadline 30 October!
Date: 25-29 January 2021
Venue: Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Crop Production Science (LTV), SLU Alnarp, Sweden, or digital (depending on Covid19 recommendations)
Language: English
Number of students: 6-30
Course fee: none
Application: Deadline 30 Oct 2020. Applications to register are done on a “first come, first serve” basis, by submitting your CV and a short description (80-120 words) about your research activities to the course leader (see contact details below).
Scope: The international and domestic legal frameworks that affect the work researchers and breeders are carrying out with plant genetic resources are getting increasingly detailed. The aim of this course is to enable understanding of the relevant legal frameworks for accessing and utilizing plant genetic resources, for working with modern plant breeding tools such as transgenesis and genome editing, and for plant variety protection such as plant variety rights and patents.
Course leader: Dennis Eriksson, SLU (dennis.eriksson@slu.se)
Teachers: Aysegul Sirakaya, Ghent University, Belgium; Juan Antonio Vives-Vallés, University of the Balearic Islands, Spain; Kai Purnhagen, University of Bayreuth, Germany
You can find more information here
9. Course Plant disease epidemiology
Dates and place: December 7-11, 2020 by Zoom
Objectives: The course aims to provide students opportunity to understand concepts, principles, state-of-the-art methodology and research orientations within the area of plant disease epidemiology. After the course, the students should have reached a higher standard of applying available tools to study epidemiological processes and manage plant diseases. The course will also offer the students opportunities of linking to the research community within the area.
Registration: Send an e-mail to Jiasui Zhan (jiasui.Zhan@slu.se) no later than November 20, 2020 to register the course.
10. Postdoctoral position in plant genomic pre breeding at SLU Alnarp
A postdoctoral position in plant genomic pre breeding for optimized interactions between crops and biologicals is open at SLU Alnarp. Find more information here.
11. Postdoctoral position on Small-RNAs role in Plant-microbe interactions at SLU Alnarp
The role of small RNAs in plant-microbe interactions is poorly understood. As a bioinformatician, you will investigate plant-microbe interactions with reference to small RNA in filamentous pathogen interactions with different host plants. You will study the cross kingdom transport of small RNAs between plant and filamentous pathogens.
Read more about this position with deadline 1st November 2020 here
12. Two postdocs in Plant Cell and Developmental Biology, NTNU Norway
Two three-year positions for postdoctoral research scientists are available in the Hamann research group at the Department of Biology (www.hamannlab.org).
The newly hired team members will join the recently established multiscale biology section, where currently three new associate professors are being hired in molecular plant physiology, plant ecology and ecosystems modelling. More general information about the section and the Department of Biology can be found here: http://www.bio.ntnu.no/eng/ . Questions about the position can be directed to: Professor Thorsten Hamann, e-mail: thorsten.hamann@ntnu.no .
13. Upcoming webinars in November
Take advantage of the increasing number of webinars that are online! Find a compilation of interesting webinars for November here.
14. Book circle reading the book “Africa’s Gene Revolution!
Welcome to the book circle reading the book “Africa’s Gene Revolution!” where you also have the chance to meet the author of the book Matthew A Schnurr 3rd December. Joins us here!
15. LU Land breakfast seminar (in Swedish)
The topic for the second LULand seminar is “Community planning and land management in a landscape perspective”
Date & Time: 4 november 2020, 8:30-9:30 am.
Digital via Zoom (link will be sent to registered participants)
Organisor: Juliana Dänhardt for LU Land
A current challenge in relation to sustainable land use is the application of more holistic perspectives, where, for example, community planning takes place from a landscape perspective rather than from locally defined, administrative areas. But how can we increase the degree of collaboration in community planning across actor boundaries and across geographical and administrative scales. We invite you to a breakfast seminar on the theme, where we listen to different actors’ perspectives to learn more about the challenge and together discuss how it can be solved.
Registration deadline 2 november. Register here
16. Summary of the webinar “Plant Biotechnology in sub-Saharan Africa”
The summary of the webinar “Plant Biotechnology in sub-Saharan Africa
– technology transfer and new policies” is now online
17. Swedish Oikos meeting 2021 online
Given the continuing state of the covid-19 pandemic, the physical meeting planned to be in Gothenburg is rescheduled for 2023. Instead, a digital meeting will be held on 8th-10th of February 2021.
18. Researcher in the Spotlight – Allan Rasmusson
We congratulate Allan Rasmusson as co-applicant to the new Knut & Alice Wallenberg grant of 28.6 MSEK “Plant-Era” Biomolecular and structural comparisons of ancient and modern plants–tools for tracing phylogeny and survival strategies during mass extinctions” where he is co-applicant. Read more about that and other interesting projects Allan is involved in, in this month’s Researcher in the spotlight.