Newsletter Contents

1. PlantLink annual report is out!
2. Record attendance on PlantLink Day
3. NordPlant annual meeting – 30 November
4. Göte Turesson centennial anniversary – 29 November
5. Nordic Plant Phenotyping Network (NPPN) workshop – 24-25 November
6. Plant Biologicals Network Symposium – 17 November
7. NordPlant-NOVA PhD course – few places left!
8. SLU Future Food lunch webinars – 30 November
9. Kungl. Fysiografiska Sällskapet i Lund celebrates its 250th anniversary
10. Synthetic biology: scalability, implementation and governance symposium –14-15 November
11.  Food Science Sweden conference – 15 March
12.  SuS Crop ERA-net video contest prolonged
13. Open positions
14. Researcher in the spotlight – Lise Lykke Steffensen

1. PlantLink annual report is out!

What were the most important events of this year? What are PlantLink’s future visions? And who are its driving forces? The annual report 2021/22 has been published on our website! 

2. Record attendance on PlantLink Day

The eleventh PlantLink Day was held on the 5^th of October at SLU Alnarp. The topic “New Plant Products” attracted a record number of participants! More than 130 people signed up for the event, and more than 100 showed up physically, with a few listening remotely. The diverse program consisted of both topics from the field of plant and food science.
Read the full report here.
 

3. NordPlant annual meeting – 30 November

NordPlant annual day will be held on 30 November in Lund with the theme “Envirotyping for plant breeding and precision agriculture” in conjunction with the Göte Turesson jubilee. Prominent keynote speakers confirmed their attendance!

· Antoine Harfouche (UNITUS): “Leveraging Explainable Artificial Intelligence to Advance Plant Phenomics Research and Decisions”

· Jose Luis Araus Ortega (University of Barcelona): “On-farm crop phenotyping”

· Fred Stoddard (University of Helsinki): “Fitting faba bean for high-latitude farming”

· Therese Bengtsson (SLU): “Pre-breeding for adaptation of spring barley to Northern latitudes”

· Florent Abdelghafour (INRAE): “Hyperspectral imaging in agriculture” ,

· Ajit Nehe (SLU): “Phenotrolley: Affordable Phenotyping System for Controlled Growth Conditions”

· Chandana Pandey (University of Copenhagen): “Impact of drought on barley resistance against fungal pathogens by highthroughput multispectral, microscopic and physiological phenotyping”

· Nasir Uddin (Husqvarna group): “AI and data science in a forest, green space and garden outdoor equipment company”.

Register here.

4. Göte Turesson centennial anniversary – 29 November

Centennial anniversary of the ecotype concept: the legacy of Göte Turesson will be held on 29th November with the NordPlant meeting on “Envirotyping for plant breeding and precision agriculture”. Both meetings are located at Blå Hallen, Ecology Building, Lund University. The symposium will be in a hybrid format. The programme starts with a welcome reception between 08.30-09.15, followed by a general introduction and a presentation of the historical context of the ecotype concept by Anna Tunlid (Lund University). 

Confirmed speakers include: Timo van der Niet (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), Hans Jaqcuemyn (KU Leuven, The Netherlands), Sophie Karrenberg (Uppsala University), Marie Branderud (Oslo University), Honor C. Prentice (Lund University) and Björn Widén (Lund University).  The programme ends with a symposium dinner common with the NordPlant meeting.

More information and registration here.

5. Nordic Plant Phenotyping Network (NPPN) workshop – 24-25 November

Sign up for the annual Nordic Plant Phenotyping Network (NPPN) workshop, November 24-25 in Båstad. In this workshop, 6P2 and NordPlant will discuss the future of plant phenotyping in Nordic countries.

More information here.

6. The Plant Biologicals Network Symposium – 17 November

The meeting will be held on the 17th of November as a full-day event in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event will be back-to-back with the Copenhagen Bioscience Conference: Plant-microbe Interactions.

Confirmed speakers: Pamela Marrone (Chestnut Bio Advisers), Angela Sessitsch (Austrian University of Technologies), Rosa Criollo (FMC Agricultural Solutions), Nina Cedergreen (University of Copenhagen), David King (Syngenta), Andrea Genre (University of Turin), Christer Löfstedt (Lund University), Carl Heiselberg (Danske Kartofler)

More information and registration here!

Scientists from academia and industry are invited to submit abstracts describing original research and new projects to be selected for the poster session at the symposium. The deadline for submitting an abstract is 31st October at 12.00.

The symposium will be back-to-back with the Copenhagen Bioscience Conference: Plant-microbe Interactions.

More information about the conference.

7. NordPlant-NOVA PhD course – few places left

Did you forget to apply for the NordPlant-supported NOVA PhD course “Common data standards and integrative analytic methods for plant phenotyping“? No problem, there are still some places left! The course takes place at SLU in Alnarp/Lund from 28 November until 2 December. 

More information and sign-up.

8. SLU Future Food lunch webinars – 30 November

SLU Future Food warmly invites you to a series of lunch webinars on interdisciplinary science. Next seminar will be held on the 30 of November 12.10 – 12.55 on the theme “How can you work practically with interdisciplinarity? by Marie Stenseke, Guest professor at SLU.

More information and registration here.

9. Kungl. Fysiografiska Sällskapet i Lund celebrates its 250th anniversary

Royal Society of Physigraphy in Lund celebrates its 250th anniversary this year and there will be a lot of celebrations in various contexts. The event will take place on 23 November, in Lund, it is free but you have to register by the 9^th!
More information on the rich program and sign-up form here! 

10. Synthetic biology: scalability, implementation and governance symposium –14-15 November

Sign up for the symposium: Synthetic biology: scalability, implementation and governance held at the Puffendorf Institute on the 14^th and 15^th of November.

Registration and information here.

11. Food Science Sweden conference – 15 March

Save the date for the Food Science Sweden conference on the 15 March 2023 with the theme Livsmedelssäkerhet i kris – Vikten av livsmedelsforskning och innovation.
Follow the Food Science Sweden webpage for updates!

12. SuS Crop ERA-net video contest prolonged

National funders in the European Research Area Network on Sustainable Crop Production (SusCrop ERA-net) opened a video contest to reflect, communicate and inspire on ‘what sustainable crop production means to you?’ on the occasion of the Fascination of Plants Day. The competition is open to everybody from schoolchildren to researchers and farmers! The submission deadline is prolonged to the 18^th of December.
More information can be found here. 

13. Open positions

Postdoctoral researcher in protease biochemistry and cell biology of the plant wound response. SLU Uppsala. More information.

Postdoctoral scholarship in Molecular Biology: Plant stress signalling and susceptibility genes. SLU Alnarp. More information.

Senior Lecturer in Biology with a focus on Plant Biochemistry. SLU Alnarp. More information.

Associate senior lecturer in Biology with emphasis on Biometrical Genetics in Horticultural Breeding. SLU Alnarp. More information.

Lantmännen have an open position for a plant breeder to work on the design and implementation of genomics-based breeding program in agricultural crops. The candidate should have a strong background in quantitative genetics and be fluent in R. More information.

14. PlantLink Researcher in the spotlight – – Lise Lykke Steffensen

Lise Lykke Steffensen is the managing director of Nordic Genetic Resources Center (NordGen) and have the responsibility for the strategic and operational research program at the institute. What does it take to be the head of a profound research organisation, and what are NordGen’s priorities?
Read the interview!