The symposium will feature speakers from public research institutions as well as medium and large scale private plant breeding companies. Each speaker will address the audience from his/her unique perspective and experience.
Plant breeding, in research and application, is facing novel challenges in the near and long term future. How are society, politics and market demands influencing future plant breeding efforts? Which challenges arise through a changing environment (e.g. biotic, abiotic stresses)? Do new breeding tools (e.g. high throughput genotyping and phenotyping) raise new challenges in data workload and data handling?
Discussed will be the hard skills (e.g. computer, field, laboratory), knowledge (e.g. economics, plant physiology, pathology and genetics) and personal skills (e.g. team work, flexibility and leadership) required for success in the future work place and how to acquire them.
- 9.00 h - 9.30 h: Arrival and registration
- 9.30 h - 9.40 h: Introduction address
- 9.40 h - 10.25 h: Susanne Groh - Educating the next generation of plant breeders
- 10.25 h - 10.45 h: coffee break
- 10.45 h - 11.30 h: Hans-Peter Piepho - The elephant in the room: The importance of good phenotypic data
- 11.30 h - 12.15 h: Tanja Gerjets - Why choose a career in plant breeding?
- 12.15 h - 14.00 h: lunch break
- 14.00 h - 14.45 h: Andreas Börner - Plant genetic resources – the basis for future breeding
- 14.45 h - 15.05 h: coffee break
- 15.05 h - 15.50 h: Elisabeth Esch - Development of new varieties in vegetable and herb breeding
- 15.50 h - 16.35 h: Mark Cooper - Developing drought tolerant maize hybrids for the US corn-belt: Discovery to Product
- 16.35 h - 16.45 h: closing remarks
