The last PlantLink newsletter of the year contains a brief report from the NordPlant annual meeting, information about the “Bioekonomiriksdagen” and other upcoming meetings, several new positions and a spotlight of SLU researcher Ramesh Vetukuri.
Newsletter Contents
- Successful ELLS applications
- NordPlant annual meeting in Tromsø, with a virtual tour of the ClimaLab
- “Bioeconomy parliament” (Bioekonomiriksdagen 2021), 7-8 December
- CropBooster-P annual meeting
- Position as Plant pathologist at DLF Beet Seed in Landskrona
- Associate Senior Lecturer positions at LU
- Changes in personnel in PlantLink
- Congratulations to all with new plant research grants!
- Researcher in the spotlight Ramesh Vetukuri
1. Successful ELLS applications
For the second time already, SPPS is organizing the webinar PlantLink has had great success with application of ELLS fund of incentives, receiving €5500 for a summer school in plant protection biology in 2022 to be held at SLU Alnarp. We also supported an initiative led by Czech University of Life Sciences (CZU) on improving project-based learning (PBL) at the ELLS universities, including SLU. The format is in a competition where the best student groups in PBL exercises in MSc courses at the local universities get to travel to the ELLS annual meeting and present their solution there.
2. NordPlant annual meeting in Tromsø, with a virtual tour of the ClimaLab
This year’s annual Plant Biologicals Network symposium will bThe theme of this year’s annual meeting was “Successful Plant Modelling and Phenotyping for the Nordic Countries – What is Needed?”, and the meeting itself was in fact a success! Several joint projects were presented, and researchers gave keynotes from both Nordic and European perspectives, indicating directions for the future of plant phenotyping and modeling. A summary will soon appear on NordPlant’s homepage. For now, you can watch the virtual tour of the ClimaLab in Tromsö here. This tour was part of the leadup to meeting, together with the common data standards and facility managers’ forum meetings.
3. “Bioeconomy parliament” (Bioekonomiriksdagen 2021), 7-8 December
It is time for the annual Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS) conference. This meeting consists of the General Assembly, where We want to highlight that next week it is the Bioekonomiriksdagen 2021 from Lund. It has a clear regional focus with presentation of several new projects such as Oatly’s new research and innovation center for oats. A number of prominent researchers, policymakers and politicians will be presenting. There are several researchers close to or associated to PlantLink who will be presenting during these days: Pål Börjesson (LU), Eva Johansson (SLU), William Newson (SLU), Emma Nordell (LU Innovation/SLU) and Leif Bülow (LU). It is possible to sign up here. The Bioekonomiriksdagen is arranged jointly by Region Skåne, Lunds University, BioInnovation, Lund Municipality, IKEM and Skogsindustrierna.
4. CropBooster-P annual meeting
PlantLink is an invited stakeholder of CropBooster-P, which is an H2020 program to identify the breeding needs for future Europeans. It is primarily focused on abiotic stresses and breeding for these. We had hoped that there would be a physical meeting this year but the covid-19 situation has again forced it online. However, on 14 December Siri Caspersen and Erik Alexandersson will represent PlantLink in this forum. The program this year is focused on the results of the project and CropBooster-P is looking for stakeholder input on how to implement these results. The 4-year project is supposed to end in 2022.
5. Position as Plant pathologist at DLF Beet Seed in Landskrona
This course precedes the NordPlant annual meeting. Course topic: Novel imaging methods in plant stress research. More information and sign-up here.
6. Associate Senior Lecturer positions at LU
PhD course in plant imaging and phenotyping in Tromsø, Norway 2
The Biology department at Lund University announces up to four positions as Associate Senior Lecturer.
Employment as associate senior lecturer is a tenure-track position, announced for 6 years with the opportunity for promotion to senior lecturer. Applicants must be within 5 years of obtaining their PhD at application deadline.
Read more about the open positions here:
7. Changes in personnel in PlantLink
PlantLink is currently in a period of changes when it comes to its personnel. The work to recruit a new director from Lund University to replace SLU’s Erik Alexandersson is ongoing. This change is stipulated in the agreement for PlantLink’s third term. Once it is decided who takes on the role as new director of PlantLink, a new vice director from SLU will also be recruited. In addition, coordinator Sofia Marmon is stepping down, due to new responsibilities within ScanOats, where she has replaced Nick Sirijovski as WP leader. Sofia will continue to work within PlantLink at 25% during the first three months of 2022. If you are interested in becoming more involved in PlantLink, please contact erik.alexandersson@slu.se
8. Congratulations to all with new plant research grants!
We congratulate the researchers of Lund University and SLU Alnarp that have received funding for new plant and plant related research projects. Newly funded projects are found here.
9. Researcher in the spotlight: Ramesh Vetukuri
This month’s researcher in the spotlight is Ramesh Vetukuri from SLU Alnarp. Read more about his research here.