The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is preparing to stage a key event in its £1.5 million research studentship programme.
A PhD symposium showcasing students and PhD projects from the levy board’s cereals & oilseeds andPotato Council divisions will be held at the Regional Food Academy, Harper Adams University, on 8 April.
It will be the first-ever joint PhD event staged by these two AHDB crop divisions.
The PhD symposium, which is planned to become an annual event, will bring together around 20 students from a wide range of research institutes and universities. At all stages of their PhD studies, they will share their research results and build links and working partnerships with other students and the industry.
Key speakers at the symposium will include Graham Finn, agriculture policy advisor for McCain Foods and a Potato Council 'skills champion', who will focus on future careers in food and the drive to achieve food security.
Last year, a restyled AHDB studentship programme introduced 19 new three to four-year PhD projects to grow new industry talent and deliver science with practical benefits – a call later made to the industry by the UK government in its recently launched Agri-Tech Strategy.
Potato Council head of R&D, Mike Storey, said: “We will continue to look to attract and develop high quality people and high quality projects, using our studentships to raise the profile of agricultural and horticultural R&D with the young scientist community.
'This is key to securing the levels of excellence able to drive the future of our industry as it responds to the critical need to produce more food for a growing world population while using fewer resources.”
The line-up of current PhD students set to present at the symposium includesKatarzyna Dybal, of Harper Adams University, and funded by Potato Council.
Dybal, a graduate of Warsaw University of Life Science, will speak on ‘The characterisation of Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN) populations in Great Britain for sustainable crop management’.
She hopes to use her PhD to provide a wider understanding of PCN in Great Britain to the benefit of future farming generations and potato consumers. Dybal said:“Through a combination of academic study and research, I have become acutely aware of how destructive PCN can be. Development of effective and safe methods of control is crucial.
“Plant pathology has always fascinated me and I’ve been interested in crop production since my childhood, harvesting potatoes with my parents on our small farm in Poland.”
Also speaking at the symposium will be Lara Hilley, of the James Hutton Institute, and funded by Potato Council.
‘Application of association mapping and genomic sequencing to starch and glycemic index in potato’ is the subject of Hilley’s talk. Her PhD combines her background in food, nutrition and health with her passion for cutting-edge science.
She said: “In terms of human consumption, potatoes are the third largest food crop in the world and there is an emerging opportunity for the potato industry to develop and breed varieties with increased health benefits.
“The publication of the potato genome sequence will enable us to identify desirable traits associated with starch and sugar content, identify candidate genes and markers for starch qualities which I hope will lead to varieties with lower GIs.'
Hilley's research interests focus heavily on using fruits and vegetables to prevent the onset of dietary diseases and in plant genetics.
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