International Symposium on Agrobiodiversity for Sustainable Development

Bioversity International and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences will be organising the ”International Symposium on Agrobiodiversity for Sustainable Development”,  03-04 June 2013 in Beijing, China.

The symposium will focus on the important role of agricultural biodiversity in agroecological intensification for supporting productive and resilient farming systems to improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The symposium will also aim to understand the local cultural values in enhancing productivity through the use of traditional crop varieties, traditional farming practices and climate change response strategies.

Please read this PDF document or contact the organising committee directly at email hidden; JavaScript is required for more information. Participants need to submit this registration form to the organisers before 30 April 2013. The local costs of accommodation and food will be covered by the organisers for registered participants presenting scientific posters.

Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds: Community Resilience in the Face of Change

The Wageningen University and Research Centre for Development Innovation (CDI) will be organising a training programme on “Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds: Community Resilience in the Face of Change”, from 28 October to 16 November 2013, in Jeypore and Chennai, India.

The overall objective of this training programme is to enhance participants’ capabilities to associate Community Biodiversity Management (CBM) as integrated strategies for managing Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGFRA) and building community resilience towards climate change.

Full travel, board and lodging expenditures would be provided by the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes to successful applicants. Deadline for fellowship application is 07 May 2013 through fellowships for short courses on “Scholarship Online“.

Please read this PDF document or visit the official website of CDI for more information.

The Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, is offering a number of PhD scholarships in the area of food security (crop science, biodiversity, conservation) to outstanding candidates from Africa, Asia and South America. The scholarships are funded by the Louis Dreyfus Foundation and cover tuition fees as well as living expenses for a total period of three years.

Application deadline for this round is 18 January 2013, and the final closing round will be on 08 March 2013. Full details of the scholarships and the graduate training programme can be found at: www.plants.ox.ac.uk/plants/students/postgraduates/Louis-Dreyfus.aspx

The International Foundation for Science (IFS) is inviting early-career scientists in IFS eligible developing countries to apply for its Individual Research Grants to do research on the themes of:

1. Food Production, Food Security and Nutrition
   Including but not limited to: Research on Food Production; Animal Production and Veterinary Medicine; Crop Science including Underutilised Crops; Food Science and Nutrition, and Food Security issues.
2. Sustainable Natural Resources Management
   Including but not limited to: Biodiversity, Forestry, Natural Products, Renewable Energy and Climate Change.
3. Water and Aquatic Resources
   Including but not limited to: Water Resources Research; Research on all aspects of freshwater, brackish and marine aquatic organisms and their environments.

Individual Research grants are awarded on merit in amounts up to USD 12,000 for one to three years.

Deadline for application is 27 January 2013. The full guidelines, eligibility criteria, and instructions to apply are available here: http://www.ifs.se/IFS/Documents/Calls/IFS_Call_for_Individual_Applications_Dec2012.pdf

Bioversity International has announced the 2013 Call for Research Proposals for the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship.

The Fellowship aims to encourage the conservation and use of plant genetic resources in developing countries by awarding two fellowships, valued at USD 20,000 each, to outstanding young researchers from low and medium income countries working on biophysical, economic or social themes. This year’s themes include “Research of neglected and underutilized species for food and nutrition security”, which can address value chains, germplasm, agronomic practices, value addition technologies and supportive policies. Selected recipients are expected to carry out relevant innovative research at an advanced research institute, located within or outside their own country, for a period of three months to one year.

Applications can be submitted in three languages: English, French or Spanish by 11 November 2012. For additional information, application form and guidelines, please visit here.