TomGEM partner organises Summer School on agricultural challenges in Bordeaux

The French TomGEM partner institution Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) and the University of Bordeaux (UB) jointly organise a summer school programme. The two-week programme ‘French Agriculture in Aquitaine: from the laboratory to the field’ takes place from 17-29 July 2016 at the University of Bordeaux (France).

The programme will introduce undergraduate students with a scientific background to existing links between climate change, agricultural production and biotechnology. Moreover, it will provide the students with an overview of the main challenges of French agriculture and the links between fundamental research and biotechnological solutions in modern agriculture. A balanced mix of theoretical sessions, laboratory experiments, field work and visits to farms and industrial campus sites will give the participants an excellent opportunity to combine theory with practice.

The students’ research activities will tie in neatly with the very latest research developments evolving within the TomGEM project, which is addressing the issue of yield stability of tomatoes under high temperature conditions. Pollen and fruit development of tomatoes under high temperature conditions will be one thematic focus of the programme. Students will gain first-hand expertise by carrying out experiments on pollen and microsporogenesis under elevated and normal temperatures.

The summer school will offer a large range of valuable practical and applied training, and allows participants to exchange opinions with scientists who are leading experts in this area of research. The instructors and guest lecturers are scientific experts from governmental research institutions, organisations dedicated to agricultural development, farmers, food and agricultural industrialists as well as professors from the University of Bordeaux.

For further information about the Summer School programme or the conditions of participation visit the following website: http://bss-frenchagri.u-bordeaux.fr/en