Generation Challenge Programme Newsletter

Dear GCP members and partners,

Please find the September 2005 GCP newsletter below. You can also access this newsletter at www.generationcp.org. If you would like to be removed from this distribution list at any time, please email Jenny Nelson, GCP communications coordinator, at j.nelson@cgiar.org

Jean Marcel Ribaut Joins GCP as Director

Dr. Ribaut officially became Director of the Generation Challenge Program on 1 September 2005. He joins the five Subprogram Leaders – Jean Christophe Glaszmann (SP1), Hei Leung (SP2), Jonathan Crouch (SP3), Theo van Hintum (SP4), and Carmen de Vicente (SP5) – as head of the GCP Management Team. “I’m honoured to lead such a distinguished team and very excited to take up the position as Director of this innovative program,” Ribaut says. For more information about Dr. Ribaut, see the press release announcing his appointment from 13 June: www.generationcp.org/sccv10/sccv10_upload/Press_release_NEW_DIRECTOR.pdf.

Generation Challenge Programme 2005 Annual Research Meeting – STARTS NEXT WEEK!

The GCP Annual Research Meeting (29 September through 1 October) begins next Thursday in Rome, Italy. The meeting is very full (150 participants!) and we are no longer accepting requests to attend, but you can find the agenda and other information about the meeting here: www.generationcp.org/latestnews.php.

Call for Competitive Grant Proposals – POSTPONED TO JANUARY 2006

In previous e-newsletters, we announced that the next round of competitive grants would open in late 2005, but by executive decision, the call for proposals will be released in early January 2006. This allows the GCP Management Team sufficient time to evaluate current projects, develop a targeted call for proposals, and ensure that the next round are integrated with the GCP portfolio and our new delivery strategy (see below for more details). Note that the projects, once selected, are still scheduled to begin in July 2006.

DRAFT Concept Notes for 2006 Commissioned Research NOW AVAILABLE

The draft concept notes developed by the Subprogram Leaders for the 2006 commissioned research projects can be found here: www.generationcp.org/latestnews.php. Please note that a few are still missing but will be added to the site shortly. These concept notes will be discussed at the Annual Research Meeting, so participants to that meeting will have a chance to give their feedback to the respective Subprogram Leaders. Note that there are fewer projects being commissioned this year because many of the 2005 commissioned research projects are 2-year projects and are thus being commissioned for 2006. See here for a link to the ongoing commissioned projects: www.generationcp.org/vw/modules.php. Please check back to this page over the next several weeks for updates to the concept notes, which may be amended following the Annual Research Meeting to incorporate feedback of GCP scientists.

GCP Delivery Strategy – DRAFT SUMMARY NOW AVAILABLE

As part of its mandate, Subprogram 5: Capacity Building and Enabling Delivery was tasked with articulating the delivery strategy for GCP products. Not an easy or straightforward undertaking, the development of the delivery strategy began with an online consultation with over 25 GCP scientists, socioeconomists, private sector representatives, intellectual property specialists, and delivery experts. That consultation led to a drafting workshop held in July at CIAT of 15 participants – again ranging from plant geneticists and breeders to agricultural economists to even farmers – who developed a first draft of the strategy, which defined products and users in the GCP context, envisioned product delivery plans, and stressed the need for comprehensive monitoring and evaluation and impact assessment systems. The draft summary of the strategy can be found on the GCP website in the Management Documents section and here: www.generationcp.org/latestnews.php. The final version will be released following approval by the Program Steering Committee of the GCP. Please contact Carmen de Vicente (c.devicente@cgiar.org) with questions or comments.

2006-2008 Medium Term Plan

The 2006-2008 Generation Challenge Program MTP, submitted to the CGIAR Science Council in mid-June 2005, can be found here: www.generationcp.org/workplan.php.

Generation Fellowships – FOUR WINNERS ANNOUNCED

We are pleased to announce the winners of the second round of Generation Fellowships: Mathews Mito Dida (University of Georgia--USA), Chiedozie Ngozi Egesi, (National Root Crops Research Institute--Nigeria), Kameswara Rao Kottapalli (Directorate of Oilseeds Development--India); Luis Carlos Rodriguez Zapata (Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatan--Mexico). For more information about the winners, please click here: www.generationcp.org/latestnews.php and here: www.generationcp.org/latestnews.php. The GCP congratulates them on this achievement!

GCP Travel Grants – WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The GCP is also pleased to announce 6 winners of travel grants: Dr. Masoomeh Peiman, Huazhong (Agricultural University—China); Ms. Sofia Kobakhia (Mtskheta Breeding Station—Georgia); Mr. Andrew Kiggundu (Forestry and Agricultural Research Organisation--South Africa); Dr. Suresh Ramalingam (TamilNadu Agricultural University—India); Dr. S. Michael Gomez (TamilNadu Agricultural University—India); and Dr. Percy Chimwamurombe (University of Namibia). Please click on the following links for more information about the winners: www.generationcp.org/latestnews.php and www.generationcp.org/latestnews.php. Congratulations to those selected!

GCP Subprogramme 5 Sponsors 13 Travel Grants for Interdrought II

The GCP’s Capacity Building Subprogramme will support 13 scientists’ participation in Interdrought II, held in Rome, Italy, from 24-28 September 2005.

The following scientists were selected:

· Ndeye Ndack Diop, CERAAS, Tunisia

· Dilfuza Egamberdiyeva, Tashkent State University of Agriculture, Uzbekistan

· Ghasem Hosseini Salekdeh, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran

· Yinli Liang, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, CAAS, China

· Hugo Molinari, Instituto do Parana (IAPAR), Brasil

· Goutam Mridha, Institute of Water Modelling, Bangladesh

· M. Onur Ozbas, Akdeniz University, Turkey

· Shaista Shafiq, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Pakistan

· Pardip Singh Shehrawat, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, India

· Elena D'Yakova, Centre Bioengineering RAS, Russia

· Sonia Hamza, National Institute of Agronomy in Tunisia

· Mahmoud Morsy, Minia University, Egypt

· Bassirou Sine, CERAAS/ISRA, Senegal

Please see the following announcement on the GCP website: www.generationcp.org/latestnews.php

Announcements on the GCP Website

The GCP website has a "Latest News" feature where we can post announcements about events, publications, etc., of interest to GCP members and the global genomics community. The website gets over 2000 hits per month, so here's a way to get some publicity for your news! If you have an announcement you would like posted, please send it to Ibti Vincent (i.vincent@cgiar.org) for posting to www.generationcp.org.

Best wishes,

Jenny

Jenny Nelson, Communications Coordinator

GENERATION: Cultivating Plant Diversity for the Resource-Poor

A CGIAR Challenge Programme

Hosted by CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

Email: j.nelson@cgiar.org

Phone: +52 (55) 5804 2004 x1313

Fax: +52 (55) 5804 7558