Using sound statistical approaches is one of the most effective ways to increase heritability, response to selection and consequently expected genetic gains. The International Potato Center (CIP) is again organizing a biometrics training funded by the Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) CRP from 25-29 May 2020 in Maputo, Mozambique.
Lecturers will be experts from Wageningen University supported by CIP statisticians. The CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB) Platform is offering sponsorship in the form of travel awards to scientists from CGIAR centers and national partners (not restricted to RTB crops).
The travel awards include economy airfare, hotel transport, accommodation and meals, while the training itself is free of charge (participants are required to provide own insurance). Acceptance for sponsorship automatically implies acceptance in the training program. Co-funding, even to a limited extent, is encouraged.
The training will deal with many important aspects of plant breeding statistics, like modern design of experiments, single trial and multi-environment trial analysis, understanding target population of environments, genetic gain calculations and the principles of genomic prediction. Good understandings of biometrics and proficiency in R are recommended to make the most of the training.
The travel awards are intended to give the opportunity to scientists from CGIAR centers and NARS partners to further develop and update their biometrics skills and to stimulate knowledge sharing across crops, and across national partners and CGIAR Centers.
To apply for a travel award, interested candidates must send their CV (no more than 3 pages) and a brief description (max 1 page) on how they would apply the course learning objectives in their respective breeding programs to b.deboeck@cgiar.org, by March 15, 2020.