European UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy Celebrates Class VIII Graduation
๐ง๐ช๐๐ก๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ 10 ๐๐ข๐จ๐ก๐ง๐ฅ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ง๐ช๐ข-๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐, ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ก๐, ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก, ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ช๐ง๐.
The European UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy celebrated the graduation of Class VIII with a ceremony and reception in Davis, California. This marked the completion of an intensive two-year professional development program for 20 plant breeding professionals representing 10 countries: Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Turkey, Germany, France, Belgium, and Thailand.
The celebration recognized not only the graduates' technical achievements, but also the lasting relationships, knowledge, and professional networks built throughout the program.
Dr. Jovan Djordjevic, Director of the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy and Core Instructor, joined Dr. Alexandra Tomerius in celebrating the graduating class.
โWhat an extraordinary group of individuals, passionate about plant breeding. I am confident the European seed sector will be in great hands!โ said Dr. Djordjevic.
๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐๐บ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐น๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
The European Plant Breeding Academy combines advanced scientific knowledge with practical, applied training and direct exposure to leading research institutions and commercial breeding programs. Across six sessions over two years, participants explored plant breeding science, technologies, and strategies while learning from experienced instructors, industry experts, and fellow breeders working across diverse crops and companies.
A defining feature of the Academy is its emphasis on learning beyond the classroom. Throughout Class VIII, participants visited major research centers and breeding facilities across Europe and the United States:
โข ๐๐ป๐ธ๐ต๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐: Welcomed by the Seed Valley team, with visits and presentations from Syngenta and Enza Zaden.
โข ๐๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: Hosted by the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO), featuring contributions from VegyPolys, SEMAE, and Institut Agro, alongside a visit to HM.Clause.
โข ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป, ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐: Hosted by the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), offering deep dives into plant genetics and genomics. Contributors included Dr. Jens Freitag, Prof. Dr. Nils Stein, Dr. Ulrike Lohwasser, Prof. Dr. Thorsten Schnurbusch, Dr. Marcus Kirschnick, Dr. Ljudmila Borisjuk, Dr. Hardy Rolletschek, and Dr. Christian Hertig. The session also featured innovations in high-throughput sampling from Dr. Zeljko Micic (SMARTtrayยฎ), AI-driven breeding from Jean Pascal Lutz, and insights from KWS alumnus Harold Verstegen during a facility tour in Einbeck.
โข ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ด๐ถ๐๐บ: Included visits to the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Meijer, and BASF, complemented by an innovation workshop led by An Michiels of AgKnowledge.
โข ๐๐น๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟรญ๐ฎ, ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป: Provided a firsthand look at commercial vegetable breeding in one of Europeโs premier production hubs through engagements with Enza Zaden and HM.Clause.
โข ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ, ๐จ๐ฆ๐: The final session brought participants to UC Davis, featuring guest presentations from Kelley Clark (Director of CPPSI), Klaus Koehler, Jay Patel, and PBA alumna Laura Brown, alongside tours of the UC Davis Genome Center and Bayer facilities.
The UC Davis team extends its sincere thanks to all host organizations, guest presenters, and industry partners whose expertise and generosity made the Class VIII experience possible.
๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ
Beyond technical training, the Academy creates a powerful cross-industry network. Tessa Bottema, Spinach Breeder at Enza Zaden and Class VIII graduate, shared her experience:
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ด ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค, ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ค, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐น๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด.โ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ: ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ 2026
โข ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ: Presented in collaboration with Euroseeds and Seed World, this award will be announced at the Euroseeds 2026 Congress in Valencia, Spain (October 26โ28).
โข ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ซ (๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต 2027): Building on its strong foundation in traditional breeding, Class IX will place an even greater emphasis on genomics, hybrid prediction, and AI-powered plant breeding to prepare leaders for the future of agriculture.
๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ซ.
โข ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ 15, 2026.
โข ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ: https://pba.ucdavis.edu/pba-europe
The UC Davis team wishes all Class VIII graduates continued success as they apply their knowledge and help shape the future of plant breeding.