Davis, California, USA
April 21, 2015
The UC Davis European Plant Breeding Academy (PBA) started in 2010 with a modest ambition to provide European breeders access to the PBA program without having to travel across 9 time zones for all six sessions. It turned out that the European PBA became a success story on its own. To date, fifty-two (52) breeders from 13 European countries, Israel, Thailand and the USA have attended the first three classes of the European PBA. The list of countries includes: Austria (1), Belgium (2), Croatia (1), Denmark (1), Finland (3), France (6), Germany (13), Hungary (2), India (1), Israel (3), Netherlands (1), Poland (1), Spain (9), Thailand (2), Turkey (5) and USA (1).
The academy has received high approval by both participants and their employers. More than 70% of the students came from companies that have repeatedly sent breeders to the European PBA. Several companies have trained more than five (5) breeders through the course.
Employers appreciate the model which provides advanced training without disrupting their full-time employment. Participants attend six 6-day sessions over two years. Each session is organized in a different European country, with the final session at UC Davis.
The schedule for the upcoming European PBA Class IV is as follows:
Gent, Belgium October 5-10, 2015
Angers, France March 7-12, 2016
Gatersleben, Germany June 27-July 2, 2016
Enkhuizen, the Netherlands October 3-8, 2016
Almeria, Spain March 6-11, 2017
Davis, CA USA June 26-30, 2017
Applications are being accepted for European Plant Breeding Academy Class IV that begins in October 2014.
For more information on the UC Davis European Plant Breeding Academy visit http://pba.ucdavis.edu or contact Joy Patterson at jpatterson@ucdavis.edu.