Key dates
1 November 2015 – Opening of online early bird registration and abstract submission
28 February 2016 – Deadline for abstract submission and early bird registration
30 June 2016 – Online registration closes
28 August 2016 – Conference desk opens
29 August – 1 September 2016 – 20th General Congress of EUCARPIA at ETH Zentrum, Zurich,
Switzerland
Invitation
On behalf of EUCARPIA, Agroscope and ETH Zurich we take pleasure in inviting you to the 20th
Eucarpia General Congress, to be held at ETH Zurich from 29 August to 1 September 2016. This
international event, which takes place every four years, brings together scientists and researchers in
all fields related to plant breeding. Invited speakers will present and discuss their research findings
and their visions for meeting the great challenges of plant breeding in coming decades.
Plant breeding has always been considered to be an art and a science. The development of new tools
and the rapid technological development of plant genomics, bioinformatics and phenomics, to name
just a few, have added a new dimension. A clear understanding of the requirements for the plant
cultivar of the future is necessary for the targeted application of these tools and techniques. At the
same time, breeding objectives are constantly changing as a result of climate change, a scarcity of
natural resources and the necessity to sustain biodiversity. The various disciplines must collaborate
to achieve the common goal of developing new cultivars, thus translating these scientific advances
into action, hence the title of this conference: “Plant Breeding, the Art of Bringing Science to Life. “
The congress will focus on new phenomic tools to identify crop ideotypes as well as on the
implementation of the wealth of information about the plant genome in order to create novel
superior cultivars. Other topics are the breeding of climate-smart cultivars and how to make the best
use of the natural variation hidden in genetic resources. A compromise will be sought between
innovative breeding strategies and ensuring cultivar reliability for growers and consumers within the
scope of a regulatory framework. There will be time for an exchange of new findings in the field of
breeding individual crops and the development of new breeding objectives.
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Venue
The venue will be the main campus of the ETH Zurich, Switzerland. The ETH Zurich is one of the
world’s leading universities for technology and the natural sciences. It has nearly 18,000 students
from over 100 different countries, including 3,800 doctoral students. The congress will be held in the
main building of the ETH Zurich, a classicistic masterpiece by Gottfried Semper built in the second
half of the 19th century.
Topics
Plenary sessions will deal with the following topics, each followed by keywords:
1. Genetic resources and pre-breeding - Refining the green gold of genetic resources
allele mining, association genetics, focused identification of germ-plasm strategy, genebank
information systems, introgression strategies, marker assisted backcrossing, targeted
complementation of breeding pools, eliminating genetic load
2. Phenomics - Carving crop ideotypes by phenomic tools and concepts
remote sensing, automated screening, imaging, photogrammetry, systems biology, ideotype-based
breeding, genotype-by-environment interaction
3. Genomics and bioinformatics - Putting advanced genomic knowledge to work in novel cultivars
marker-assisted selection/ genomic selection, genome editing, statistical developments in genomic
prediction, statistics for high-throughput phenotyping, big data in plant breeding, model based
breeding
4. Stress tolerance - Breeding climate-smart crops to cope with a scarcity of resources and versatile
pathogens
drought and salt tolerance, resource use efficiency, climate smart breeding, disease resistance,
durable resistance, host-pathogen interactions, susceptibility factors
5. Secondary metabolites - Optimizing secondary metabolites for specialized plant uses
secondary metabolites, plant extracts, phytochemistry, health and nutrition aspects
6. Plant microbe interactions - Joining plants and microbes for enhanced crop performance
microbiomes, symbiotic N fixation, mycorrhiza interaction, beneficial endophytes
7. Innovation vs. regulation - Facilitating access to germplasm and release of innovative cultivars
access to genetic resources, germplasm exchange among breeders, variety testing, variety
registration, intellectual property rights
Each topic will be covered in one or two plenary sessions, introduced by an invited speaker and
followed by oral presentations selected from attendees’ submissions.
In addition to the plenary sessions, half a day will be devoted to more crop-specific topics in parallel
sessions. The program will be complemented by poster sessions, one half-day excursion, to be
chosen from at least three options, and a panel discussion.
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Publications
We will produce an abstract book that will be distributed to participants at the beginning of the
congress. After the congress, a .pdf of the abstract book will be available to all EUCARPIA members in
the protected member zone of our webpage. Authors of outstanding contributions will be asked to
submit a paper for review to a special issue of Euphytica, to appear in summer 2017.
Tentative program
Sunday 28 August 2016: Registration
Monday 29 August 2016: Opening session, three plenary sessions, poster session, welcome
reception
Tuesday 30 August 2016: two plenary sessions, parallel crop-specific sessions, poster session, panel
discussion
Wednesday 31 August 2016: two plenary sessions, afternoon excursions, conference dinner
Thursday 1 September 2016: four plenary sessions, closing
Registration fees
It is our aim to keep the registration fee from exceeding 600 CHF (550 CHF for Eucarpia members).
Enrolled students can apply for special rates.
The registration fee will cover conference registration, conference program with abstracts, welcome
reception, coffee and lunches, one excursion, the conference dinner, as well as public transport
within Zurich.
Accompanying persons
Registration will cover the welcome reception, social dinner and one excursion. Cultural activities will
be organized if there is sufficient interest.
Travel
Zurich is reached easily from the Zurich international airport (ZRH), by railway as well as by car. The
main railway station is not far from the main campus (15 min on foot) and is served by tram lines 6, 9
and 10. The “Polybahn” leaves from the “Central” tram stop and is an easy way to reach the campus,
which lies above the city. A 5-day (Sunday to Thursday) ticket for the highly developed public
transport system of the city is included in the registration fee.
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Accommodation
Participants will be responsible for reserving accommodation. We will supply a list of suitable places
to stay. Hotel rates tend to be high, and reasonable options are limited, so early booking is advised.
Weather
The weather in Zurich is generally pleasant in August (18 to 25 °C during the day) and usually dry, but
be prepared for spells of rain.
Conference information
Website: www.eucarpia2016.org
E-mail: [email protected]
I look forward to greeting you for a memorable 20th General Congress of EUCARPIA!
Beat Boller
EUCARPIA President
Agroscope
Welcome to Zurich!
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Programme committee
Beat Boller (chair), Agroscope – Switzerland, [email protected]
Achim Walter, ETH Zurich - Switzerland
Andi Hund, ETH Zurich - Switzerland
Andreas Keiser, HAFL Zollikofen - Switzerland
Beat Keller, University of Zurich - Switzerland
Bruce McDonald, ETH Zurich - Switzerland
Bruno Studer, ETH Zurich - Switzerland
Fabio Mascher, Agroscope - Switzerland
Jaime Prohens, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia - Spain
José Vouillamoz, Agroscope - Switzerland
Markus Kellerhals, Agroscope - Switzerland
Richard Visser, Wageningen University & Research Centre - The Netherlands
Roland Kölliker, Agroscope - Switzerland
Zoltan Bedö, Martonvasar Agricultural Institute – Hungary
Extended Scientific Committee
Andreas Börner, IPK Gatersleben - Germany
Beate Schierscher, Agroscope - Switzerland
Bülent Uzun, Akdeniz University - Turkey
Dan Milbourne, Teagasc - Ireland
Dario Fossati, Agroscope - Switzerland
Dirk Reheul, University of Gent - Belgium
Domagoj Simic, Agricultural Institute Osijek - Croatia
Edith Lammerts van Bueren, Wageningen University & Research Centre - The Netherlands
Franz Schubiger, Agroscope - Switzerland
Fred van Eeuwijk, Wageningen University & Research Centre - The Netherlands
Johan van Huylenbroeck, ILVO - Belgium
Kalle Camp, DSP - Switzerland
Monika Messmer, FiBL, Switzerland
Stephan van der Heijden, EUCARPIA treasurer, The Netherlands
Yuling Bai, Wageningen University & Research Centre - The Netherlands
Viktor Korzun, KWS – Germany
Chris Schön, Technische Universität München - Germany
Torben Asp, University of Aarhus - Denmark
Local Organizing committee
José Vouillamoz (chair), Agroscope – Switzerland, [email protected]
Andi Hund, ETH Zurich - Switzerland
Frank Liebisch, ETH Zurich - Switzerland
Beat Boller, Agroscope - Switzerland
Christoph Grieder, Agroscope - Switzerland
Danilo Christen, Agroscope - Switzerland
Fabio Mascher, Agroscope - Switzerland
Roland Kölliker, Agroscope - Switzerland
Sarina Baumgartner, EUCARPIA – Switzerland
Priska Gassmann, Agroscope - Switzerland
Paolo Demaria, Demaria Event Management, Zurich - Switzerland
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