ABOUT

The European Plant Breeding College (EPBC) aims at creating a knowledge hub in the field of plant breeding by increasing the integration of some of Europe’s leading plant breeding Master programmes. The integration of those programmes via the harmonisation and enrichment of curricula aims at increasing the employability of plant breeding students in coherence with new needs on the labour market of the seed sector.

Consortium Members

UniLaSalle

UniLaSalle is a French private higher education institution ('Grande école'), specialised in agriculture, food industry, food and health, geology and the environment. Almost 2500 students study at LaSalle, around 1500 of them in agriculture. Student intake is very selective and 25% of the students benefit from a scholarship. www.unilasalle.fr

LaSalle’s Master programme is focused on plant improvement and the creation of new plant varieties. The aim of this programme is to train plant breeders able to grasp and manage the scientific and technical interdisciplinarity between biotechnologies, agronomy, plant biology, genetics, regulatory issues and markets. This programme was designed in partnership with seed companies and the food industry, and constructed with Ghent University, in Belgium. http://international.lasalle-beauvais.fr/-Masters-in-Plant-Breeding

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

In the recent Urank ranking of Swedish universities, SLU is ranked as Sweden's best life science university, and third in the overall ranking. In the NTU ranking, SLU is ranked 13th out of 300 agricultural universities from throughout the world, with SLU being at the 6th position in the sub-field of Plant & animal science. Among the successful factors are basic education, research, research education and internationalisation. http://www.slu.se

SLU offers a 2-year international Master programme in Plant Biology, given in collaboration with Uppsala University and Stockholm University. Plant breeding is an important part both of the Master programme and provides strong connections to research in plant genetics, breeding, plant pathology, plant-microbe interactions and plant development. http://www.slu.se/en/education/masters-programmes/plant-biology/

Ege University

The oldest two faculties of Ege University are the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture which were founded in 1955. Today, Ege University, which is aware of the responsibility of being the first university in the Region, pioneers the cooperation platforms of Izmir and Regional Universities in different areas. Almost 55000 students study at Ege University. http://www.ege.edu.tr

EgeU has a multidisciplinary 2-year master programme on Seed Science and Technology consisting of two disciplines; Variety Development (Plant Breeding) and Seed Production and Technology. http://www.totem.web.tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=421

Polytechnic University Valencia

UPV is a public Higher Education Institution actively involved in international cooperation and mobility projects. It is the first technological university in Spain according to international rankings (e.g. Shanghai Ranking of World Universities) and offers 33 undergraduate programmes, 73 official Master’s degrees and 28 Doctorate programmes. http://www.upv.es

UPV offers a 2-year official interuniversity Master programme (Universitat Politècnica de València, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) in Plant Breeding with a high proportion of practical sessions in the curriculum and hosts a considerable number of students from developing countries (mostly South America). https://www.upv.es/titulaciones/MUMGV/indexi.html

Ghent University

Ghent University (UGent) is one of the major Belgian universities in the Dutch-speaking region of Europe. 11 faculties offer a wide range of courses and conduct in-depth research in both exact and social sciences. The Faculty of Bioscience Engineering (FBE) within Ghent University is a European research leader in the field of applied biological and life sciences or bioengineering. http://www.ugent.be

Ghent University was one of the first universities worldwide to design transgenic plants. Ever since, Ghent University became a world leader in research in the domain of molecular biotechnology. Since the early eighties at least 15 spin–off companies were created in the domain of crop design, crop protection, disease prevention based on molecular biotechnology. http://www.bioengineering.ugent.be/faculty-of-bioscience-engineering/ghent-university

Work Packages

Legend:
WP: Work Package
O: Deliverable (Intellectual Output)
C: Mobility Module

DELIVERABLES

The University of Gent, Ege University, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Swedish University of Agricultural Science and Polytechnic Institute LaSalle Beauvais-ESITPA have decided to join forces to develop the European Plant Breeding College (EPBC) to:
- Share knowledge and experience for the benefit of their students
- Improve the academic quality of their Plant Breeding Master Programmes
- Improve the employability of their alumni
- Create a European dialogue with the seed sector on human resource policy
- Increase the excellence, international visibility and integration among European Plant Breeding education programmes
- Increase the number of joint projects among EPBC participants

To achieve these objectives, the EPBC will:
- Share knowledge and experience with their students via innovative teaching methods such as pilot cases (O1), online courses (O2), webinars (O3)
- Facilitate mobility of their students and immersion in new cultural contexts and teams through Intensive Study Programmes (04/C1) and joint Master theses (C2) in the speciality of the partner universities
- Boost the transition of EPBC alumni from university to the labour market through a pan-European Internship Network (O5)
- Interact through Multiplier Events with prospective students, highschool teachers and professionals from the seed sector

PROJECT DETAILS

The EPBC is 2-year Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership, funded by the European Commission at 245’834€. The project commenced on 01 September 2015 and will end on 31 August 2017.