News & Funding: Jan 2013

News highlights

New PVR trademark launched to promote plant breeding and seed innovation.

New PVR trademark launched to promote plant breeding and seed innovation A new information campaign to highlight the critical role of plant breeding innovation and quality seed moved a step closer when participating seed companies and plant breeders unveiled the new EU-registered PVR trademark for the first time at the LAMMA event in Lincolnshire.

Initiated jointly by BSPB and AIC on behalf of the UK plant breeding and seeds sector, the campaign will focus on the importance of Plant Variety Rights (PVR) as a unique form of intellectual property to protect, stimulate and reward progress in crop improvement.

The PVR trademark will soon start appearing across the seed industry on seed bags, stationery, invoices, websites, variety boards and marketing material. Supporting information about Plant Variety Rights, plant breeding and seed production will be provided through a dedicated campaign website and literature, as part of a wider drive to highlight the vital contribution of our plant breeding and seeds sector.

BSPB chief executive Dr Penny Maplestone said: “Access to genetic innovation, delivered to the market through high-performing varieties and quality seed, is the foundation for successful crop production. Faced with the global challenges of food security, climate change and sustainable development, recent reports from Foresight and the Royal Society have highlighted the urgent need for continued progress in crop genetic improvement as the single most important factor in improving the yield, climate resilience and production efficiency of our major food crops.”

“The PVR campaign will highlight the critical role of IP protection in supporting a dedicated process of investment, innovation and independent evaluation within the plant breeding and seeds sector, and the enormous benefits this brings to farmers, food producers and their customers.”

AIC Seed Sector chairman Paul Taylor said: “Companies and organisations licensed to use the trademark are demonstrating their commitment to providing the best product, backed by science and delivered to the market through proven testing procedures. Users of the trademark are investors in R&D, committed to supplying high quality, innovative products to their customers.”

“The PVR trademark will serve as a prominent reminder of the research, innovation and independent evaluation behind each new variety and bag of purchased seed, and the need for continued investment in plant breeding to support a competitive farming industry and a dynamic value chain.”

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Be part of a national public engagement project on Bioenergy.

Be part of a national public engagement project BBSRC is running a Bioenergy Public Dialogue workshop at the Dana Centre in London on the 24th January and there is an opportunity for you to take part.

From 1400 to 1800 you will take part in an interactive workshop with other researchers that will equip you with the skills needed to run public engagement events. After a supper, members of the public will arrive and, with close coaching from engagement experts, you will be able to put into practice what you have learnt. BBSRC will cover travel expenses and overnight accommodation. This initiative is part of a for a national public dialogue project for which BBSRC has successfully secured funding from BIS, through Sciencewise. The dialogue will explore public views around bioenergy through a series of events around the country during 2013, based on an ‘engagement toolkit’. The outcomes from those discussion events will help inform BBSRC policy and strategy.

Although some events will be run by BBSRC, the full potential of the project will only be reached with your involvement and we would like to encourage you and other bioenergy researchers to run you own events. The workshop is an ideal opportunity to develop your public engagement skills, to help you learn about planning a dialogue event, and to try out the toolkit at the evening session at the Dana Cafe.

To register to attend this event or if you have any queries, please contact Marta.Entradas@bbsrc.ac.uk or Emma.Longridge@bbsrc.ac.uk, or phone Marta on 01793 413325.

How should UK STEM teaching and learning inspire the thinkers, doers, innovators and leaders of the future?

The answer to this question is important to all of us, especially given the decisions still to be made around the secondary National Curriculum. But we want to know what you think! The National Science Learning Centre, National STEM Centre and EdComs are working together to publish a collection of views from contributors across education and industry. The aim is to give practitioners, employers and key thinkers a platform to express their views, to generate debate and to influence future policy and practice in the delivery of STEM teaching and learning.

There are two main ways to contribute:
1. Send an email with your thoughts and experiences to: daniel.clay@edcoms.co.uk
2. Join the discussion on Twitter: #STEMlearning We will be engaging in discussions and compiling responses over the next four weeks. This is your chance to have your say.

Funding Opportunities

· BBSRC Excellence with impact awards (Thursday, 31 January)
The Excellence with Impact competition aims to recognise institutions that can develop and successfully deliver a vision for maximising impact, alongside a relevant institution-wide culture change. The winning organisation will receive an award of £0.5M and there will be a further £0.5M available to be awarded at judges' discretion to highly commended runners up.
Further details

· The Community Resource for Wheat Transformation application process is now open. (Thursday, 31 January)
This is a resource for UK plant scientists to apply for their genes to be transformed into wheat free of charge, funded by the BBSRC’s Biological and Bioinformatic Resources fund (BBR). There is an online application process and further details via the following link http://www.niab.com/transgenic. Enquiries should be directed to croptransformation@niab.com in the first instance.