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The State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC), together with the Centre for Crop & Food Innovation (CCFI), proactively organise a range of conferences, symposiums, and seminars with the goal of disseminating knowledge, creating the next generation of scientists in Australia and capacity building of researchers from developing countries.

Upcoming events

IWC 2024

The International Wheat Congress (IWC) is a prestigious biennial event that begun in July 2019 in Saskatoon, Canada. It serves as an important gathering for the global wheat community, providing a platform for leading experts, researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals to discuss advancements in the field of wheat breeding, genetics, genomics, and agronomy.

In 2024, Murdoch University will organise this event. By bringing experts together from around the world, the conference aims to accelerate the progress of international wheat research and development.

For more details, see The International Wheat Congress.

Seminars

SABC together with the Centre for Crop & Food Innovation, hosts The Crop & Biotech Seminar series at Murdoch University. We invite leading authorities from Australia and abroad to share their outstanding research.

Workshops

SABC together with its partner organises workshop on topical subjects. If you are interested in joining SABC events, please send your interest to anu.chitikineni@murdoch.edu.au.

Past events

Genomics & Biotechnology for Agriculture: Present and Future

Date: 19th September 2023
Location: Murdoch University, Western Australia
Topics: Technologies and Platforms, Applications in Agriculture
Target Audience: Scientists, Researchers, Agri-genomics industry members
Presenters: 26 guest speakers
Attendees: 180+
Countries represented: 15

The WA SABC and Murdoch University hosted a special one-day international symposium celebrating the SABC’s 30th anniversary on the 19th of September, 2023. Titled “Genomics & Biotechnology for Agriculture: Present and Future”, the symposium celebrated the centre's glorious achievements from the past 30 years and looked forward to its plans for the future. In attendance were a cohort of 26 guest speakers and over 180 participants from all over the world, including Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Israel, Kenya, Senegal, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the USA. Guest lectures and panel discussions focused on the various technologies and platforms currently available to researchers and their applications in agriculture. The symposium was very well received and considered productive and successful by all who attended.

Group of people at conference - posing
Figure 1: A group photo of all in-person attendees celebrating at the symposium.

Event pictures:

Date: 19th October 2023 (Online)
Topic: Science innovations,  Sustainable agriculture, Nutrition, Food system
Target Audience: Scientists, Researchers, Agri-genomics industry members
Presenters: 6 guest speakers
Attendees: 700 registered, 58 Countries represented

As part of the WFP’s Borlaug Dialogue of the World Food Prize Foundation, on October the 19th of October 2023, CCFI hosted a virtual roundtable session themed in collaboration with ACIAR, The Crawford Fund, APAARI and FARA. The theme of the session was ‘Harnessing science innovations for a sustainable, equitable, and nourishing food system’. This session featured six world leaders in international agriculture as guest speakers, all of whom provided impressive presentations and participated in interesting discussions. A total of 700 colleagues from 58 countries registered for the event. The full live stream can be found on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XlhlvfCONU

Date: 20th October 2022
Topics: Food security, Nutrition security, agriculture  
Target Audience: Scientists, Researchers, Agri-genomics industry members

On the 20th of October 2022, in partnership with the World Food Prize Foundation and in collaboration with TWAS-UNESCO, African Academy of Sciences, Australia Africa Universities Network (AAUN) and APAARI, the CCFI organized a virtual round table session "International partnerships for food & nutrition security for the developing world”.

Distinguished speakers from renowned organizations and institutions shared their expertise, including Dr. Harold Roy-Macaulay, Dr. Jennifer Barrn, Dr. Chike Mba, Dr. Ravi Khetrapal, Dr Vivienne Anthony, Dr Chiedozie Egesi, Prof. Lise Korsten. The session was moderated and chaired by Prof. Rajeev Varshney. The dialogue provided valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities in achieving food security in an ever-changing world. Participants had the opportunity to contribute to the global efforts in creating a more resilient and nourished world for all.

The entire session can be viewed on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBZa5Xad-1w

Speaker: Prof. Shahal Abbo: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Date and time: October 25th, 2023, from 10:30 to 11:30 hrs

Summary: Prof. Shahal Abbo from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem presented a thought-provoking perspective on plant domestication in the Near East. While the prevailing view describes domestication as a protracted, unconscious, and geographically diffused process, Prof. Abbo challenged this narrative. He exposed inherent problems in this approach and provided experimental data that contradicts some of it’s assumptions.

Furthermore, he introduced a conceptual distinction between 'plant domestication' and 'crop evolution' as a potential guiding principle to address some of the challenges associated with the widely accepted view. The presentation also delved into the potential implications of this distinction for plant breeding. This event took place at The Loft, Murdoch University.

Speaker: Dr Kar-Chun Tan (KC): Centre For Crop And Disease Management, School Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Australia
Date and time: April 13, 2023, from 1000 to 1100 hrs

Summary: Dr. Kar-Chun Tan, from the Centre for Crop and Disease Management at Curtin University, delivered an engaging presentation that provided new insights into controlling pathogenic fungi, particularly those impacting cereal crops.

He shared his research findings on how these fungi regulate toxin genes and interact with each other during co-infections, offering potential solutions to help wheat growers reduce damage from diseases like SNB and TS. Dr. Tan also discussed his team's work on Phytophthora cinnamomi, an oomycete responsible for plant dieback, highlighting the use of proteomics to improve genome annotation and understand sub-cellular processes and chemical resistance. This seminar event was held on May 25th, 2023, at The Loft, Murdoch University.

Speaker: Prof. Brajesh Singh, Director, Global Centre for Land-Based Innovation, Western Sydney University, Australia
Date and time: April 13, 2023, from 1000 to 1100 hrs

Summary: Prof. Brajesh Singh from the Global Centre for Land-Based Innovation at Western Sydney University delivered an enlightening presentation on soil biodiversity. He explored the drivers of soil biodiversity and presented compelling evidence of its role in regulating essential ecosystem functions, including primary productivity and nutrient cycling, across various scales. This informative session highlighted the profound impact of soil biodiversity on agriculture productivity and ecosystem health.

Speaker: Prof. Xu Xun: Executive Director, BGI group, China
Date and time: Nov 14, 2022 at 1030 to 1130 hrs

Summary: Prof. Xu Xun, Executive Director of the BGI Group, China, delivered a compelling presentation on advanced genomics technologies. The seminar covered topics such as cutting-edge sequencing techniques, single-cell sequencing, stereo-seq advancements, and their practical applications in agriculture, precision medicine and biodiversity research. The seminar event, held at The Loft, Murdoch University, provided valuable insights into the future of genomics and its significance in various scientific fields.