SBN early career symposium 2026
Theme: Breeding for extreme environments
Start date: 7 October 2026 13:00
End date: 8 October 2026 13:00
Location: Uppsala
Programme
Day 1 – Lennart Kennes sal
13:00 – Lunch and registration
14-14:05 – Welcome – Rosario Garci Gil, vice-chair of the SLU Breeding Network and senior Lecturer at the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
14:10 – 15:00 – Keynote presentation – to be announced
15:05 – 16:05 – Poster session and fika – Lobby at BioCentrum
16.10 – 16:20 – Latest updates from Grogrund, Therése Bengtsson
16:20 – 17:10 – Module 1: Tools for Precision Breeding
Title to be announced - Jens Sundström, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Plant Biology
Engineering starch metabolism in potato through new genomic techniques - Matías Gonzales, Researcher at the Department of Plant Breeding
Title to be announced - Susan McEvoy, Associate Professor at Umeå Plant Science Centre
17:10 – 17:20 Leg stretch
17.20-18.10 Module 2: Breeding for Resilience to Biotic Threats
Immunity is not development: the genetics of resistance and what it takes to breed it – Salim Bourras, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Plant Biology
Inoculation protocol development for Scots pine blister rust-resistant pine - Ke Zhang, Researcher at the Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology
Towards estimating infectivity and susceptibility and resilience for disease transmission in dairy cattle - Hector Marina, Researcher at the Department of Animal Biosciences
From stench to scent: genetic strategies towards bunt-free organic wheat - Laurène Mailhan, PhD student at the Department of Plant Breeding
18:15 – Dinner at Logen
Day 2 – Sal L
8.30 – 9.20 Module 3: Breeding for Resilience to Environmental Extremes
Pastoralism in a cold climate - making use of reindeers’ natural adaptations – Anna Skarin, Professor at the Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare
Flowering Induction in Faba Bean: Linking Molecular Regulation to Earliness Traits - Umer Mahmood, Postdoctor at the Department of Plant Breeding
Title to be announced - Pablo Dominguez Castaño, Postdoctor at the Department of Animal Biosciences
Breeding for climate adaptation: genomic selection for drought response in Scots pine - Rajiv Chaudhary, Postdoctor at the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology
9:30 – 9:50 – Wallenberg Initiatives in Forest Research (WIFORCE)
10.00 – 10:50 – Interactive roundtable: breeding at SLU & networking café
11:00 – 11:15 – Interactive roundtables evaluation, winning poster announcement and closing remarks – Lucia Gutierrez chair of the SLU Breeding Network and Professor at the Department of Plant Breeding
11:30 – 13:00 – Excursion: Round tour at Ultuna with packed lunch