Grants and Opportunities

National Needs Fellowship

National Needs Graduate Fellowship (PDF)

The University of California, Davis received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) for a National Needs Graduate Fellowship (NNF) grant to fully support two Masters-level and two Doctoral-level Graduate Research Assistantships in Plant Breeding. 

The four positions are available in Fall 2021 through a joint collaboration of the Plant Breeding Center and the Horticulture and Agronomy Graduate Group (GGHA). Candidates for NNF funding will be chosen from the pool of applicants to the Horticulture and Agronomy Graduate Group at UC Davis, with a focus on historically underrepresented minorities. 

The UC Davis curriculum equips students with skills and knowledge in both classical and field-based plant breeding, and molecular and genomics technology in plant breeding. Fellows will benefit from interdisciplinary training, networking with industry professionals, and opportunities to participate in professional meetings. Expected outcomes include publication of research in
peer-reviewed journals, presentations at local and national meetings, development of educational materials, and participation in extension and educational programs. Recipients must be citizens or nationals of the United States of America.

Faculty included in this Fellowship program are: Patrick J. Brown, Charlie Brummer, Christine Diepenbrock, Jorge Dubcovsky, Paul Gepts, Steven Knapp, and Allen Van Deynze. Students who are interested in working with other faculty are of course welcomed to apply for a graduate program at UC Davis, but they will not be eligible for NNF funding. 

The UC Davis curriculum equips students with skills and knowledge in both classical and field-based plant breeding, and molecular and genomics technology in plant breeding. Fellows will benefit from interdisciplinary training at UC Davis, contact with different industry professionals in the vicinity of the university, and opportunities for participation in professional meetings.

How to Apply:

1) Apply for a Masters or PhD program through the Horticulture and Agronomy Graduate Group. General application deadline is March 15th, 2021. Instructions can be found here: https://ggha.ucdavis.edu/GGHAapply.htm

2) Once your GGHA application is complete, email Amanda Saichaie at
asaichaie@ucdavis.edu to state your intent to be considered for the NNF Fellowship.

3) When you receive application results, follow up with Amanda Saichaie to report your acceptance into the program. 

Note: You do not need to reference the NNF Fellowship in your GGHA application. All
decisions regarding the NNF in Plant Breeding will be made by the Plant Breeding Center.

For questions regarding the NNF in Plant Breeding, email: asaichaie@ucdavis.edu

For questions regarding the Graduate Application Process, refer to: https://grad.ucdavis.edu/apply

 

Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative

The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture recently announced an Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) grant for organic plant breeding at UC Davis.

The Student Collaborative Organic Plant Breeding Education (SCOPE) project, developed by the Plant Breeding Center and the Student Farm, will create an experiential learning-based public plant breeding pipeline for organic cultivar development. It will focus on graduate student field training in plant breeding by means of developing cultivars for organic farming systems. Graduate students will work with the Organic Seed Alliance to meet with organic producers and organic seed companies to discuss breeding challenges.

Project teams are in the beginning stages of development, and an initial meeting with organic growers took place on November 13, 2015.

The SCOPE Project offers internship credits for undergraduate students. To join the project, contact: asaichaie@ucdavis.edu

Download the Internship Approval Form here.

Visit the SCOPE website for more details.

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