Event Date
Please join us for a networking and brainstorming event with Ashley Stokes, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. This event is hosted by Seed Central, a public-private partnership by UC Davis to bridge the gap between seed research and market availability.
The first half of the event includes a networking social and raffle. Three students or postdocs will win a meal with Bayer Vegetable Seeds!
The second half of the event will be a conversation with Dean Stokes to answer questions about graduate funding in higher education. The main focus will be on how UC Davis can continue to be the premier agricultural research university for the coming years. Stokes will speak with Seed Central members and others in the audience about fundamental questions and concerns at the interface between UC Davis and industry.
Questions to think about for this brainstorming include:
- Which decisions, made today, will ensure that UC Davis remains the premier agricultural research university for decades to come?
- How can UC Davis, and especially CA&ES, and its industry stakeholders cooperate efficiently to bring about these decisions?
- UC Davis encourages scientists and students to take technology to market by launching startups, with support from local incubators and industry mentors. How can industry support these efforts?
- How can UC Davis and industry stakeholders cooperate to secure future funding of graduate education?
At the initiative of Charlie Brummer, Seed Central plans to organize a special brainstorming session on future funding of graduate education with campus leadership and industry stakeholders. Brummer describes this long-term and crucial issue that can only be resolved by having all parties collaborating on solutions:
"Costs are rising for all aspects of research, from land rent on research stations, to equipment, to personnel. While all personnel salaries continue to rise, often substantially, the cost of graduate students has dramatically increased following the strike several years ago. Although some graduate student projects can be transferred to postdocs or to research staff as a way to hold some costs in check, graduate education is a key component of the university and having a critical mass of graduate students in plant breeding is essential to be able to offer a compelling curriculum and to foster an environment of learning among a cohort of students. Further, because graduate students are engaged in research programs for 2+ years (MS) or 4-5 years (PhD), the likelihood of having projects completed by a graduate student is often greater than with a postdoc, who may leave for a full-time position after one or two years. A continual need for new plant breeding talent exists in the private and, to a lesser extent, the public sectors, and training graduate students is essential to keeping this pipeline full. Importantly, many students are hired directly into industry without doing a postdoc, further emphasizing the importance of graduate education as opposed to postdoc mentoring. Because many graduate students from UC Davis end up employed in industry positions, keeping this pipeline flowing is important to the continued strength and innovation of the seed and nursery industries.”
As part of this brainstorming session, please prepare what you want to say – YOU can help shape the future of UC Davis!
Click here to register for this event.
Please direct any questions to François Korn, [email protected].