Information
1.
Mendel Centenary Congress (March 7-9, 2000, Brno, Czech Republic)
On the occasion
of the rediscovery of the Mendelian Law of Inheritance in 1900, the
Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry, Brno, and the
Gesellschaft fur Pflanzenzuchtung (GPZ) will hold an International
Congress with the topic,
100 years of Genetics for Plant Breeding-Mendel, Meiosis and Marker
at the city of Mendel,Brno, in Czech Republic, on March 7-9, 2000.
First circulars is available from: Mendel Centenary Congress,
Gesellschaft fur Pflanzenzuchtung, Sekretariat, c/o Prof. Robbelen,
Von Sieboldstr. 8, D-37075, Gottingen, GERMANY. Send registration by
December 31, 1998. Date: Mon, 23 Nov 98 18:19:39 EST
2. The Percival Symposium: Wheat - Yesterday,
Today & Tomorrow
A meeting to
celebrate the life and work of John Percival (1863-1949)
Organised by the School of Plant Sciences, The University of Reading,
UK
12-13 July 1999
First circular and call for poster presentations
John Percival (1863-1949) was a driving force behind the creation of
agricultural botany as a scientific discipline and Professor of
Agricultural Botany at the University of Reading from 1907 to 1932.
His monumental treatment of wheat "The Wheat Plant: a Monograph"
(1921) still serves as a standard reference, having been reprinted as
recently as 1974. Percival was the consummate agricultural scientist
- botanist, taxonomist, geneticist, germplasm collector, curator,
breeder, agronomist, historian and teacher. On the occasion of the
50th anniversary of Percival's death, the University's School of
Plant Sciences is hosting a meeting to celebrate his life and work.
Reflecting the scope of Percival's scientific view, invited speakers
will survey research progress during the last half-century in the
archaeobotany, systematics, genetics and breeding of the wheat plant.
The two-day event offers a unique opportunity for a
multi-disciplinary gathering of experts who share a common interest
in wheat studies.
Participants are invited to offer poster presentations on relevant aspects of wheat research. The symposium will feature displays of Percival's work and his wheat collection. There will also be a tour of the University's Rural History Centre, and an exhibition of current work at the School of Plant Sciences. A Proceedings volume of invited speaker papers will also include Percival's unpublished treatment of the genus Aegilops. Since John Percival's time, activity in agricultural botany has flourished at Reading. The Department's tradition of research at both a fundamental and applied level over a wide range of aspects of crop plants continues, with Professor Peter Caligari being the current Professor of Agricultural Botany. The Department is now one of the three constituent members of The University of Reading's School of Plant Sciences is ranked as one of the UK's major centres of plant science, and the only one given the highest possible rating (5*) in the latest Research Assessment Exercise.