Agnieszka Golicz
Wageningen University & Research (WUR), The Netherlands
My work focuses on applications of genomics, pangenomics, and artificial intelligence for plant breeding. My group develops innovative genomic and computational approaches that support development of productive, climate-resilient crops. As of March 2026 I am Professor and Chair of Plant Breeding at Wageningen University & Research. I studied Molecular Genetics at the University of Dundee, earned my PhD in Applied Bioinformatics from the University of Queensland, completed postdoctoral research at the University of Melbourne and was a Professor of Agrobioinformatics at Justus Liebig University Giessen.
Mats Hansson
Department of Biology, Lund University, Sweden
My research focuses on the genetic control of plant architecture, flowering time and chlorophyll biosynthesis. Much of my work is conducted in barley, where I investigate historical mutants generated through physical mutagenesis (e.g., X-ray irradiation) and chemical mutagenesis (e.g., EMS and NaN₃). By identifying the genes disrupted in these mutants, I aim to understand their physiological roles and contributions to plant development and metabolism. I am currently a Professor of Plant Molecular Biology at the Department of Biology, Lund University, Sweden. Previously, I held a professorship at the Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen, Denmark, and before that at the Department of Biochemistry, Lund University. I obtained my PhD in Microbiology.
Manuel Jamilena
University of Almería, Spain
I am Full Professor of Genetics and Plant Breeding at the University of Almería, Spain. I lead the ‘Horticultural Genetics’ research group at the CIAIMBITAL Research Centre and the International Agrifood Campus CeiA3. My most notable scientific contributions include discovering some of the steps in the genetic and molecular control of flower development and sex determination in cucurbit crops and using genomic tools to identify traits and genes associated with fruit quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress in cucurbits. I have been responsible for more than 30 competitive research projects and research contracts with the agri-food industry, I have supervised 14 doctoral theses, and published more than 130 research articles in high-impact journals. I am currently leading a research project which uses genomic and biotechnological tools to identify quantitative trait loci and genes that regulate the nutritional and functional quality traits in zucchini fruit, including carotenoids and cucurbitacins.
Hakan Özkan
University of Çukurova, Turkey
I completed my PhD in 2000 in a joint program between the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and Çukurova University (Türkiye). I conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Arizona (USA) and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (Germany). I have received EMBO short‑term fellowships twice, an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship, the TÜBİTAK Young Scientist Award (2004), and the TÜBİTAK Science Award (2024). I have published over 100 Web of Science–indexed articles with more than 7,000 citations. My main research areas are cereal evolution, cereal breeding, and wild cereal genetic resources.
Gabriel Krouk
French National Centre for Scientific Research, Montpellier, France
I am Research Director at CNRS (FR) in Montpellier, HiCi Researcher (2020-24). My studies are at the crossroads of biology (mainly molecular physiology) and modelling. My research was first focused on the crosstalk between nutrient sensing and hormonal signalling in plants. For my work on the nitrate transceptor (NRT1.1 aka CHL1 ), I received a prize from the French Academy of Sciences. My current work continues with the recent findings concerning the combinatorial effect of Nitrogen and Phosphorus signalling on plant development and molecular responses. My research also recently branched into very specific questions concerning i) in silico simulation of biological phenomena, ii) machine learning, iii) generative AI molecular design to control plant physiology. I am the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of a start-up company, BionomeeX ©.
Dominique Van Der Straeten
Laboratory of Functional Plant Biology, Ghent University, Belgium
I am full professor at Ghent University, and research director of the Laboratory of Functional Plant Biology. I earned Masters in Bioengineering and in Biology, and a PhD in Plant Sciences. I conducted pre-doctoral research at Reading University in UK, and joined prof. H.M. Goodman’s lab with a PhD fellowship from the Research Foundation Flanders to work at Harvard University for doctoral research, continued at Ghent University with prof. M. Van Montagu. For my PhD thesis on ACC synthases, I was awarded the Soenen Prize for Plant Breeding and nominated Laureate of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Literature and Fine Arts of Belgium. I conducted a brief post-doctoral stay at the University of Utrecht with prof. H. Lambers. Besides working on ethylene biology and remote detection of plant stress, I initiated research on biofortification, driven by the aspiration to reduce hidden hunger on the planet. Lately, I combined my interest in mitigation of the effects of global climate change and micronutrient decline in crops to create novel varieties combining higher micronutrient densities and stress resilience. I was a visiting professor in Ecuador, Thailand, and Brazil, and have been teaching up to 6 courses yearly at Ghent University. I published over 290 Web-of-Science indexed papers. In 2022, I was awarded a research fellowship from the Francqui Foundation. I am an elected member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Maria von Korff
Institute for Plant Genetics, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
My major research interest focuses on unravelling the genetic underpinnings of plant development in response to environmental challenges. My group uses genetic, genomic and molecular approaches to dissect the quantitative genetic basis of shoot development in response to different abiotic cues within barley, its wild progenitor and related wild species. In this context, we also investigate the genetic differences underlying annual and perennial growth habits in grasses, with the aim of informing the breeding of perennial crops as a sustainable alternative to high-yielding annual systems. I earned my PhD in 2005 at the Institute for Plant Breeding, University of Bonn, Germany. Since 2023 I am Professor at the Institute for Plant Genetics, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2008-2013 I was research group leader at Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany. In 2006-2008 I was Postdoc at ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria. In 2005-2006. I am Elected member of the Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften. I am Speaker of the Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences.