Established in 2006 to address the shortage of plant breeders in the seed industry, the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy has become a premium professional certificate program attended by breeders from every corner of the world.
This year, the academy will mark its 10th anniversary. During the past 10 years, the course has trained five classes in Davis, four classes in Europe, two classes in Africa and one class in Asia. To date, the program has been attended by 213 participants representing 56 countries and over 120 organizations.
The PBA was originally designed to address the needs of plant breeders working in the private sector. It was later expanded to include the Advanced Module and a curriculum specifically developed to train African public sector breeders.
The instructors are world-recognized experts in plant breeding and related disciplines. The core instructors from UC Davis are complemented by experts representing several other universities.
The class has received high approval by both participants and their employers. More than 70% of the participants came from private companies that have repeatedly sent breeders to the PBA. The program was further recognized by private industry by funding scholarships and sponsoring awards.
Applications are being accepted for Plant Breeding AcademySM Class 6 beginning in September 2016. For more information on the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy visit http://pba.ucdavis.eduor or contact Joy Patterson at jpatterson@ucdavis.edu.
