Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship
The aim of the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship Fund is to encourage the conservation and use of plant genetic resources by enabling outstanding young scientists to carry out relevant, innovative research outside their own countries for a period of between three months and one year.
For more information scroll down or click on the links below.
Current Vavilov-Frankel Fellows
Esmaeil Ebrahimie (2009)
Esmaeil Ebrahimie of the Department of Crop Production & Plant Breeding of Shiraz University, Iran, was awarded the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship for 2009 to carry out a study entitled "Gene discovery in Australian wild native soybeans". The work is being carried out at the Plant Research Centre, The University of Adelaide, Australia, under the supervision of Dr. Brent N. Kaiser. This Fellowship is made with the support of Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Australia. Read the news article.
Danilo Eduardo Moreta Mejía (2009)
Danilo Eduardo Moreta Mejía of the Departamento de Biología of the Universidad del Valle, Colombia, was awarded the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship for 2009 to carry out a study entitled "A novel strategy to enhance nitrogen use efficiency in crops by exploiting the the diversity for biological nitrification inhibition in the rice germplasm". The work is being carried out at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia, under the supervision of Dr. Manabu Ishitani. This Fellowship is made with the support of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. Read the news article.
To see the previous Vavilov-Frankel Fellows, visit the Fellows' Gallery.
2010 Call For Applications
The 2010 Call for Applications will be announced in July 2009.
A History of the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship
Bioversity established the Fellowship Fund, in 1989, to commemorate the unique and pioneering contributions to plant science made by Academician Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov of Russia and Sir Otto Frankel of Australia. Vavilov was one of the first scientists to recognize the value of genetic diversity in domesticated crop plants and their wild relatives to crop improvement. Perhaps his most lasting contribution was the identification of eight geographic areas, known as 'centres of diversity', that contain a large proportion of this diversity. Frankel was an early advocate of the importance of landraces for plant breeding. He also played a major role in raising international awareness of the urgency of conserving plant genetic resources.
The aim of the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship Fund is to encourage the conservation and use of plant genetic resources by enabling outstanding young scientists to carry out relevant, innovative research outside their own countries for a period of between three months and one year. Applicants must demonstrate the importance and benefit of their proposed research to their home country and indicate how it will be applied upon their return. In this way, the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship Fund helps countries build the scientific capacity they need to address urgent issues relating to the management of plant genetic resources and to promote the contribution of those resources to development.
To date, fellowships have been awarded to 27 scientists from 19 countries including Armenia, Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, China, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Kenya, India, Iran, Mauritius, Mexico, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Venezuela. Research by the Fellows has covered a wide range of topics related to the conservation and use of plant genetic resources, such as new conservation technologies and strategies, socioeconomic, human and policy aspects of conservation and use, germplasm management, forest genetic resources conservation and use strategies, genetic erosion assessment and mitigation and conservation and use of specific crops. Many studies have focused on crops and species of significant economic, nutritional and cultural importance to the Fellows' home countries; examples include wild and domesticated populations of cactus, ebony, pistachio, cacao, common vetch, peach, oat, wild potato, Grewia optiva, sorghum, fluted pumpkin, oriental beech, emmer wheat and barley.
Still other studies have focused on the socio-economic aspects of conservation and use; for example, institutional and policy changes for supporting farmer-led participatory crop improvement and conservation. The first two fellowships in 1993 examined the historical background of the plant genetic resources movement and resulted in two books: Scientists, Plants and Politics by Robin Pistorius of The Netherlands and Vavilov and his Institute by Igor Loskutov of Russia.
Since 1994, Fellowships have been awarded to scientists from developing countries. The experience gained by the Fellows enables them to contribute more effectively to plant genetic resources activities when they return to their home countries. Not only does the fellowship develop in-country capacity to research urgent problems identified by the Fellows' home countries, but it also stimulates scientific exchange between researchers in developed and developing countries and builds lasting linkages between the home and the host institutes and countries. Research results emerging from the fellowships are often presented at international conferences and documented in scientific journals. Equally important is the contribution of the Fellows to increasing the knowledge base on plant genetic resource science, crucial to human welfare, now and for the future.
