Experts in plant and crop sciences from India and Cambridge exchanged skills and ideas during a five-day programme that included seminars, workshops and visits to laboratories.
We are pleased to be able to host the workshop to empower leadership in female scientists from India
Professor Howard Griffiths
A programme to empower mid-career female scientists from India brought 23 delegates to visit the labs and lecture halls of Cambridge this week.
Female scientists from across India applied to take part in the programme, with the first 23 staying at Clare College for a week and attending workshops on topics from building negotiation skills to delegating more effectively. According to the programme organisers, this was in order to help them “handle the juggling game of science and family”.
The visit included a tour of the the Department of Plant Sciences, the Botanic Garden, and The Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, the Innovation Farm at the National Institute Of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) and the John Innes Centre (JIC). Ultimately, it is hoped that the Innovation Farm concept will also be developed at universities and research institutes across India to train women farmers in the latest agricultural techniques.
The skills exchange took part following the signing of a Crop Sciences MOU earlier this year between Department of Biotechnology (DBT) India and the University of Cambridge and NIAB, as well as the JIC, Rothamsted Research and UEA, together with Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, and has been supported by the Newton Bhabha Fund.
The programme was co-ordinated by Professor Howard Griffiths, Co-Chair of the University of Cambridge’s Global Food Security Strategic Initiative, who said: “We are pleased to be able to host the workshop to empower leadership in female scientists from India."