NIAB - National Institute of Agricultural Botany
3CS mission
The Cambridge Centre of Crop Science will act as a hub which provides global leadership in crop sciences, trains a next generation of experts to deliver sustainable yields for the future, develops crop pre-breeding activities and enables the translation of fundamental research into advice on agronomy.
Enabling the vision
Together, the University of Cambridge and NIAB will provide a focus for industrial innovation and outreach for the agritech sector, via the establishment of the Cambridge Centre for Crop Science, and associated academic leadership.
- A new, state of the art, physical centre and laboratory, based at NIAB in Cambridge, will serve as a hub for crop science globally.
- A new Professor in Crop Science will serve as its Director, and will lead a programme of international exchange and collaboration.
- The Professor in Crop Science will also enhance human capital by training a new generation of crop science production and protection experts. They will be equipped with the skills to tackle research into the development of a wide range of staple and orphan crops and will form an integral component of our ability to feed future global populations.
- A senior academic will lead teaching and research at the Centre.
Case study
A ground-breaking partnership with India
International partnerships, academic exchanges and collaborations with industry and Governments will be central to the success of 3CS.
The University of Cambridge is establishing a partnership with DBT India to support the training, development of skills and exchange of knowledge for doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in the UK and India.
The partnership will produce a framework for collaboration which can then be extended to institutions in the UK and India, selected by DBT India, the University of Cambridge and NIAB.
The ultimate goal of the collaboration is to build a twinned physical site at a designated agricultural research university in India.
The alliance will recognise and reflect the need of both partner countries to enhance the quality of the plant science base, rebuild human capital in areas where it has been lost, and to develop links between traditional and modern approaches. It will optimise the impact of new technology and innovation in both areas. A template model will be developed to mobilise an international community of experts addressing this profound global challenge.
