Rice: Research to Production Course

Research to Production is a three week, intensive course that takes place in late May and early June at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Philippines. It gives participants the opportunity to become familiar with rice in its center of diversity, and to understand how central rice is in the economic and biological context of Asia. Participants will literally "get their feet wet" in the rice paddies of the Philippines, developing an intimate feeling for the rice plant in its native environment.

The goal of this course is to bring rice research alive for young scientists who may be inspired to explore rice as an crop plant of biological significance and international importance as they consider career and research options in the plant sciences.

Our objective is to create a new generation of plant scientists who understand the importance of addressing global problems in agriculture, energy, and the environment. Not only does this course provide a foundation in rice cultivation and breeding research, it also gives participants the opportunity to establish research collaborations with each other and within the international research networks early in their careers.

The National Science Foundation has founded the Developing Country Collaborations in Plant Genome Research program to create educational partnerships that will mobilize a large pool of young talent to contribute to global agricultural research and development. This course, funded with NSF funding from this program, represents the first step in establishing a student-oriented training and shuttle research program between US universities and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines.

The Rice: Research to Production course was successfully launched in 2007 with 26 participants from the USA, Europe and Asia, with a total of 12 countries in all. To date, more than 90 diverse young scientists have participated. An outline of course activities, details on course objectives, and profiles of each group of participants are available here.