Gold Sponsor
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Tier 1: Experimental Design
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Tier 2: Data Analysis (Bring Your Own Data -BYOD)
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Tier 3: Hands-on Data Generation
- Target Audience: Applicants from the Global South and Global North—especially from Africa, India, and South East Asia—are highly encouraged to apply.
- Association Membership: Registration/membership with the African Plant Breeders Association (APBA) is considered an added advantage.
- Core Experience: Applicants must have prior experience in plant phenotyping or related scientific fields.
- Hands-on Dataset : Having an existing dataset will be an advantage for your application, but it is not a strict requirement.
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June 30, 2026: Application Deadline
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October 11–12, 2026: Innovation Sprint in Accra
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October 12–16, 2026: Main IPPS9 Conference (Theme: "Phenotyping for All: Bridging the Gap in Global Agriculture")
Novo Nordisk Foundation Innovation Sprint: Phenomics in Plant Breeding
Welcome to the Innovation Sprint: Plant Phenomics
Pre-Conference Training School | 9th International Plant Phenotyping Symposium (IPPS9)
Dates: October 11 – 12, 2026 (Sunday & Monday)
Location: Accra, Ghana
About the Innovation Sprint
The Innovation Sprint: Plant Phenomics is a 2-day training school designed to upskill researchers in high-throughput plant data processing, experimental design, and advanced phenotyping workflows and instrumentation.
Organized and supported by a global coalition—including the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF), the African Plant Breeders Association (APBA), the International Plant Phenotyping Network (IPPN), Wageningen University & Research, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the University of Copenhagen, CGIAR, the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), and Aarhus University (AU) —this practical program aims to bridge the gap in global agriculture by enable scientists to innovate, collaborate, and accelerate impact by understanding phenomics data to extract information and knowledge from it.
This training school directly precedes IPPS9 and culminates into a vital seed event to establish a sustainable Pan-African Plant Phenotyping Network.
Purpose:
This training school serves the purpose to provide practical training and exposure on high throughput phenotyping tools, phenomics data handling, workflows, and data utilization for crop improvement and research.
Participant Tiers
The program is structured around three distinct focus tiers. On your application form, you will be asked to align with your preferred path:
Eligibility & Requirements:
Sponsorship Note: Successful applicants will receive full NNF sponsorship covering their travel, accommodation, and registration for the main IPPS9 conference.
Key Deadlines
Please keep the strict timeline in mind to ensure your application is considered in time for travel logistics:
Successful applicants will be notified by mid July.
How to apply?
Follow this link to fill your application details
Do you have questions?
Contact: innovation.sprint.ipps9@wur.nl
Jointly organized by:
