On October 20-21, 2022, the Green Agriculture: A Common Future ZJU Graduate International Symposium, funded by the Graduate School of Zhejiang University, was successfully held. The Institute of Vegetable Science in the College of Agriculture and Biotechnology hosted the symposium. This international symposium for postgraduates was conducted in a combination of online and offline formats. A total of 150 teachers and students participated online, and about 200 participated offline.
（Symposium flyer）
With the theme of Green Agriculture: A Common Future, the workshop invited internationally renowned experts and scholars from overseas universities such as Harvard University, Cornell University, and Michigan State University, as well as domestic well-known universities and research institutes such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Sichuan University and Chinese Academy of Sciences. By sharing their recent research progress on research areas such as plant metabolic network, stress response, plant development regulation, and cutting-edge plant biotechnology, we aim to help students enhance their skills for academic communications and expand their international views. We also took this opportunity to build a bridge for academic exchanges between our graduate students and scholars in similar research fields at home and abroad. We also provided opportunities for graduate students to give research talks and present posters at the symposium. A total of 67 postgraduates participated in these activities to introduce their research progress to the scholars and students.
On the morning of October 20th, Professor Ryan Nett from Harvard University gave a talk on Novel enzymes and cryptic biosynthesis for the production of medicinal plant alkaloids; Professor Gaurav Moghe at Cornell University presented his research on Predictive approaches to unravel the complexity of plant metabolism; Professor Xu Cao from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences gave a talk entitled Robust control of shoot stem cell activity in tomato; Professor Yang Zhang from Sichuan University shared his research on Multi-level regulation of plant metabolism in tomato.
（Left, Professor Ryan Nett; Right, Professor Gaurav Moghe）
（Left, Professor Cao Xu; Right, Professor Yang Zhang）
On the morning of October 21, Professor Robert Last From Michigan State University gave a talk with the title From the tip of the trichome to the root of the matter: evolution of metabolic diversity in tomato and its relatives ; Dr. Changtian Pan from the University of Maryland shared his research progress on Novel CRISPR - Cas9 systems for plant genome engineering; Professor Xia Cui from the Institute of Vegetable and Flower, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences presented her research on Molecular mechanisms underlying Inflorescence architecture and its environmental plasticity in China tomato ; Professor Ruohe Yin from Shanghai Jiao Tong University presented his research on Major functions of photoreceptor UVR8 signaling pathway in higher plants.
(Left, Professor Robert Last, Right, Dr Changtian Pan）
（Left, Professor Xia Cui; Right, Professor Ruohe Yin)
In addition to the research talks brought by the experts and scholars, the graduate students from the College of Agriculture and Biotechnology also actively participated in the symposium. A total of 12 students and postdoctoral researchers gave oral presentations, and 55 students presented posters. The online participants reached over 150, and the people who participated in the poster section reached nearly 200. Through polls, three students were selected for the best oral presentation award, three for the best poster award, three for the excellent oral presentation award, and three for the excellent poster award.
（Student talk section)
(Poster section）
（Award section）
This Green Agriculture: A Common Future ZJU Graduate International Symposium improves the communication skills of graduate students, broadens their academic horizon, enhances their enthusiasm for agricultural research, stimulates their sense of mission, and promotes the global values of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind. At the same time, the symposium provides an opportunity to build a platform for cooperation and exchange between Zhejiang University and experts at home and abroad, which will help to promote the reputation of Zhejiang University on the international stage.