From October 12, 2013, Don Grierson, a “Guangbiao” Professor of ZJU, offered the course “Physiology and Molecular Biology of Horticultural Crops” to graduate students of horticulture and related subjects in our university. The course is one of the first courses given only in English to graduates in our university, with a total of 32 credit hours. In subsequent years the course teaching plan is to publish written courseware materials, and provide a digital network course after three years. The course included 7 themes, Cellular genetic material, Plastid biology, Phytohormones Flower and fruit development, Molecular biology of ethylene regulation of fruit ripening and senescence, Plant responses to the environment, Plant resistance to diseases insect pests and microbial infection. The course systematically and comprehensively introduced the physiological and molecular biology principles behind these processes in relation to growth and development of horticultural plants.
Professor Don Grierson is an academician of The Royal Society (FRS), and he served as Vice President at the University of Nottingham, UK. In 2011, he was appointed as Guangbiao Professor of Zhejiang University, and approved as a China national high-end foreign expert. Academician Grierson has visited our university several times and given a series of academic lectures, including research achievements of Nottingham University and Zhejiang, international research frontiers, the teaching of “Horticultural Plant Physiology of Development and Regulation”, “Scientific Paper Writing”, etc. These contributions have significantly broadened the students' knowledge, and improved their English ability. Meanwhile, he guided more than 10 graduate students together with professors in Fruit Science Institute, and co-authored around ten papers in international journals, such as Journal of Experimental Botany, cooperating with our institute professors. Moreover, Academician Don Grierson also actively promoted the cooperation and research of Zhejiang University with international top research institutions, such as University of Nottingham, Cornell University, and University of Florida, etc., and he has made great contribution to guiding graduate students and training young teachers.