Promoting Expanded International Joint Research and Academic Exchange
From January 19 to 21, the Phytochemical-Based Digital Breeding Laboratory at Sejong University and the research team of the global mid-career project titled "Identification and Utilization of Key Genes Associated with Phosphorus Use Efficiency" held a joint symposium with Professor Tobias Kretzschmar's research group at Southern Cross University (SCU) in Australia. They discussed research on food crops to address the global shortage of phosphate fertilizers and explored collaboration plans in life sciences based on natural products.
Research teams from Sejong University and Southern Cross University in Australia are taking a commemorative photo at the experimental plots for a study on reducing water and fertilizer use and the diversity of colored rice. Sejong University
The Phytochemical-Based Digital Breeding Laboratory is operated under the Global Research Laboratory program of the National Research Foundation of Korea, while the "Identification and Utilization of Key Genes Associated with Phosphorus Use Efficiency" research team is supported as a global mid-career project by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
The project is led by Professor Jin Joonghyun of the Department of Smart Life Industry Convergence at Sejong University as the principal investigator, with Professors Kim Kyeongdo and Park Hyunseung of the same department, and Professor Kim Hyunwook of the Department of Bio-Industrial Resource Engineering at Sejong University participating as co-investigators.
On the first day of the symposium, with key SCU administrators including the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) in attendance, the Sejong University research team presented their vision for digital breeding, recent achievements, and research outcomes on rice. On the second day, they visited cultivation and demonstration sites for major crops such as milk thistle, tea, coffee, macadamia, and colored rice (including low-carbon rice varieties), and concretized a collaboration model for "field-oriented advanced research" aimed at discovering genetic resources and novel traits.
On the final day, they synthesized the outcomes of the discussions and outlined a "Korea-Australia Plant Life Science Bilateral Cooperation Roadmap" and directions for planning follow-up joint research.
Meanwhile, Professor Jin Joonghyun, together with Professor Cho Laehyun of Pusan National University and Professor Yoon Jinmi of Inha University, continued individual in-depth discussions and joint supervision with SCU students and researchers through January 26, laying the groundwork for identifying practical joint research projects and facilitating talent exchange.
The visit by the research teams from Sejong University, Pusan National University, and Inha University was also featured through SCU's internal media and online channels.
Professor Jin Joonghyun of the Department of Smart Life Industry Convergence at Sejong University said, "As international awareness grows regarding plant-derived resources and food shortages, this will serve as an opportunity to elevate international cooperation in both the development of crops with improved phosphorus use efficiency and research on plant-derived natural products, which are key materials for food and pharmaceutical applications."
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