Localization of the University of Bonn leading the partnership with the GSP “Climate Change an Agriculture” at IPR Katibougou (Mali)
The University of Bonn is located in the former capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has been founded in 1818 and is, since 2019, among the 11 Universities of Excellence in Germany. The University of Bonn is composed of seven faculties with about 6000 employees, more than 500 professorships and 36.000 students in 2024. The Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES) holds 16 Professorships including the Professorship «Crop Science». INRES is part of the Faculty of Agriculture, which hosts the prestigous Cluster of Excellence in «Phenotyping and Digital Farming» (PhenoRob.de) .
Short story of the Collaboration with WASCAL
The University of Bonn and its associated Institute for Development Research (ZEF) initiated in 2010 the establishment of WASCAL as a regional organisation in West Africa. The Professorship “Crop Science” at the Faculty of Agriculture under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Gaiser actively participated in the BMBF-funded Core Research Programme WASCAL from 2012 to 2016. Since 2012, Dr. Thomas Gaiser supported the development of a curriculum for the WASCAL GSP “Climate Change and Agriculture” at IPR Katibougou (Mali) and helt lectures and provided computer exercises in the course module “Crop Model Development and Application” at IPR. Since 2013 the Professorship “Crop Science” provided supervision and mentoring to 8 PhD students from GSP CC & Agriculture and to 4 PhD students from GSP CC & Land Use (KNUST, Ghana). Currently, four PhD students from WASCAL GSPs receive mentoring.
Within INRES, the Professorship “Crop Science” focuses on the investigation of Ecosystem Services of cropping systems under current and future climate conditions from field to continental scale in order to develop pathways of sustainability for an efficient and resource conserving crop production, thus contributing to global food security. For more information about the Professorship «Crop Science» please visit our website (www.lap.uni-bonn.de/en).
Main activities
Assessment of climate change impacts on cropping systems in Europe and Africa applying process based models from field to continental scale:
- Developing and maintaining the modelling platform SIMPLACE
- Field experiments to explore G x M x E interactions in cropping systems
- Facilities at German host Institution:
- Access to super computer MARVIN at Computing Center of the university and to the BONNA computing cluster
- Free access to the modelling platform SIMPLACE
- Field and greenhouse facilities for research in crop physiology (gas fluxes) and rooting systems
Academic, research and non-academics partners of the Professorship “Crop Science” across the world
Please visit the global map of partnerships of the Professorship Crop Science.