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The Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and
Genetics in
Agriculture amalgamates three former departments:
Agricultural Botany;
Field Crops, Vegetables and Genetics; and
Horticulture.It is a unified
academic-research body; the largest, most diverse and interdisciplinary
Israeli academic institution devoted to plant sciences. The Institute
combines applied and basic research, employing conventional and most
novel research tools, at the whole organism and the cellular-molecular
levels.
The Institute is engaged in four major thematic areas, representing the
teaching and research activities of all Institute faculty members:
1. Management and interaction of agricultural plants with the
environment:
- Functional physiology and tolerance to abiotic stress
- Control of vegetative and reproductive development
- Management of agricultural crops and their products
2. Biotechnology and biochemistry at the cellular, tissue and intact
organism level:
- Production of natural compounds
- Propagation materials and micropropagation
- Development of transgenic plants and bioactive products
3. Genetics, breeding and genomics:
- General genetics
- Breeding of crops and farm animals for qualitative and
quantitative traits
- Molecular genetics, genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics
4. Applied ecology:
- General ecology of plants and their environment
- Weed control
- Nature conservation, open areas, forests, and landscaping
In a world where population growth is outstripping food supply, and with
an ever-increasing demand for quality products and renewable resources,
applied and basic plant research has become a major focus of active
research and development. Food production, for both quantity and
quality,
as well as for new plant commodities, cannot rely solely on
traditional
methods. Human survival, and the continuous increase in agricultural
productivity, depends therefore on the effective
merging of
classical production and breeding with the novel
molecular and
biotechnological tools. The Institute of Plant
Sciences and Genetics in
Agriculture is active in teaching modern plant sciences and
genetics as
well as conducting biological research related to modern
agriculture. It
is internationally acclaimed as a center of excellence in the
application
of plant sciences and genetics to solving agricultural problems, and at
the same time gears its activities towards state-of-the-art research in
biotechnology and molecular breeding.
Accordingly, the interdisciplinary research at the Institute of Plant
Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture encompasses a range of
scientific
fields, and is devoted to increased production efficiency, maintaining
sustainable production systems, including yield and quality, and
simultaneously understanding the basic processes of plant development.
This is manifested in the aforementioned four thematic areas of activity,
and is evident from the research activities of the Institute's academic
staff.
The Institute brings together 30 active academic faculty and 25 technical
andadministrative staff. The Institute offers about 75 undergraduate and
75 graduate courses to its over 180 Bachelor's degree students, 90 M.Sc.
graduate students, and 75 Ph.D. research students, in addition to
introductory courses to the majority of the Faculty of AgricultureÕs
students.
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