Visit to KWS in Einbeck – Insights into the world of seed breeding
On June 7, 2024, three doctoral students had the opportunity to visit the plant breeding and biotechnology company KWS in Einbeck and take part in the TalentCampus. The event allowed us to take a look behind the scenes of the breeding company’s research and development departments.
We visited the greenhouses and experienced how modern plant cultivation, automated phenotyping as well as seed production and development are carried out. We also found the differences to university research very interesting. While KWS works with a much higher throughput and the focus is more on process optimization in cultivation and phenotyping, as well as on increasing yields, research at the university concentrates more on understanding the underlying biology. It was interesting to get to know the more economic point of view of agricultural research.
In addition to the technical aspects, we had the chance to get to know employees and their careers and learn more about the work and everyday life at one of the world’s largest seed companies. We also listened to specialist presentations on modern approaches to molecular breeding research and how modern breeding can contribute to solving global challenges such as climate change.
Another highlight of our visit was the hackathon: “Data Science meets Plant Breeding”, which was organized as part of the TalentCampus. Our team member Alexander successfully took part and was able to demonstrate his skills.
Overall, the day at KWS was a valuable experience. It was interesting to visit a company that makes a significant contribution to seed breeding worldwide.