FOCUS GROUPS

Why Focus Groups?

During the 4th annual Workshop of AHEAD in Perth 2024 the participants discussed about the core topics of AHEAD. Together with the chairs and members of some of the Expert Working Groups of the Wheat Initiative (WI EWG) we defined scientific areas, which should play a crucial role in the future discussions and activities of the AHEAD Network. Based on the identified topics, the Focus Groups were established.

Members:

Activities:

  • Regular meetings and discussion abuout core and sub-topics

  • Joint work on small projects (e.g. review paper, list of phenotyping tools, …)

  • Targeted exchange with WI EWG and external parties

Root systems and Soil Management

Examples of discussion topics:

  • Root system architecture traits contributing to heat + drought resilience

  • Genetic resources with adaptive root traits

  • Soil management strategies that complement breeding for resilient roots

HEAT and Drought and NUE

Examples of discussion topics:

  • Physiological and biochemical defence response of wheat /plant defence response

  • Carbon / Nitrogen metabolism

  • Secondary metabolism

Interaction between Heat, Drought and Chronic temperatures

Examples of discussion topics:

  • Thermal tolerance

  • Phenotyping techniques and tools to evaluate heat and drought stress

  • Water management / Irrigation techniques

Connection to industry and farmers

Examples of discussion topics:

  • Strengthening communication pathways between scientists, industry, and farmers to ensure knowledge flows both ways

  • Developing accessible training toolkits that translate complex science into practical, farmer-friendly formats

  • Influencing policy and industry practices to support scaling of climate-resilient wheat technologies

Germplasm

Examples of discussion topics:

  • Which parameters are needed to share germplasm?  (international standards)

  • Use of existing germplasm (from nurseries/ genebank) for further breeding programmes

  • What can we learn from existing programmes and seed bank?

Mentoring

Examples of discussion topics:

  • What kind of activities could support the AHEAD Early Career Researcher?

  • How could we link our activities best with the Wheat Initiative ECR programme?

Interested?

Please get in contact with the global coordination office and discuss about your way to join our discussions.

Contact us