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Vector-borne plant virus training features in new seven-minute film

A group of African early career researchers feature in a new short film about vector-borne plant viruses that devastate crops in Sub-Saharan African countries.

The seven-minute film focuses on the ground-breaking Virus-Vector Vice-Versa training course for early career researchers, run by the CONNECTED Network, which took place at The University of Bristol, UK, in summer 2019.

A group of early career researchers from 11 African countries took up fully-funded places at the course. The film features interviews with delegates discussing:

  • what they learned on the course
  • how they will use their new skills and knowledge, and
  • the value to them of the collaborative CONNECTED network.

There are also clips from interviews with:

  • Prof. Nicola Spence, Defra, UK (Chair of the CONNECTED Management Board)
  • Prof. Gary Foster, University of Bristol (CONNECTED Network Director)
  • Prof. Susan Seal, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich (CONNECTED Management Board member).

In the film Prof. Foster says: “CONNECTED is sowing the seeds of a new generation of collaborators, whose work will transform African agriculture for the next 20 to 30 years.”

You can watch the movie on this page, or by heading to the CONNECTED Vimeo channel

If you want to read more about the course and its outcomes, use this link to a news article about it.