On April 7, National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement (NKLCGI) of HZAU has ushered in the glorious moment of its 30th anniversary.
Through 35 years’ research work, the “genome research and rice genetic improvement” team (hereinafter referred to as “rice team”), as the backbone force of the Laboratory, has fostered a culture of setting sail for dreams and striving for excellence. In response to the international frontier of life science and the major need of national food security, it explores the reform of developing first-class PhD in rice biology to train a number of innovative talents with academic aspirations and abilities, thus becoming an intellectual powerhouse in biology research in China.
Wang Tian, a doctoral student from the rice team conducting research on the “bottleneck” issue in hybrid rice breeding, was committed to solving the problem of fertility decline in Indica-Japonica Hybrid Rice. For these years, she has traveled between Wuhan and National Seed Breeding Base in Hainan like a migratory bird, devoted to the “cold research” that the team has continued for more than 30 years in the hottest season.
“A doctorate is not my sole pursuit, and to produce inter-subspecific hybrid rice of high quality and high yield is my ultimate dream.” said Wang Tian, who was determined to achieve first-class research results.
Like Wang Tian, more than 100 doctoral students of the team are striving at the forefront of the seed industry. To this end, team mentors often organize students to have discussions on the theme of hardworking spirit in scientific research.
The rice team especially emphasizes innovation, which means they should initiate research topics rather than following suit. Based on two major tasks of rice functional genome and green super rice, the team undertook 91 national major scientific research projects, and arranged relay researches according to the characteristics of doctoral students. During the process of overcoming difficulties, students trained their characters and tapped their innovative potential. 14 doctoral students have spent 20 years tackling S5 gene and published 14 papers on the international authoritative journals such as Science, to resolve the tough problem of reproductive isolation in rice.
To further stimulate students’ independent thinking and encourage free exploration, Prof. Xiong Lizhong (core member of the rice team and dean of College of Life Science and Technology) initiated the “Thousand Questions Plan” in 2007, which inspired students’ ability of raising problems independently and led a new mode of teacher-student interaction. Moreover, doctoral students built the academic salon by themselves to serve for weekly academic exchanges.
Over the past 35 years, the Rice Team has integrated the culture of excellence throughout the doctoral cultivation, effectively improved their spiritual level, strengthened innovative capacity and nurtured rigorous learning style. The team’s shared spirit, innovative way of thinking and normative behavior pattern have been shaped and reinforced in practice, becoming the “major gene” in cultivating doctoral students in rice biology.
The biology discipline, which the team belongs to, has entered the list of “Double First-class” disciplines for two rounds. NKLCGI has been awarded with Honor of Excellence for 5 consecutive times and selected as one of the first batch of benchmark national key laboratories.
Source: http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2023/0408/66109.shtml
Translated by: Jin Meng
Supervised by: Xie Lujie
