It has been the 'talk of the town' for some time now (well, the 'talk of the department' really) at ABG, but the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production (WCGALP) 2022 is almost here! This year, WUR-ABG has had the honor of organizing the congress, hence this short update with the most recent and most remarkable information.
WCGALP takes place every 4 years (this year will be the 12th time) and attracts scientists and professionals from (breeding) companies from all over the world. This year, the congress will take place from 3 to 8 July in Rotterdam, and the programme is really starting to take shape. Keynote speakers, among others, are Prof. Marion Koopmans, professor of virology and head of the Department of Viroscience at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, Dr. Mario Calus, associate professor at WUR-ABG and expert in the field of genomic breeding value estimation, and Dr. Yengo Loic, researcher at the university of Queensland and leader of the Statistical Genomics Laboratory.
Some themes that will be discussed during the congress are:
- Scientific and societal challenges in the field of animal breeding and genetics (how to combat infectious diseases, for example).
- The sharing of data, research methods, technology and research results.
(You can find a full overview of all the keynote speakers and the programme on wcgalp.com.)
Some numbers
A total of 852 research papers were submitted, which amounts to 4,408 pages! - Which, in contrast, is more than all the Harry Potter books combined. All these papers were written by authors from 52 different countries. And although it's not a competition, we - that is, the Netherlands - are in 4th place with 64 submissions. First place goes to the US (101 papers), second in line is France (83), and Australia takes the third position (71). In addition, a total of 18 scholarships were awarded to MSc and PhD students. All these scholarships were funded by the Rommert R.D. Politiek Foundation, the American Society for Animals Science (ASAS), NZV and URUS. And, finally, the large meeting room of 'De Doelen' in Rotterdam has room for no less than 1,750 visitors! - and, not entirely unimportant, the seats are really comfortable. Still, if you prefer to follow the event from the comfort your own home, that's possible as well, given that WCGALP will be a hybrid event this year.
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If you want to register for the event you can use this link. And don't wait too long to sign up; the deadline for the earlybird registration has passed, and so far already 1,036 people have signed up for WCGALP! And although we are really pleased with this result, our aim - of course - is to fill all the seats at 'De Doelen' and to make this edition of WCGALP the best edition so far.
