New WUR Chair in Plant Breeding: ‘The tech revolution is boosting crop improvement’

Prof. Golicz is currently Professor of Agrobioinformatics at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, where she studies the genetic and molecular foundations of agronomically important traits. She sees major opportunities in the rapid rise of AI. “AI is transforming plant breeding at remarkable speed. It helps us understand biological processes more clearly and predict which crosses are most likely to deliver valuable combinations of traits. Europe is strongly focussed on developing a bioeconomy, and plant breeding plays a key role in that transition. By combining biological expertise with modern AI techniques and quantitative methods, we can advance solutions for challenges such as more sustainable and resilient production systems for secure food and biomaterial supplies. I am excited to accelerate this development and explore new opportunities together with companies and research partners in the Netherlands and beyond.”

Professor Richard Harrison, Managing Director of the Plant Sciences Group, considers her appointment an important step to further improve plant breeding education and research in Wageningen. “Plant breeding is entering a new phase, one in which AI and biotechnology will play a much stronger role in how we design and accelerate breeding programmes and what we train our students. The expertise Agnieszka brings is complementary to our excellent foundation in quantitative and statistical genetics and breeding methodologies. Her background supports the creation of new partnerships with companies and diverse research groups, and helps us make even better use of the innovative strength of the Netherlands ecosystem, where innovative plant breeding companies support European food security and competitiveness. Modernisation is essential to keep our education and research programmes future-proof and to strengthen our contribution to societal and economic challenges.”

The strength of the Wageningen approach lies in the close cooperation between the university Plant Breeding Group, focussed on education and discovery science and the applied research at Wageningen Plant Research. This structure enables rapid translation of scientific insights into practical application. For Golicz, this is a key reason to join WUR. “What appeals to me in Wageningen is the strong connection between fundamental and applied research”, she says. “This creates many opportunities to make new technologies available to modern breeding programmes at a faster pace. With my background in data analytics, bioinformatics and plant genomics, I look forward to contributing to this approach.”

Golicz is one of the early pioneers in crop pangenomics and recently contributed to sequencing the genome and pangenome of faba bean, an important protein crop. She studied Molecular Genetics at the University of Dundee and obtained her PhD in Applied Bioinformatics from the University of Queensland, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Melbourne. Agnieszka Golicz succeeds former Chair Holder Richard Visser.  

The announcement of Prof Golicz’s appointment coincides with the celebration of the 20th anniversary in December of the combined Plant Breeding Group of Wageningen University and Wageningen Research.