Expanded Plant Science Symposium Leads to Wave of Scientific Collaborations
Norwich, 4 June 2026 – Leading experts from the UK and China convened this week at the CEPAMS Annual Symposium to deepen collaboration in plant and microbial science. The three-day meeting, co-hosted by the John Innes Centre (JIC), The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) and partners from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), showcased the latest advances in crop resilience, sustainable farming, and breakthrough science in plant health.
This was the first iteration of the new, expanded symposium, with over 70 laboratories from 10 institutes represented.
Professor Cristóbal Uauy, Director of JIC, opened the meeting by welcoming the delegates to Norwich, and thanking in advance the 22 speakers, 5 keynote speakers, 23 flash talk presenters and 44 poster presenters for creating engaging stories to inspire colleagues.
Professor Dame Caroline Dean FRS introduced the Rising Stars Scheme, a new mechanism that enables talented and ambitious students and postdocs in CAS to conduct three years of independent research embedded in a group at JIC or TSL in Norwich. The world-leading training and support will place them in an advanced position to apply for lab start-up funding on their return to China.
Keynote lectures were given by Professor Sanwen Huang CAS FRS, Dr Sarah Guiziou, Professor Xuemei Chen, Professor Li-Jia Qu and Professor Jia-Wei Wang. Many of the speakers presented their latest, unpublished research, inspiring listeners to connect and explore areas of new collaboration.
During the symposium, a new five-year cooperation agreement was signed by the four member institutes of CEPAMS:
Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, CAS
Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, CAS
John Innes Centre
The Sainsbury Laboratory
The agreement cements the collaborative intentions of the institutes with the aim to maximise synergies to address global food security and to transform global nutrition and health.
The meeting was closed by Professor Nick Talbot FRS, Executive Director of TSL, who reiterated TSL’s commitment to continuing to be a strong partner in CEPAMS, and looking forward to building on the collaborative partnership and delivering outstanding science.
A survey at the end of the symposium revealed an unprecedented number of potential collaborative projects directly inspired by the talks and network sessions across the three days.
