PRE-CONGRESS WORKSHOPS - MAY 24, 2026

09:00 – 12:30: MORNING SESSION

Room 1

Bourlaug Global Rust Initiative 
Chair: Maricelis Acevedo (Cornell University, USA)

Room 2

WheatIS Annual Meeting 
Organized by the Wheat Initiative WheatIS EWG
Chair: Michael Alaux (URGI-INRAE, France)

Room 3

Durum for the future farmer and value chain
Organized by the Wheat Initiative Durum Wheat EWG
Chair: Luigi Cattivelli (CREA, Italy)

Room 4

Restoring agronomy’s role in wheat production systems
Session organized by the Wheat Initiative Agronomy EWG
Chair: Romulo Lollato (Kansas State University, USA), Kenton Porker (CSIRO, Australia)

Room 5

Spatial Wheat Omics
Co-chairs: Zhonghua Chen (University of Adelaide, Australia), Rajeev Varshney (Murdoch University, Australia)

Room 6

Actual scenario and perspectives for wheat phenotyping 
Session organized by the Wheat Initiative Phenotyping EWG
Chair: Nicola Pecchioni (CREA, Italy), Michela Janni (CNR, Italy)

Room 7

What’s new in wheat NUE ? – Annual meeting of the Wheat Initiative NUE (full day event)
Session organized by the Wheat Initiative Nitrogen Use Efficiency EWG
Chair: Jean Pierre Cohan (ARVALIS, France), Jairo Palta (University of Western Australia), Ivan Monasterio (CIMMYT, Mexico)

Room 8

Methods to Understand Combined Abiotic Stresses 
Session organized by the Wheat Initiative AWAS EWG
Chair: Laura Dixon (IPK, Germany)

Room 9

Wheat Pathogens Symposium (full day event)
Organized by the Wheat Initiative Pathogens EWG
Chair: Kar Chur Tan (Curtin University, Australia)


12:00 – 13:30
LUNCH BREAK


13:30 – 18:00: AFTERNOON SESSION

Room 1

Advancing BNI Research Breeding, and Adoption
Organized by CIMMYT
Chair: Dreisigacker Susanne (CIMMYT)

Room 2

Current Trends and Challenges in Wheat Breeding
Session organized by the Wheat Initiative Breeding EWGs
Chair: Margaret Krause (Oregon State University, USA)

Room 3

Pest Expert Working Group Annual Meeting 
Organized by the Wheat Initiative Pests EWG
Chair: Louise McNamara (Oak Park Crops Research Centre, Ireland)

Room 4

Global Wheat Pangenomes
Co-chairs: Rajeev Varshney (Murdoch University, Australia)
Marco Maccaferri (University of Bologna)

Room 5

Wheat germplasm conservation & utilization: challenges and opportunities
Organized by the Wheat Initiative Germplasm EWG
Chair: Shivali Sharma (Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, India)

Room 6

13.30 – 15.30
Hybrid Wheat: Unlocking heterosis for the next generation of breeding
Organized by KWS
Co-chairs: Jochen Reif (IPK, Germany), Gemma Molero (KWS, France)

15.30 – 18.00
Accelerating Hybrid Wheat Innovation with Multi-Omics
Organized by WheatOmics
Chair: Daolin Fu (Shandong Agricultural University, China)

Room 7
What’s new in wheat NUE ? – Annual meeting of the Wheat Initiative NUE (full day event)
Session organized by the Wheat Initiative Nitrogen Use Efficiency EWG
Chair: Jean Pierre Cohan (ARVALIS, France), Jairo Palta (University of Western Australia), Ivan Monasterio (CIMMYT, Mexico)

Room 8

Annual AHEAD Workshop
Chair: Stefanie Hagemann (AHEAD)

Room 9

Wheat Pathogens Symposium (full day event)
Organized by the Wheat Initiative Pathogens EWG
Chair: Kar Chur Tan (Curtin University, Australia)