To all EPS PhD students,

Herewith some information regarding the Plant Retreat for PhD students 2010 on behalf of the EPS PhD Council. The retreat is now open for registration (deadline March 24th, 2010), see announcement of the organizers below. Bringing together PhD students and candidate post-docs from France, Germany, Belgium, the UK and The Netherlands, the Second Joint Retreat of the PhD Students In Experimental Plant Sciences will take place from 15 - 17 April (reception on the 14th) in Cologne, Germany. The retreat is planned as a get-together event which will allow young scientists from around Europe to exchange information, concerns and motivations arising form their research work and obtain insight into the different division involved.

Before registration at the website of the retreat please read the following carefully:

- EPS will pay for EPS PhD students the participation costs including accommodation.

- Your group will have to pay the travel costs (only 30-50 euro if you book now a non-refundable ticket)

- We hope to arrange that EPS can pay the participation costs directly to the organization. We are also trying to arrange that the hotel bill is send to EPS. In that case we will take care of the booking of hotel rooms.

- So please register at the website of the retreat (but do not pay yourself) and ALSO send an email to EPS ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ), so EPS can take care for the hotel accommodation, with the following information: 1) your day of arrival; 2) your day of departure; 3) with whom you would like to share a room; 4) your registration number from the retreat. EPS will only pay the accommodation costs (lodging & breakfast) for those days needed to partipate in the event (arrival 14th April - departure 17th April = max 3 days). Additional costs need to be paid by participants themselves (e.g. extra days, bar, telephone, internet, etc.).

- Please note: In case you do not show up at the meeting (‘a no show’) you will be charged for the full costs of the meeting (€ 100 euro & hotel costs)

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Dear fellow students,

We are happy to announce the opening of Registration and Abstract Submission for the 2nd Joint Retreat for Ph.D. students in Plant Sciences.
On April 15th-17th, 2010, the Joint Retreat will be held at the Max-Planck-Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne.

Students from EPS, SDV, JIC, TSL, VIB and IMPRS will report on their recent work. This is a chance to establish important contacts for future collaboration and career in plant sciences.

In addition, there will be selected keynote lectures of leading scientists. One of them will be Maarten Koornneef, Director of the MPIZ.

Updated information about abstract submission guidelines and accommodation in Cologne are now available on the homepage.

Register now on http://www.plant-retreat-2010.de and submit an Abstract. Applicants with outstanding abstracts will be selected from the Graduate Schools to give a talk. Deadline is March 24th.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you in April.

On behalf of the organising committee,

Katharina Heidrich, Nadine Ilk, Markus Berns, Simon von Berlepsch and Olof Persson

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Dipl.-Biol. Nadine Ilk

AG Reymond
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics Carl von Linné Weg 10
50829 Köln

Tel: +49 221 5062 421/431
Fax: +49 221 5062 413