Borlaug Global Rust Initiative

09/24/2026

Researchers anywhere in the world can apply to have an organism sequenced for free, with training and support to analyze the resulting data.

The Call for Projects from GetGenome is open to researchers working with plant-associated bacteria, fungi, and oomycetes. Selected researchers will receive genome sequencing as well as support to build the skills needed to work with and interpret their data.

Applications are due November 2.

GetGenome is excited to announce "Road to Jeju" Call for Projects - an open call to support research communities across the world, to generate and interpret sequence data of plant-a

09/14/2026

Farmers are getting access to actionable information about disease outbreaks before they strike thanks to the Wheat Disease Early Warning and Advisory System (DEWAS). Using advanced models developed by the Epidemology and Modeling Lab at the University of Cambridge, DEWAS empowers smallholder farmers across Africa and South Asia to protect their crops.

Cambridge scientists use cutting-edge models to predict wheat disea...

09/09/2026

What could $20,000 in funding help you discover about wheat health?

Applications are open for the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI)–Global Wheat Health Alliance (GWHA) Seed Grants in Translational Wheat Health.

Advanced undergraduate and graduate students at U.S. universities can apply for awards of up to $10,000 for focused research projects or up to $20,000 for translational team projects.

Proposals are due September 30.

Undergraduate and graduate students at U.S. universities can apply for wheat research seed grants of up to $20,000 through the Global Wheat Health Alliance. Apply by Sept. 30, 2026.

09/03/2026

New research from Aarhus Universitet maps the global movement of yellow rust over 15 years, tracing intercontinental spread and its links to major wheat epidemics.

“Time is of the essence," says Mogens Hovmoller. "If we discover something new in one season, we want to be able to report it before farmers and breeders must make decisions about the next one. Our work to build a global database and visualisation system for rust data has been essential in this respect."

A global study of 3,240 samples documents 10 jumps between continents – seven followed by major epidemics. The researchers also show that different yellow rust strains growing on the same wheat...

09/02/2026

Turn a promising wheat health research idea into research that can be used in the field.

The BGRI and Global Wheat Health Alliance are accepting applications for Translational Wheat Health Seed Grants. Awards of up to $20,000 are available for undergraduate and graduate students at U.S. universities.

The grants support research that can help move wheat health solutions toward practical use. Priority areas include disease resistance, wheat blast, phenotyping, pathogen surveillance, and diagnostic tools.

Applications are due Sept. 30, 2026.

Learn more: https://bgri.cornell.edu/awards/seed-grants-in-translational-wheat-health/

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University

09/01/2026

Congratulations to Ravi Prakash Singh and Maricelis Acevedo, two scientists with deep ties to the BGRI, on major honors from The American Phytopathological Society (APS)

Singh received the 2026 Award of Distinction, the society’s highest honor, for a career that transformed wheat breeding and disease resistance. Acevedo, director for science of the BGRI, received the Excellence in International Service Award for her work strengthening plant pathology and agricultural research around the world.

Read more about their contributions:

Two scientists with deep ties to the BGRI received major honors from the American Phytopathological Society (APS) for advancing plant disease research and strengthening agricultural systems worldwide.

06/29/2026

We are proud to recognize Katharina Jung as a 2026 Jeanie Borlaug Laube WIT Early Career Award recipient.

Katharina, a postdoctoral researcher at the Universität Zürich, works with modern and traditional wheat varieties from Asia that carry valuable diversity but remain underused in breeding. Through field trials with CIMMYT and genomic analysis, she is studying how that diversity can help wheat resist yellow rust and adapt to drought. https://bgri.cornell.edu/awards/wit-early-career-award/katharina-jung/

06/25/2026

We are proud to recognize Shannon Baker as a 2026 Jeanie Borlaug Laube WIT Early Career Award recipient. Shannon uses drone-based phenotyping and data analysis to reveal how wheat varieties respond to drought, disease and other field pressures, helping research teams identify promising lines sooner and advance more resilient wheat. She also leads education and professional development across a national wheat research network, giving students and early-career scientists the chance to contribute directly to major wheat research efforts. Texas A&M AgriLife Research https://bgri.cornell.edu/awards/wit-early-career-award/shannon-baker/

06/15/2026

We are proud to recognize Bernice Ngina Waweru as a 2026 Jeanie Borlaug Laube WIT Early Career Award recipient.

Bernice is a PhD researcher at the John Innes Centre whose work focuses on the genetic basis of wheat disease resistance. By combining molecular biology, phenotyping, genetics and computational tools, she is helping identify useful variation linked to yellow rust resistance and support the development of more resilient wheat.

Read more about Bernice and her work: https://bgri.cornell.edu/awards/wit-early-career-award/bernice-waweru/

06/08/2026

The BGRI community is remembering Kathy Kahn, a scientist, program officer, and partner whose work strengthened the global response to wheat rust diseases and increased sustainable productivity for smallholder wheat farmers. Her legacy lives on in the partnerships she helped strengthen, the scientists she supported, and their ongoing work to protect wheat harvests around the world.

The BGRI community remembers Kathy Kahn, a scientist, program officer and partner whose work strengthened the global response to wheat rust diseases and increased sustainable productivity for smallholder wheat farmers around the globe.