The National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) invites research scientists from developing countries to participate in the Human Resource Development Program in Biotechnology for year 2019. The Program aims to build up R&D capability for developing countries as well as to foster the research network among countries in this region. The Program places importance on improving research skill, thus it is designed to be an on-the-job and research-based training in the BIOTEC’s laboratories. Two types of training are offered: fundamental courses (3 months) and advanced courses (6 months). The training course consists of classroom session, designing and conducting a mini research project and site visit to factories or project sites. A total of 10 fellowships will be awarded. Eligibility1. The applicants must be scientists currently being employed in either public or private academic institute OR a governmental research organization in the list of eligible countries. Some courses are only opened to specific countries, so please check the detail in the available course section.2. The applicants must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree in sciences for application for a fundamental course and at least a Master’s degree in sciences for application for an advanced course. All applicants must have completed course work in biology, microbiology or any related areas that is required for particular training topics.3. The applicants must have good command of English.4. Must be able to attend the course, during;4.1) Fundamental course: October 1 – December 25, 20194.2) Advanced course: October 1, 2019 – March 25, 20205. Must not be older than 35 years of age as of October 1, 2019.6. Since the training is research-based and successful applicants will be working in the laboratories, the applicants must show on his/her application form that his/her current job involves research, not administrative work.7. Each selected grant recipient will be assigned to ONE of the available courses. Applicants will have to select only ONE course on the application form. List of Eligible CountriesApplicants from the following countries are eligible to apply for Human Resource Development Program in Biotechnology 2019;
| Eastern South Asia | East Asia | Southeast Asia | Pacific Islands | |||
| BhutanNepal | ChinaMongolia | CambodiaIndonesiaLao PDRMalaysia | MyanmarThe PhilippinesVietnam | FijiKiribatiMarshall IslandsFederated States of Micronesia | NauruPalauPapua New GuineaSamoa | Solomon IslandsTimor-LesteTongaTuvaluVanuatu |
Sponsorship
Successful candidate will be provided with monthly allowance, and accommodation. The international roundtrip airfare will only be available for the successful applicants from Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. However, applicants from those countries who are able to secure airfare from their own institutes or other funding agencies are strongly encouraged to indicate this fact on the application form.Available Courses
| Course No. | Project title | Course Content |
| Fundamental Course (3 months) | ||
| F-1* | Analysis of bacterial whole genome sequence for control of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases | Basic principle of whole genome sequencingPrimary bioinformatic analysis of sequence readsPhylogeneticsWGS for genotypingOutbreak analysisGenotype-phetotype associationsThe training will be done mostly with M. tuberculosis samples with brief introduction to analysis of other bacteria such as Salmonella and MRSA. |
| F–2 | Quorum sensing (QS) control of bacterial biofilm formation by plant and microbe extracts | Fish and shrimp pathogenic bacterial biofilm culturingTesting for biofilm inhibiting activities in plant and microbe extracts or culture supernatantsDetermining QS gene expression levels in biofilm inhibitor treated and un treated biofilms by quantitative real-time PCR |
| F–3 | In-vitro microrhizome induction in tumeric medicinal plant | Plantlet survival and adaptation in the natural condition as acclimation process is a key criteria to success as low cost, simple and repeatable method. So, tumeric is a rhizome plant, which is a succulent plants when growing in-vitro in semi-closed conditions. Microrhizome production is a novel technique to overcome the conventional tissue culture, leading to 100% survival rate with quick adapt to natural conditions. |
| F–4 | Disease-free tumeric plantlets derived from meristem culture of in-vitro techniques | Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is an herbaceous plant from the Zingiberaceae family. In conventional method, turmeric is vegetatively propagated through perennial rhizome. Low productivity, disease susceptible and high cost of seed rhizome production is a major trouble for the farmer. Therefore in vitro culture are used to overcome these problems. However, in vitro turmeric plantlets with disease-free is difficult to achieve. Turmeric diseases caused by Ralstonia soranacearum. The disease in turmeric shows wilted, curled and yellowed leaves and whole plant finally died. The wilted plant has rotten rhizome and cannot further used. Disease-free production using in vitro meristem culture is an alternative channel to eliminate the disease. Apical meristem culture is a technique where pieces of the apical growing point are excised from a plant and cultured in a sterile growth media. The aim of present study is to find-out the optimized meristem size, shoot elongation using gibberellic acid treatment and/or high temperature under dark conditions and different elite genotypes of tumeric varieties related to disease-free (PCR-based disease-free test) with a high recovery percentage. |
| F–5 | Structure-function relationships of a vegetative insecticidal protein (Vip3A) from Bacillus thuringiensis | Site-directed mutagenesisProtein production & purificationBiochemical characterization & bioassay |
| Advanced Course (6 months) | ||
| A-1 | Identification and validation of drug targets in Plasmodium falciparum | Molecular biology, Genetic engineeringPlasmodium parasite cultureDrug screening |
| A–2 | Screening and testing of fish pathogenic bacterial biofilm inhibitors from natural products | Bacteria/fungi culturingExtraction of bioactive compounds from plant and microbesScreening for biofilm inhibiting activities in those extracts/supernatant.Testing of compounds with bacterial biofilm inhibiting activities in fish (Nile tilapia or seabass) |
| A-3 | Efficacy test of live attenuated vaccine against Vibrio harveyi infection in Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) | To evaluate the protection efficacy of live attenuated vaccine against Vibrio harveyi infection in Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) |
| A–4 | Encapsulation of Spirulina protein hydrolysate for food/feed supplement | Preparation of liposomesQuantification of the encapsulation efficiency of protein hydrolysate into liposomeStudy the effect of lipid and buffer composition on encapsulationStudy the effect of different physical treatments such as freeze-thaw cycle or liposomes extrusion on encapsulation |
| A–5 | Development of functional markers for agronomic important traits used for rice breeding | Literature review, DNA isolation, PCRGene selection, Bioinformatics, Primer designPhenotyping, Genotyping |
*Courses no. F-1 and A-5 are open to candidates from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar only.Application ProcedureEach applicant should submit a completed application form along with an English university-transcript, full Curriculum Vitae, certificate of health and copy of passport (if any) in PDF format to international@biotec.or.thby July 15, 2019. Successful candidates will be informed by July 2019. Download Application1. Announcement2. Application Form3. Medical Check Sheet For further inquiries, please contact:International Cooperation Sectionc/o Ms. Suphawadee NiamsoongnoenNational Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC)113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Khlong Nuang, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120 ThailandTel: (66) 2 564 6700 ext. 3323 Fax: (66) 2 564 6572
E-mail: international@biotec.or.th