Büşra is interested in biological sciences. After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, she continued her studies in Belgium and finished a Master’s degree in molecular biology at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). During her studies, she discovered her passion about plant growth and decided further studying on plants. Her master thesis was based on a growth-promoting cytochrome P450 78A in maize and following that she started her PhD project at PSB. Currently, she is focusing on unraveling the enzymatic reaction and transcriptional regulation of this cytochrome P450 78A and working at the automated phenotyping platform Phenovision.

I am a Post-doctoral researcher in plant cell and molecular biology in the field of organ growth, crop productivity. After I obtained my master degree of plant biology and biotechnology at Bordeaux university, I graduated with my PhD in 2022 where I studied the molecular mechanisms controlling Tomato fruit organogenesis and fruit size determination in the Flowering, Fruit Development and Environmental Constraints team at INRAe. My PhD consisted in studying the functional role of FW2.2, the protein associated to the major QTL governing fruit weight in tomato. I demonstrated that FW2.2 is associated with Plasmodesmata and is involved in cell-to-cell communication by modifying the callose deposition status, so that the aperture of Plasmodesmata is modified. Since October 2022, I joined the systems biology of yield and the innovative breeding groups to work on the EU-funded BREEDIT project which aims at developing a flexible pipeline that combines multiplex gene editing of genes related to growth and yield-traits and different crossing schemes to generate plants with modified traits. Taking advantages of BREEDIT, I am currently using multiplex genome editing to target Cis-regulatory regions of known negative growth regulators. My academic training and research experiences have provided me an excellent background in multiple domains including plant cell biology, molecular biology, genetic engineering and plant development. I had to adapt to different working environments and study different plant models (Tomato, Tobacco, Arabidopsis thaliana, Brachypodium distachyon and Maize) to carry out my work. I have gained expertise with a lot of different techniques such as molecular cloning (Gateway and Goldengate) and tomato transgenesis, multiplex genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9, Cis-regulatory regions targeting with CRISPR/Cas9, GUS staining, phenotyping, in situ hybridization and microscopy.

Matilde Sanches graduated in 2017 as master of Biodiversity and Plant Biotechnology at University of Coimbra, Portugal. During her master thesis, under the guidance of Prof. Jorge Canhoto, she studied developmental epigenetics throughout somatic embryogenesis of tamarillo plant (Solanum betaceum, Cav.), performing experiments and developing skills (particularly immunofluorescence microscopy) at Pilar S. Testillano's lab in CIB-CSIC, Madrid, Spain. After a one-year experience as Project Developer - DIVA project (H2020) and SKAN Platform activities - at INOVISA (Lisbon, Portugal) and at the Centre for Investigation and Transference of Technology to Community Development (CITT - Maputo, Mozambique), she enrolled in the Plants for Life Doctoral Program in 2019, from ITQB NOVA (Lisbon, Portugal). During her PhD project, focussing on the study of quantitative genetics and mechanisms behind water stress tolerance in grass pea (Lathyrus sativus), she had the opportunity to foster a collaboration between Dr. Carlota Vaz Patto's lab (PlantX group, ITQB NOVA, Oeiras, Portugal) and Prof. Frank Van Breusegem'lab (Oxidative Stress Signalling group, PSB-VIB, Ghent, Belgium). Her main scientific interests are I&D in the agronomic sector, particularly stress resilience in plants, the genetics and epigenetics underlying it; and more important, the potential applications of that field of knowledge in crop improvement and breeding programs, with a particular fondness for orphan crops. More recent (but obviously related) passions are statistics, experimental design and data science, and it was in that framework that she recently joint Hilde Nelissen's Systems Biology of Yield group at PSV-VIB (Ghent, Belgium).

My research career has focused on the central biological question: How do growth processes determine final plant organ size? Initially, I approached this using molecular biology studying Arabidopsis leaf development. As my interest shifted towards applied research, I redirected my focus to maize. What started as translational research to bring knowledge from Arabidopsis to crops and from the lab to the field, gradually developed into a research line with the goal to decipher the instructor networks that govern leaf size, organ growth and ultimately yield in maize. Because plant organ size control is an important yield component that is also severely impacted by climate change, our ultimate goal is to deepen our understanding of the growth-regulatory networks to enhance our success rate to achieve climate-resilient crops.
 
As lecturer of ‘Plant Research Technologies’ and ‘Plant Yield’ within the Advanced Master in Plant Biotechnology, I get the opportunity to enthuse Master students about the possibilities of plant biotechnology to change agriculture.
 
My team and I set out to create an inclusive atmosphere that stimulates critical thinking, creativity, team work, personal development, job satisfaction, personal fulfillment, mutual respect, scientific transparency and research ethics.
 
 
 
 

As a passionate and aspiring scientist in the field of plant genetics and physiology, my academic journey began at Ghent University, where I pursued a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Biology, specializing in Functional Biology. My fascination with plant genetics was further enriched during an exchange program at Yonsei University in South Korea, where I delved into biotechnology and honed my communication and self-management skills. Throughout my education, I have developed a robust foundation in plant physiology, development, biotechnology, and genetics. I’ve acquired practical laboratory skills, including PCR, gel electrophoresis, in situ hybridization, and Sanger sequencing preparation. Additionally, I’ve gained proficiency in Python programming, statistics, and academic writing. The pursuit of a PhD is the natural progression of my academic and research aspirations. It presents an opportunity to build upon my master’s dissertation and delve into the complexities of GRFs and TCPs. I am particularly excited about the potential applications of AI in plant genetics and am eager to learn and apply these cutting-edge techniques. My ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between molecular knowledge and crop trait improvement. With the world facing the challenges of climate change and a growing population, I am motivated to contribute to the development of crops that are resilient and sustainable. I am grateful for the opportunities that have shaped my academic path and am committed to using my skills for the betterment of agriculture and society.

Timothy has a keen interest in space and biology. After having worked as a student in the Research and Development department of Colruyt Group on Vertical farming technology and hydroponics, his ambition to get further into academics grew. In 2020, he graduated as Master of Science in Biology at Ghent University. Following his master thesis, which focused on the a growth-promoting cytochrome P450 78A, he obtained an FWO-grant for a project that builds further on the same topic. His project focuses on unraveling the reaction catalyzed by CYP78A and clarifying its regulatory network, with the aim to acquire knowledge that can lead to the development of applications with beneficial effects on many agricultural crops in a non-GMO manner (e.g. a biostimulant). The project will function as a stepping stone for his future goals, which involve conducting biological research in the context of space.