The R&D TalentCampus brought together more than 400 guests and 200 participants from all of KWS’ research and breeding departments as well as from Human Resources in Einbeck at the beginning of June – for the first time on one day. Our R&D departments had written to universities and institutes in Germany and the Netherlands, as they are the breeding ground for potential young talent for KWS. Participants were able to register and select their preferred items on the program on a portal created especially for the TalentCampus. One interesting aspect was that around three-quarters of our guests preferred to speak English, underscoring the international nature of the event. Many stated that they were traveling by train. To avoid a bottleneck at Salzderhelden station due to the high volume of passengers, Deutsche Bahn ran a train twice as long on the day of the TalentCampus at the request of KWS.

Our R&D departments offered around 60 program items, including guided tours, talks and discussions. Numerous themed stands on the Plaza, the machines from the breeding station, the newly built root phenotyping station between Biotechnology Centers 1 and 2, and the career center of our HR colleagues proved very popular. Further highlights included crossing plants under professional guidance and a hackathon.

Colleagues from Wheat and Organic Breeding and the Agro Service for Sugarbeet offered excursions so that students could obtain information on the development of varieties and cultivation trials directly in the field. An event app was used for the first time at KWS to organize the wide range of activities for the large number of guests and could be used to book program items via smartphone and find rooms using an interactive site plan.

Elke Hilscher, Head of Chemical Analytics at KWS, summed it up: “All the students were very interested in discussing various aspects of our work with the team. Their inquisitiveness really impressed us. At the same time, the guests were enthusiastic about the many opportunities that KWS offers as one of the leading plant breeding companies.”

A big thank-you to all the colleagues involved! They gave the young talents an excellent impression of KWS. |

There had long been a desire to organize an internal event uniting all areas of research and breeding at KWS. With the full support of the R&D Leadership Team, the first R&D Conference from June 11 to 13 brought together almost 300 colleagues from all over the world to forge contacts, discuss and develop new ideas together at the PS.SPEICHER in Einbeck. Participants from R&D were nominated, and interested persons from the entire KWS Group were also able to apply for additional places.

Based on the guiding principle “How can we adapt our unique R&D DNA to the challenges of the future?” the organizing committee put together a multifaceted program with four main topics following a survey of the entire R&D team. Talks by employees and experts from other industries brought together external and internal perspectives. For example, we were well prepared to discuss the topic of New Work and the associated changes and opportunities for our (working) lives. We addressed the effects of climate change and discussed the opportunities that environmental data can offer us now and in the future. Other key topics included progress and prospects in predictive breeding as well as technological, product and regulatory developments in the field of genome editing.

A mix of presentations, discussions and interactive sessions enabled participants to tackle these key issues together. Active participation by all was crucial to the success of that.

As part of poster sessions with a total of 68 scientific posters and an afternoon on the KWS campus – the KWS R&D Fair 2024 – our R&D colleagues from all over the world presented further fascinating topics, while people from various specialist departments were able to talk to each other directly. The event came to a fitting conclusion on the last evening with a convivial get-together and live music.

Our first R&D Conference was a joint success. So a big thank-you goes out to the organizers and contributors as well as to all colleagues for an impressive experience that we can build on! |