Application process opens for 2017 Borlaug Summer Institute on Global Food Security

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The U.S. Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security Program will hold its sixth annual Summer Institute on Global Food Security from June 4-17 on the campus of Purdue University.

Attending will be 40 graduate students selected from 20 universities from across the United States, including Purdue. Participants are selected based on their demonstrated interest and commitment to finding solutions to world hunger, and have chosen dissertation research that addresses the challenges of global food security.

The two-week learning program, hosted by the Purdue Center for Global Food Security, is for graduate students who are interested in developing a holistic understanding of the conceptual challenges around global food security with a focus on cross-disciplinary problem solving of real-world development challenges.

The application deadline is Feb. 15. Applicants must have completed at least one semester of graduate study and be enrolled in a U.S. institution at the time of application. U.S. citizenship is not required. For additional information and application forms, go to: http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/food/borlaugfellows/summer-institute/index.php

Students will develop country-specific food security group-project reports in response to a simulated request for proposals from the United States Agency for International Development. Purdue professors with experience in international development will simulate a donor panel on the last day, challenging students to defend their proposals.

Distinguished Purdue agronomy professor Gebisa Ejeta, director of the Center for Global Food Security in Purdue’s Discovery Park and the 2009 World Food Prize laureate, will be joined by several other Purdue faculty to work with the students during the two-week event.

The summer institute is part of the U.S. Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security program, funded by USAID under the Feed the Future initiative. The program is aimed at preparing the next generation of U.S. food security professionals with the scientific foundation needed to effectively study and manage the global landscape in support of sustainable food systems.  

Media Contacts: Pamela McClure, 765-494-45441, pmcclure@purdue.edu

Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu  

Source: Gebisa Ejeta, 765-494-4320, gejeta@purdue.edu