In this lecture, we are going to talk about how agriculture has changed from what we used to think it to be over the recent decades. We will cover the achievements in different areas of knowledge that fueled this change starting from NGS to deciphering gene and protein function and artificial Intelligence. We will talk about the key instruments which aid agriculture today, and discuss the competencies which a breeder should have nowadays to succeed in their field.

Lecture: While modern biology relies heavily on genotyping, the future of global agriculture depends on envirotyping—understanding how plants interact with their environment at a massive scale. This lecture introduces the tools of next-generation digital agronomy. We will explore how multi-spectral satellite data and predictive models allow us to detect "invisible" climate stress in crops long before it can be seen from the ground. Students will learn how researchers combine biology, Earth observation, and data science to predict crop yields and protect our food systems from extreme weather.

Practical: Step into the role of a "climate detective" in this interactive, no-code workshop. Using a customized Earth observation dashboard, students will investigate a real-world agricultural mystery: why did a specific field fail in one year but thrive in the next? By analyzing historical satellite imagery and toggling between visual and multi-spectral vegetation indices (like NDVI), students will pinpoint the exact timing of a climate anomaly and quantify its impact on crop health—all from orbit. No prior coding experience is required.

PhD/MSc students in the Agricultural Technologies and Engineering will talk about the research work their thesis works, their achievements and problems they encounter on the way to achieve their research goals.

The participants of the Winter School will get an opportunity to have their hands on the key laboratory and computational technics used in the Agro Laboratory including biolistics, automated nucleic acid isolation, association mapping, etc.

The participants of the Winter School will get an opportunity to have their hands on the key laboratory and computational technics used in the Agro Laboratory including biolistics, automated nucleic acid isolation, association mapping, etc.