Training is a big part of the Center’s contribution to agricultural development. Training at headquarters is research-focused while training in our regional centers in Arusha and Bangkok and project offices is more development oriented.

Each year, approximately 40 scientists from across the world come to our headquarters to work towards their graduate theses in partnership with our scientists. They gain access to the center’s research facilities and can work on problems of global significance often co-supervised by our scientists and their professors in their home universities.

The Center offers training for postdoctoral fellows, visiting scientists, graduate and undergraduate researchers. Most of these trainees come for 3 to 6 months and their expenses are paid by their employers or themselves.

While doing their research work they receive training in practical skills which will be essential in the development of their scientific careers. These include skills in screening varieties for diseases, developing innovative production technologies, using molecular tools in breeding, developing natural pest control methods, analyzing nutritional properties of vegetables or characterizing indigenous vegetables.

The Center does not award postdoctoral fellowships, except with specific funding for specific people, or with project funding through open recruitment.

For more information on these programs, please download Training Opportunities at AVRDC. Our standard application form and special forms for undergraduate students (English / Chinese) are available.

Training at our Asian Regional Center in Bangkok, Thailand and the Regional Center for Africa in Arusha, Tanzania, provide a balance of classroom training with practical field experiences. Each center offers a series of 2-3 week practical courses that provide students with targeted in-depth knowledge on vegetable seed production and vegetable cultivation.