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News & Events

Monday 30th January 2012 - Research Project Report Form Amended:

The Trust has amended the project report form. This form replaces the old one, and should be used by PI's submitting progress reports to the Trust from this point on. To download the form, please click here.

Tuesday 25th October 2011 - Indian Scientist Wins National Award:

Dr M. Byre Gowda (PI of the Trust funded Dolichos (lablab purpureus) project at UAS, Bangalore), has won the "Krishnamurthy Memorial National Award". This was awarded to him in recognition of his contributions towards the development and spread of new varieties of both Dolichos bean (lablab purpureus) and Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan), along with their economic impact on farmers. The Trust is proud to support this work and congratulates Dr Byre Gowda on his achievement.

Wednesday 3rd August 2011 - New Permanent Vacancy At The Trust's Oxford (UK) Based Office:

The Trust is looking to recruit an Assistant Administrator. For more information, please click here. Closing date for applications is Thursday 1st September 2011 and is open only to those eligible to live and work in the UK.

Monday 20th June 2011 - New Reports Available:

Two new research reports have been added to the website. Please click here to see all available research reports.

Monday 13th June 2011 - New External Link Added:

A link to the article titled "Beans and Molecules: Bringing Modern Plant Breeding Technology to a Tanzanian Bean Breeder" published in the BTS Newsletter, and written by Dr Robert Koebner has been added to the website. Please click here to read the article.

Thursday 2nd June 2011 - New Bio-Rad MyCycler Videos Added:

Three new videos have been added to the website, demonstrating various maintenance techniques associated with the Bio-Rad MyCycler thermalcycler. Please click here to find out more.

Thursday 5th May 2011 - Student Information Page Added:

A new page has been added to the website which provides information that may be of interest to existing and potential students. Presently the page offers information about plagiarism only. Students are encouraged to follow the links on the page to learn more. Please click here to find out more.

Wednesday 16th March 2011 - Software Help & Advice Information Added:

Further information has been added to the website with regard to helping inexperienced computer users with file compression. Please visit this page for further details.

Monday 14th March 2011 - New Molecular Biology Training Videos Added:

Two new molecular biology training videos have been added to the website. The page can be viewed by click here.

Thursday 3rd February 2011 - French Webpage Added:

A French version of the conference and training grants scheme page is now available. The page can be viewed by clicking here. Please note that this page is currently the only one available in French; the rest of this website is only available in English.

Tuesday 30th November 2010 - New Pathology Training Videos Added:

The last of the pathology videos has been added to the website. "How to use an Autoclave (for fungal pathogen media)" can be viewed by clicking here.

Thursday 25th November - New Pathology Videos Added:

Two new videos have been created and added to the website. Please click here to view the videos and find out more.

Tuesday 9th November 2010 - Student Report Form Amended:

The student report forms have been amended. These have been designed to give the Trust a better insight in to how a student is getting on, and to follow a similar layout to the research grant report forms.

Tuesday 2nd November 2010 - New Training Videos Added:

New training videos have been added to the website and more will be arriving steadily over the next couple of months. Other than the hPAGE video, the hook method video is available to view by clicking here.

Thursday 23rd September 2010 - The Trust Re-opens The Conference & Training Grants Scheme:

The Trust has re-opened its training and conference grants scheme, after six months of closure. Please click here for further information and how to apply. Please note that all new applications should be e-mailed to info@kirkhousetrust.org.

Monday 20th September 2010 - Trust Main Contact E-mail Address Added:

The Trust has set up a new general contact e-mail address, for anyone who is unsure of which employee to contact, should they wish to do so. Please use info@kirkhousetrust.org to get in touch.

Tuesday 14th September 2010 - Publication Uploaded:

A recent journal article has been added to the website about Snap bean, written by Edith Esther Arunga (a student funded by the Trust) et al. Anyone doing research into common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) may be interested to read it. Please click here to read this article.
A link has also been added to the website, written by one of the Trust's consultants. Scientists interested in cowpea research may find this article useful.

Monday 6th September 2010 - Office Move:

The Trust has moved offices. Therefore the office address and all contact numbers and have now changed. Please click here for further information.

Monday 5th July 2010 - Information Papers Added:

The Trust has added some useful information papers to the website. These papers and further information can be accessed by clicking here.

Wednesday 28th April 2010 - New Laboratory Protocols Added:

New molecular biology and pathology protocols have been added to the "Laboratory Protocols" section of the website. Copies of these documents will be included on the new African Bean Consortium (ABC) Resources CD.

Monday 12th April 2010 - Website Layout Changed & New Cowpea Database Link Added:

The Trust website has been changed to accomodate the expanding number of links required. Many pages have now been moved under "Resources & Policies", and a new "Publication Policy" has been created.
A new link to the "Cowpea Genomics Knowledge Base" has also been added to the website.

Tuesday 6th April 2010 - Publications Policies:

The Trust has uploaded information to the website about its policies regarding the publication of research papers by its students and PI's. To view this policy, please click here.

Wednesday 31st March 2010 - Important Changes to Conference & Training Grant Applications:

Conference and training grant applications have been temporarily suspended by the Trust due to administrative reasons. For further information about how this might affect potential applicants, please follow this link and read the "Important Notice".

Monday 1st March 2010 - "AGORA" Link Added & List of Free Software Updated:

There is now a link to "AGORA" (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture), that can be found under the "Resources" section of the website, along with some brief information about what it is. The list of free software (click here) has also been updated and added to.

Friday 26th February 2010 - INERA Report Uploaded:

The latest project report, submitted by PI Dr Jeremy Ouedraogo from the "Institut de l’Environnement et de la Recherche Agricoles" (INERA) in Burkina Faso has now been uploaded to the website. Please click here to download and view the document.

Monday 11th January 2010 - "Hazardous Weather Conditions in the UK":

The UK has experienced unusually heavy snowfall over the last week and this has led to problems with staff travelling to the office. However, many Trust staff use laptops and are subsequently working from home. Most staff are still contactable via e-mail, but please allow for delays.
The forecast shows that the weather should begin to improve from Thursday 14th onwards.

Thursday 26th November 2009 - "Namibian Scientists Shine":

Dr Percy Chimwamurombe, one of the PIs funded by the Trust for research on Marama bean (Tylosema esculentum), recently attended a science conference in South Africa. Please follow this link for further information.

Wednesday 11th November 2009 - Report Forms:

PIs of projects supported by the Trust should note that a new trial of project reporting forms and a timeline template have been uploaded. The Trust would be most grateful if PIs could use these forms, and submit an up-to-date timeline to illustrate their progress at reporting intervals. The Trust would appreciate any feedback you have regarding the use of these forms and templates.
Further details can be found under the new "Reporting" page. Please contact your corresponding administrator should you have any queries.

The Trust is also trialling the timeline template with new research project applications, and would appreciate PIs filling one out and submitting a copy with the application. Any feedback regarding the use of the template would be gratefully received.
The timeline template can be found by clicking here, or by visiting the "Apply For A Scientific Research Grant" page.

Friday 31st July 2009 - Conference & Training Grant Update:

Please note that Pat Waters will be on leave between the 3rd and 7th of August. Therefore, she will not be able to respond to e-mails during this period. However, if you urgently need to contact the Trust regarding your application, then please contact Antony Bowes by clicking here.

Friday 3rd July 2009 - Website Update:

Many new documents have been added to the website. Among the new additions are some safety information documents for laboratory use. These can be viewed by visiting our "Safety Data" section.
We have also added the 2005 UAS, B training manual to the site, which can be downloaded by clicking here.
Other changes include a slightly modified layout, and icons to replace bullet points. This should help users identify the file format of the corresponding linked document before downloading it.

Friday 26th June 2009 - Resources CD is Completed:

The Trust has put together its first "Resources CD", which has been given to institutions receiving support from the Trust in West Africa. The CD includes instruction manuals for lab equipment, an hPage video created by Professor Southern, safety data documents, and more. It is hoped that this CD will be a useful resource for cowpea breeders in West Africa.

Tuesday 17th March 2009 - New Contact Numbers:

The Trust has changed it's telephone and fax contact numbers. Please check our "Contact Us" page for further details.

Wednesday 11th March, 2009 - Office Move:

Employees situated in the Institute of Advanced Technology (IAT) building have moved offices to a different building on the same site. Because of the move, Sonia Morgan, Antony Bowes and Emma Wilmore are currently left without direct contact telephone numbers. E-mail is unaffected by the move, but if you need to speak to anyone urgently please call us on +00 44 1865 854 854. The website will be updated again when new telephone numbers become available. Meanwhile, please keep checking our "Contact Us" page for updates. Please note that the office address has not changed.

Thursday 26th February, 2009 - The 'New Style' Website Goes Live:

The Trust website has been completely re-designed in order to help make it easier for existing and potential grantees to gain access to the information they need. All available downloads on the website can be found under the "Downloads" section, or under the corresponding page. A new "FAQ" page has been set up to help answer any questions you may have regarding your grant.
Please note that some pages are yet to be uploaded and some of the links do not work properly at the moment. More information, data and pages will be uploaded soon.
In addition to these changes, the website has taken on a new layout and 'theme'. Please e-mail the Trust webmaster by clicking here, if you would like to make any comments or suggestions about the website.

Tuesday 3rd February, 2009 - The Trust Plans to Move Offices:

Employees currently situated in the Institute of Advanced Technology (IAT) building will likely be moving soon. The move is planned to take place on the 9th March. Employees affected will be Sonia Morgan, Antony Bowes, and Emma Wilmore. Therefore, contact telephone numbers will change. These changes will be reflected on the website after the move. Please note that during the move, these employees may be difficult to get in contact with.
The Trust office is moving to a different building, but remaining on the same site. Therefore, the Trust address will not change.

Monday 5th January, 2009 - The Kirkhouse Trust Receives Copies of the Dolichos Compendium:

The Kirkhouse Trust receives copies of the "Global Research Digest on Dolichos Bean (Lablab purpureus L.) - A Review". Further information can be found by clicking here. If you would like to obtain a copy, please contact Dr M. Byre Gowda at the University of Agricultural Science, Bangalore by clicking here.

Tuesday 9th May, 2006 - The Kirkhouse Trust Initiates Agreement to Sequence Important Crop Genome:

The Trust announced today the initiation of an agreement to sequence the cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) genome, a major food source for the majority of the people in West Africa. Under the agreement, researchers at University of Virginia will use proprietary GeneThresher® technology, contracted nonexclusively from Orion Genomics, to reveal DNA sequence tags for greater than 90 percent of cowpea genes in the 1x sequence of the 'gene space'.

The project, curated by Michael P. Timko, Ph.D., Professor of Biology at the University of Virginia, is expected to advance the development of disease- and pest-resistant cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) plants. "The cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) plant is a major source of protein for people in West Africa," said Professor Timko. "Unfortunately, like other major food crops, cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is susceptible to diseases, parasites, and harsh environmental conditions that decrease its production. The use of Orion Genomics' novel technologies will enable the quick and cost-efficient sequencing of the cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) genome. This information will be made available by the Kirkhouse Trust to agricultural researchers worldwide, greatly enhancing cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) genetic improvement."

Plant genomes are prohibitively large to sequence using standard sequencing methods because they include a relatively large amount of "junk" DNA. Orion Genomics' GeneThresher® methylation filtering technology enables cost-effective and rapid genomic sequencing of large and complex important crop genomes by removing methylated DNA and leaving only the portion of the genome that contains genes. The data will be made available to researchers throughout the sequencing project and can be accessed from the Cowpea Genomics Initiative (CGI) website by clicking here. The website will provide sequence information from the gene space clones, bioinformatics analysis, and other relevant information.