FABI said goodbye to its 2024 cohort of Interns in the Centre of Excellence for Plant Health Biotechnology (CPHB) Internship Programme in Phytosanitation and Biosecurity during a ceremony on 17 February. This marks the end of their 12-month training in the Institute before the new group starts on 3 February. The farewell was attended by seven of the eight interns, their FABI mentors as well as guests from the South African Cultivar and Technology Agency (SACTA) that partnered with FABI to sponsor six of the interns’ training. SACTA was created as the legitimate central institution which administers the breeding levies for all self-pollinated grain and oilseed crops, specifically wheat, barley, soya beans and some canola cultivars. Other sponsors included Royal Golden Eagle (RGE), the Grain Research Programme and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), which sponsored one intern each.

Professor Martin Coetzee congratulated the interns on the completion of their training and said that it was gratifying to see their personal growth during this time. He explained that the internship programme limits the number of candidates to ensure quality, personal training that prepares them to go into a career or continue with an MSc or PhD degree. An important part of their training includes going on field trips that provide firsthand experience to better understand biological systems but also to meet and interact with industry partners. SACTA also produced a video of the interns’ training at FABI that can be viewed on their website.

The tremendous success of the internship programme, now entering its seventh year, can be judged by the fact that calls for new applications routinely attracts hundreds of applications.

SACTA Transformation Officer, Sandile Mahlangu in turn thanked FABI for the programme and imparting the critical soft skills to the interns.

In closing FABI Director, Prof. Bernard Slippers thanked the interns for their hard work and noted that the programme addresses a real industry need for skills development and FABI was able to offer a quality opportunity in a world class research environment. He also wished them well for their future endeavours.