GRADUATE STUDY OPPORTUNITIES 

Are you looking for an opportunity to obtain a M.Sc. or Ph.D.?
If so, consider joining our research center!

The Centro para Investigaciones en Granos y Semillas (CIGRAS, Seed and Grain Research Center) at the Universidad de Costa Rica is looking for dedicated and motivated graduate students interested in exploring exciting opportunities in tropical agriculture.
Our research center offers diverse opportunities to work on research projects in the areas of:

• Grain science
• Seed science
• Mycotoxicology
• Plant biotechnology and physiology
• Genetics and plant breeding
  

At CIGRAS we conduct research on a diverse set of agricultural crops; for example, rice, maize, soybean, coffee, avocado, papaya, pitahaya (dragon fruit) and banana. We are very much committed to research in the area of food security as well as improving the entire production chain from seed to field to postharvest. We are equipped with the latest technologies to maximize research opportunities that have high scientific value.

Examples of possible projects include:

• Quality and vigor of rice seed
• Tolerance models for rice grain testing and storage
• Microprogation of avocado rootstocks
• Aspergillus spp. and their impact on maize, coffee and common bean
• Somatic hybridization in pitahaya and papaya
• Understanding the flowering mechanisms in pitahaya
• Semi-dwarfism in papaya
• QTL mapping in papaya
• Production supply chain for horticultural crops
• Epidemiological modeling and food security
  

For more information about research opportunities, feel free to contact:

• Dr. Paul Esker, Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Epidemiology and statistics)
• Dr. Víctor M. Jiménez, Sub-director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Plant physiology and biotechnology)
• Dr. Adriana Murillo Williams, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Mycotoxicology)
• Dr. Luis Barboza, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (Plant genetics and breeding)
• M.Sc. Carolina Porras, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Seed science)

For more information about either the M.Sc. or Ph.D. graduate programs in agricultural sciences at UCR:
http://www.sep.ucr.ac.cr/agroalimentarias/ppcarn/inicio.html

For more information about CIGRAS: http://www.cigras.ucr.ac.cr/