BOOSTER consortium gathers in Cape Town to review progress and plan ahead

The BOOSTER project held its third annual meeting, 3-5th June 2025, at the University of Cape Town (UCT). This was organized by Professor Jill Farrant and Dr Llewelyn Van der Pass of UCT. The gathering brought together all project partners, with 18 members attending in person and 22 joining virtually. Three of the Scientific Advisory Board members also joined virtually.​

During this period, participants reviewed the progress made across the project’s seven work packages. Here, work-package leaders shared details on milestones achieved and issues arising along the way including but not limited to methodological advances that should be embraced, and identification of key issues to address in the coming phases, such as experimental design refinements, to data integration strategies.

Lively discussions ensued from all presentations and particularly guided the discussion on scientific issues such as the above mentioned new methodology to identify genetic variants of genome sequences regulating key drought responsive genes, development of new natural biostimulants based on the use of seaweed extracts and bacteria and in so doing, ultimately led to matters surrounding the dissemination, exploitation and communications strategies to be embraced, as well as the management of the project and the ethical aspects connected to it.

Strategic networking and outreach activities were highlighted by a presentation given by a representative from the sister project HelEX, who shared insights on synergies and potential collaboration opportunities between the two initiatives, enriching the exchange of ideas and broadening the consortium’s perspective. At the same time, networking activities carried out in Europe by the team of Dr Marc Heidje from VIB and those associated with African continent by Prof Farrant, gave insights as to how BOOSTER studies are impacting continental research agendas and inspiring enthusiasm among early-career researchers present in the audience.

Informal moments, like participating in interactive African drumming at UCT and a dinner in a local Ethiopian restaurant, where members got to eat the product of one of their lines of research, injera bread made from Tef seeds, helped deepen connections between partners. Looking ahead, the consortium has committed to refining experimental pipelines, strengthening cross-work-package collaboration, and scheduling a mid-year virtual checkpoint. The group agreed upon the drafting of upcoming deliverables due in 2025 and brainstormed plans for an open-access publication to highlight BOOSTER’s collective contributions.

The meeting concluded with warm acknowledgements to UCT partners Farrant and Van der Pas for hosting this memorable meeting at UCT, nestled at the feet of Table Mountain, South Africa.