Wheat Genetic Improvement - Carlotta Award 2022

Dear Colleagues,

At the global level, the most important crops for producing human food are wheat and other cereals.

Today, more than ever, due to global climatic and political difficulties, scientists need to make more effort to select drought-tolerant, disease-resistant and, at the same time, productive cereals that are able to satisfy worldwide needs.

The Carlotta Award is dedicated to young female researchers working on wheat and related issues. The first edition of this prize was in 2018, the year of the 150^th anniversary of the birth of Carlotta Parisani Strampelli, wife and assistant to the great Italian geneticist Nazzareno Strampelli.

In 1903, she followed her husband to Rieti with their two-year-old daughter and whilst expecting their second child. In doing so, Carlotta accepted a life and a destiny that could be considered too humble for a noblewoman. During that time, she worked to improve the performance of hybridization, acquiring fine dexterity and perfect skill in the ‘artificial pollination’ of grains. Carlotta Parisani acted as a "trailblazer" for all women, at first as a technical assistant and then as a researcher.

For these reasons, it was decided to name the award after her, to give due recognition to women in the service of research, bearing in mind the difficulties that women have even today, and to give a positive signal to young female researchers engaged in the genetic improvement of wheat and other cereals. It was time to acknowledge her value through this public award and greater recognition.

While the Carlotta Award first edition, with the participation of the Accademia delle Scienze detta dei XL, was held in Rome, in the framework of an ad hoc International Conference entitled “Wheats & Women” the second edition, 2022, will be hosted in Bologna, during the most important International Congress on cereals and derived food products, "From Seed to Pasta IV".

In the present edition, we have included a second theme specifically related to the production, safety and healthiness of the food chain linked to wheat. The themes for the two awards, in line with the topics of the host Congress, are therefore:

1. Wheat genetics, genomics and breeding;
2. Sustainable wheat production for food security, food quality and safety, and durum wheat-pasta value chain.

The present Special Issue (SI) is therefore focused on wheats and is dedicated to female scientists working in these research areas, with a view to highlighting the work of young female researchers and improving the knowledge and technologies surrounding this crop, essential for the planet and all human populations.

Besides the Carlotta Award Winners, we have decided to give some other female scientists a “special mention”, as they are considered excellent, in spite of not having publications with a high IF and/or significant funding for their scientific work. These special mentions are aimed at rewarding the quality and novelty of the research carried out by female scientists working in developing and/or emerging countries.

For more information on the Carlotta Award, see: https://carlottaaward.weebly.com

Dr. Patrizia Galeffi
Dr. Giuseppina Del Signore
Guest Editors

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• wheat genetics
• wheat genomics
• wheat breeding
• sustainable wheat production
• pasta/food quality and safety
• pasta value-chain