When: 27 August 2026
Where: Scandic Plaza Hotel, Umeå
We are very excited to invite you for the UPSC Day 2026! Everyone working at UPSC (including students) as well as the group members of our associated groups are invited to join us.
During the morning session, we will focus on the recent development at UPSC, with talks from three new group leaders as well as a talk from Lucia Gutierrez Chacon, Professor of Crop Breeding and Crop Diversity at the Plant Breeding Department at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), who will come to talk about her work. This session will offer an opportunity to learn more about new research directions, ongoing scientific developments, and the expertise being brought into the UPSC community.
In the afternoon, we will focus on intercultural communication, self-awareness, and collaboration across cultures in UPSC’s highly international working environment, where we represent close to 50 different nationalities. Guided by Anna-Karin Byström from DC Consulting AB, this workshop will be an opportunity to step back from our everyday routines and explore how we communicate, interpret, and collaborate across cultures. Through practical examples, reflection, and interactive activities, we will look at how small differences in expectations or habits can affect cooperation — and how greater awareness can help us work better together at UPSC.
The symposium is free of charge but registration is required.
The link to the registration form can be found here
For questions, please contact Thomas Dobrenel (
Preliminary Programme
When: Thursday 27 August 2026
Location: Hotel Scandic Plaza, downtown Umeå (link to Google Maps)
- Scientific session (Chair: Johannes Hanson and Totte Niittylä)
- 09.00 - 09.10: Ove Nilsson (Director of UPSC): Welcome and highlights of the year at UPSC
- 09.10 - 09.30: Yanjun Zan (Department of Plant Physiology, UMU): tba
- 09.30 - 09.50: Adam Frew (Department of Plant Physiology, UMU): tba
- 09.50 - 10.10: Abdul Kareem Valiya Kadavu (Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, SLU): tba
- 10.10 - 10.40: Coffee break
- 10.40 - 11.20: Lucia Gutierrez Chacon (Department of Plant Breeding, SLU, Alnarp): tba
- 11.20 - 11.30: Starting the conversation: shared perspectives on UPSC
- 11.30 - 13.00: Lunch break
- Intercultural communication and collaboration workshop (Chair: Ove Nilsson)
- 13.00 - 17.00: Anna-Karin Byström, DC Consulting AB
In UPSC’s highly international environment, effective communication and collaboration across cultures are essential to our everyday work. This workshop will offer an opportunity to reflect on how cultural differences can shape interactions, expectations, and teamwork, while providing tools to strengthen mutual understanding and cooperation across the centre.
- 13.00 - 17.00: Anna-Karin Byström, DC Consulting AB
- 18.00: Dinner at Sjöbris