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Global Chair Prof. Michael Purugganan (New York University)

Hosted by the Milner Centre, Professor Purugganan is a leading scholar in the field of genomics and plant evolution research.

Global Chair Prof Purugganan
Global Chair Prof. Michael Purugganan with the Director of the Milner Centre, Prof. Laurence Hurst, in August 2017

Professor Purugganan is Silver Professor of Biology and former Dean of Science at New York University. He also co-directs the NYU Abu Dhabi Center for Genomics and Systems Biology. A world-leading scholar in the field of plant evolution and genomics, his research interests include especially the evolutionary process and adaptation of domesticated crop species.

Hosted by Professor Laurence Hurst in the Milner Centre for Evolution, his Global Chair appointment has resulted in long-term research links and postdoctoral exchanges between the Milner Centre and NYU’s genomics research labs in New York and Abu Dhabi. His successful visit to Bath over the summer 2017 further prompted a visit to New York by former Bath Vice-Chancellor, Professor Glynis Breakwell, including a meeting with NYU President, Professor Andrew D. Hamilton, in September 2017.

Activities at Bath

Since his appointment as Global Chair in 2016/2017, Professor Purugganan has visited Bath a number of times and has:

  • delivered a public lecture on the evolution of crop species at the Milner Centre in June 2017.

  • engaged with numerous academic colleagues at Bath to discuss new approaches in the study of plant evolution, adaptation and domestication over the summer of 2017, including a series of lectures and specialist seminars to different audiences at the University

  • gave a talk to a public audience at the Bath Science Cafe (2017).

  • attended the Milner Centre's official opening on the Bath campus in September 2018.

  • enabled long-term researcher links between the Milner Centre and the NYU Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, in both New York and Abu Dhabi, including joint research and postdoctoral exchanges.

  • facilitated further financial support from the University's US alumni community.