Plant Breeding: Principles of Plant Breeding

Registration deadline: 14 August 2025

Please note that the dates for the academic year of 2025-2026 are yet to be confirmed, so they might still change.

The Principles of Plant Breeding course provided a solid foundation that transformed my understanding of plant genetics.

Target audience

If you are a working professional in the plant breeding sector, this course is the perfect opportunity for you to expand your knowledge and sharpen your skills. This comprehensive course will provide you with the tools you need to succeed and advance in your career, especially in combination with other advanced Online Master's Courses Plant Breeding.

Prerequisite knowledge
You should have sufficient knowledge on concepts and methodologies related to plant biology, such as Mendelian genetics, plant breeding, plant physiology and molecular biology. It's important to realise that, if you do not comply with these recommendations, you cannot claim extra support from the instructor and cannot claim a refund of the registration fee if you decide to discontinue the course.

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this programme, you will be able to:

• Choose the appropriate selection method to breed for (certain combinations of) traits.
• Explain basic concepts and principles in plant breeding.
• Evaluate plant breeding selection online courses in terms of their advantages and limitations.
• Indicate the key features, advantages and challenges in the production of F1 hybrid cultivars.
• Analyse observations to separate genetic and non-genetic components of variation, including estimation of heritability.
• Select the appropriate breeding strategy, considering the mode of reproduction of the crop of interest.
• Discuss the consequences of chimerism in mutants, and the implications of ploidy differences in breeding material.

Programme

By following this course, you will learn to explain basic concepts and principles, evaluate plant breeding programs, choose appropriate selection methods, select breeding strategies, understand key features and challenges in F1 hybrid cultivar production, analyse observations to separate genetic and non-genetic components of variation, estimate heritability, discuss consequences of chimerism in mutants, and understand the implications of ploidy differences in breeding material. These learning outcomes equip professionals with the knowledge and skills to advance their careers and make informed decisions in the field of plant breeding.

This course is an online course at master level that you follow in a cohort. Learners participate at different time points and from different time zones, as most learners also have a job. The programme therefor offers learning activities that allow you to supervised self-study at your own pace, with deadlines for assignments, and includes knowledge clips, e-learning modules that illustrate the principles and offer numerous exercises, online individual and group assignments, read literature, online discussions, and in some courses occasionally live question hours through MS Teams at specific dates and times. There are no online live classes. The exam has a fixed date.

Literature
Recommended for background reference (not specifically used in the course): G. Acquaah, 2012. Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2nd Edition Wiley-Blackwell (not included in the course fee).

This course is quite time-intensive and requires approximately 20 hours per week for the average participant. There are assignments with deadlines.

Examination

Participation in the remotely proctored exam is optional. If you decide not to participate in the exam, you do not qualify for a Micro-credential.

The date of examination is 2 October 2025. The duration of an exam is 3 hours. The resit will be scheduled on 4 or 5 February 2026.

Certification

Upon successful completion - passing the exam -, a digital Micro-credentials certificate (EduBadge) with 3 study credits (ECTS) is issued. The EduBadge certifies the learning outcomes of short-term learning experiences, marking the quality of a course.