On July 27, 2026, the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IB-CAS) hosted PIFI Day conference on “Grape research and new technologies”, which brought more than 30 scientists and post-graduate students from four international partner teams of the PIFI Outstanding Team: French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), the University of Valencia (Spain), the Spanish National Research Council, and the University of Virginia, USA. Two PIFI scholars from Turkey and Bulgaria, currently visiting at the Institute of Botany, also participated the academic exchanges.

At the opening ceremony, Prof. LIANG Zhenchang, Deputy Director-General of IB-CAS, Dr. CHEN Changrui from the Bureau of International Cooperation, CAS, Prof. Nathalie Ollat, the representative of INRAE, and Prof. Mar Vilanova, Director of the Institute of Grapevine and Wine Sciences of Spain (ICVV) delivered remarks, expressing their recognition of the PIFI program as a bridge for international research collaboration and their expectations for strengthened cooperation and exchanges with the Institute of Botany.

During the subsequent symposium, several scientists, including Prof. Michael P. Timko from the University of Virginia (USA), Dr. Pablo Carbonell-Beierano from ICVV (Spain), and Dr. Tomás Matus from the University of Valencia (Spain), shared their latest research findings on topics such as gene editing, comparative genomics, drought regulation mechanisms, and the effects of abiotic stress on the quality of specialty crops. Scientists from the Fondazione Edmund Mach (Italy) and Stellenbosch University (South Africa) also engaged in in-depth exchanges on topics including fruit anatomy and metabolic regulation, ripening and cuticle biology, and promoter editing.

During the event, LIANG Zhenchang delivered the PIFI certificates to the principal investigators of the international partner teams of the PIFI Outstanding Team.

Participants expressed their sincere gratitude to the PIFI program, which has created valuable opportunities for more frequent exchanges and closer interactions. They unanimously agreed that this platform not only facilitates the sharing of cutting-edge knowledge but also paves the way for deeper and more substantive collaboration in the future, laying a solid foundation for joint research projects and long-term partnerships.