The CGIAR is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Namukolo Covic as Head of the CGIAR Liaison Office for Africa, effective 1 January 2026. In this strategic role, Dr Covic will support the CGIAR Continental Champion for Africa — a rotational role currently held by Dr Simeon Ehui, Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) — in advancing CGIAR’s mission to deliver science and innovation that transform food, land, and water systems across Africa.

Grain shape is a critical factor that directly influences rice yield and quality, however, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of grain shape development remains elusive. In this study, we characterized an oval-shaped grain mutant, osg, from the rice radiation mutagenesis mutant library via 60Co-γ ray irradiation. Compared to ZH11, the osg mutant exhibited decreased grain length and thousand-grain weight but increased grain width and thickness, while displaying significantly reduced plant height, tiller number,

Researchers from Australia and New Zealand studied the relationship of trust with social attitudes and motivations in forming perspectives on scientific issues such as climate change, vaccines, and gene drives. The findings are published in the Journal of Trust Research. Trust in science and scientists (TSS) is an emerging field of interest that explores science applications and their impact to society. The role of TSS among scientific topics may vary, depending on other psychosocial factors involved. Researchers surveyed 8,199 participants from New Zealand to explore TSS, focusing on vaccines, climate change, and gene drive.