Part I - CryoStore Training School

Training school for PhD students on conservation biology, wildlife management and genetic resource banking

Day 1

The third and final CryoStore Training School started on Saturday 4th July, 2026, with an welcome and short introduction to the program by Annemieke Rattink at the beautiful campus of Wageningen University & Research. Afterwards, Jack Windig gave a lecture on gene banks for conserving and managing genetic diversity in the era of genomics and new reproductive technologies.

Afterwards, the participants went to Boerderij Hoekelum for lunch and a social cheese making activity. At the end of the day, everyone had made their own cheese (Gouda style) to bring back home.

Day 2

On day two, the participants had the morning off while the project management and Supervisory Board met for the CryoStore annual meeting.

The afternoon program included a lecture on the integration of in situ and ex situ conservation of Dutch rare breeds and a tour of the ‘De Korenmaat’ where the participants came in close contact with some of the rare breeds at the farm.

Day 3

The third day of the summer school started with an inspiring lecture by Penelope Banchi on the journey from donor to biobank, exploring gamete and germline procurement across species and contexts. One key takeaway: a biobank is only as good as the samples, and the animals, it contains.

Afterwards, the participants visited the highly valued gene bank at the Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN) at Wageningen University & Research.

After the tour of the gene bank, the participants traveled to Den Bosch and visited Topigs Norsvin Nederland. The afternoon included several lectures on the global semen supply chain: challenges and opportunities, the Topigs Norsvin breeding program, the Varkens KI Nederland and the T Line Project, and an overview of the South African experience (Frozen Semen on Farm).

Day 4

Day four of the Training School was the first day dedicated to the transferable skills training. This day was arranged by Ard Innovation (an associated partner in the CryoStore project) and included a lecture on research-based innovation (how to turn your research into real-world impact) followed by an interactive workshop where each of the students worked on how to create impact and innovation from their ideas and their research projects.

In the afternoon, the students got a quick introduction to pitching and had only 45 minutes to create their own 3-minute pitch that they were going to present to the group. A crash course in selling your idea and practice in presenting all at the same time.

Thank you to all participants for some great discussions and a specially warm thank you to the organizers for putting together such a fantastic program.

Happy participants of the CryoStore Training School during the cheese making workshop on day 1.