Our Organization

Organization and Management of the International Wheat Yield Partnership

Science and Impact Executive Board (SIEB) – The SIEB is the top level of governance and decision making body for IWYP and is led by an independent Chair. The SIEB provides the highest level scientific and strategic direction for IWYP. Specific duties include approving terms and objectives for IWYP Competitive Funding Calls, recommending funding for selected projects, overall financial considerations and annual budgets; reviewing progress, determining IWYP’s future needs, and approving IWYP’s overall Science Program direction and associated integrated Program work plans. The SIEB is comprised of representatives from our Consortium Partners (funding and research organizations) and Executive Level Private Members.

The SIEB currently consists of one representative each from the following funding or research organizations: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom (BBSRC), Grains Research and Development Corporation of Australia (GRDC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, in Spanish, Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique of France (INRAE). In addition, private Industry representation on the SIEB includes KWS, Syngenta and SeedCo.

Management – The administration, operations and coordination of the Science Program is managed by an independent management team led by the Program Director.

SIEB Chair – the SIEB is led by an independent Chair who is responsible for communication of high level items, leading the SIEB meetings, gaining consensus and guiding overall decision. The Chair plays a leading role in strategy development, evolving the Science Program and the execution of the Strategic Plan.  The Chair also serves as the functional manager of the Program Director.

The current SIEB Chair is Richard B. Flavell, PhD, DSc, FRS, CBE.

Program Director – The Program Director is an ex-officio member of the SIEB and the independent manager of IWYP responsible for overall administration and operations. Importantly, the Program Director is charged with coordinating the IWYP Science Program, as directed by the SIEB and guided by the IWYP Strategic Plan, to ensure delivery of the milestones and goals of IWYP. This will be realized by pushing discoveries from the research phase to outputs, integrating these discoveries to generate added value and  the delivery of novel germplasm to breeding programs worldwide via the IWYP Hubs.