It seemed the GCP General Research Meeting (GRM) this year was all these, and more…it was fruitful, with fertile ground for ideas, fun, and over-flowing with GCP spirit! 135 participants from 35 countries shared ideas, thoughts, concerns, a few laughs and a refreshing beverage or two over the four days of the meeting, which ran from 27–20 September, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Richard Trethowan’s keynote address packs a punch during a packed plenary

A fine mix of formal plenary presentations, parallel crop discussions, workshops, and a pair of lively poster sessions allowed participants to truly communicate with colleagues and the whole community on research matters that matter to them. Access the presentations on our website or on SlideShare.

All systems go at the GCP GRM Secretariat! L–R: Griselda Marquez and Aida Martinez	Deep debates and apex conversations in full flow at the poster-viewing session. L–R: Jonathan Robinson (CGIAR Consortium), Pammi Sachdeva (IEA review panel Chair) and Andrew Bennett (GCP Board Chair)	Poster presenters past & present – L–R: Boonrat Jongdee, Jonaliza Lanceras-Siangliw and Jaquie Mitchell

A free afternoon on the penultimate day with an optional sight-seeing tour of the Jerónimos Monastery and Lisbon city centre preceded the glorious Gala Dinner, where participants were treated to the sounds of Fado, traditional Portuguese music. GCP Director, Jean-Marcel Ribaut, presented ‘GCP lifetime awards’ to Rajeev K Varshney, Hei Leung and Jean-Christophe Glaszmann, for their outstanding contributions to GCP over the years.

'GCP lifetime award' winners receive their recognition from GCP Director, Jean-Marcel Ribaut. From L–R: Rajeev K Varshney (left) with Jean-Marcel Ribaut (right); Hei Leung (left) and Jean-Marcel Ribaut (right); Jean-Christophe Glaszmann

Just before dessert, the long-awaited poster prizes were awarded to a stunning gallery of winners. Check out photos of the poster session and awards on Facebook. We were also on Twitter with hashtag #GRM13.

A stunning selection of participants! From L–R: Mahendar Thudi, Rachit Saxena, Abhishek Rathore, Manish Roorkiwal, Pawan Khera, with Poster Session & Awards MC, Gillian Summers (3rd from left)

The last day was rounded off with project reporting on crops and the IBP, and adjourned on a high note with Jean-Marcel Ribaut’s classic words of thanks, appreciation to the community and hope for the future in keeping with the GCP spirit. More on the GRM