WorldSkills 2019 on the Horizon

Ms Petrova and her colleague Natalya Tkachenko, both working in the Botanical Gardens' Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, made the trip up to Tambov Region for the Regional qualifiers hosted by Michurinsk State Agrarian University. The WorldSkills competition was established after WW2 to promote vocational skills and international friendship, and is now held every two years. This year it will be held in Kazan, the first time Russia has hosted the competition.

The competitors are asked to perform several tasks based on their area of expertise. Ms Petrova and Ms Tkachenko had to prepare nutrients and the means of transfer, use in vitro techniques, perform analysis, and calculate reproduction rates for the specimens. In the end Ms Petrova was selected, along with Yulia Khoroshkova, who works at the host university, for the national stage. It is hoped that they will go on to Kazan in August to represent the country in 'Agricultural Biotechnology'.