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New professor in crop genetics and genomics

Torben Asp has been appointed Professor MSO in Crop Genetics at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University. The appointment is effective as of 1 May 2017.

Torben Asp

Torben Asp’s research group conducts both fundamental and applied research on plant systems, with a particular focus on harnessing the power of large and complex plant genomes using a combination of genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics approaches.

The research group conducts cutting-edge and highly relevant research to dissect complex traits in crops. Research interests include deciphering and analysis of plant genomes on a structural and functional level using computational biology and comparative genomics approaches based on high-performance computing, to identify the individual nucleotides responsible for quantitative variation, and the development of state-of-the-art breeding strategies based on genomic selection in collaboration with industrial partners.

The research group also has research interests in science policy & communication, particularly in relation to the application of new breeding strategies.

Torben Asp has worked in the areas of crop genetics and genomics since 2001. After completing his PhD in Molecular Biology at University of Copenhagen in Denmark in 2000 he worked as a post doc at the Danish Institute of Agricultural Science. Since 2008 he has been senior scientist and research group leader at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University.

Torben Asp was born in 1968. He is married to Lotte Risak Asp, and they live in Ringsted with their two teenage boys Viktor and Patrick.


For more information, please contact 

Professor MSO Torben Asp
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
torben.asp@mbg.au.dk, +45 8715 8243