George Michael Coupland FRS (born 20 December 1959, in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

) is a Scottish plant scientist, and Research Scientist and Director of the

Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research The Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research was founded in Müncheberg, Germany in 1928 as part of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft. The founding director, Erwin Baur, initiated breeding programmes with fruits and berries, and basic resear ...

Education

Coupland earned a

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

from

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1981, and PhD from

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1984.

Career and research

He was

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

from 1985 to 1988. He was Research Group Leader at the Plant Breeding Institute,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, from 1989 to 1990. He was Research Group Leader at the

John Innes Centre The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity (No 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and B ...

, from 1990 to 2001. With

Liam Dolan Liam Dolan One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: is the Sherardian Professor of Botany in the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxfor ...

, Nicholas Harberd, Alison Mary Smith, Cathie Martin, Jonathan D. G. Jones, Robert Sablowski and Abigail Amey he is a co-author of the undergraduate textbook ''Plant Biology''.

Awards and honours

Coupland was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in May 2007 and a foreign associate of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in May 2012.

Personal life

He is married to British botanist Jane E. Parker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coupland, George 1959 births Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of East Anglia Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Fellows of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences People from Dumfries Max Planck Institute directors