Courses open for registration

This is a refresher course. The level is that of a second course in Statistics. We will refresh basic knowledge of Probability, Statistical Inference (Estimation and Testing), t-tests, simple cases of Regression and ANOVA, Experimental Design, Nonparametric Tests, and Chi-square Tests. Some time is reserved to discuss statistical problems of the participants.

On the 1st of May the new date for the Spring School courses will be announced, participants who had registered will be prioritized for the new dates.

On the 1st of May you will hear about the new date for the Spring School courses, participants who had registered will be prioritized for the new dates.

During the course, the participants will learn about the basic concepts of resilience and their application, from an interdisciplinary perspective. Accordingly, we will address how resilience theory can be used to tackle fundamental and societal issues from a socioeconomic and bio-physical perspective and will provide a critical reflection on the relevance, use, and applicability of the concept of resilience.

The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to R, a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. Focus of the course will be on getting familiar with the R environment, to use R for manipulation and exploration of data, and to perform simple statistical analyses. Hands-on exercises will form a large part of the workshop.

In this module we continue with Regression, ANOVA, and ANCOVA, set in the general framework of Linear Models. We look at topics like parameter estimation and interpretation, checking model assumptions, regression diagnostics, analysis of unbalanced designs and multiple comparisons.

In this module we study how to analyse data that are not normally distributed. We look at fractions (logistic regression), counts (Poisson regression, log-linear models), ordinal data (threshold models), and overdispersion. We discuss (quasi-) maximum likelihood estimation and the deviance.

Wageningen University is organising a laboratory skills course to define which measurements of soil biology are relevant for which soil functions. This course will provide the participants with an overview of a range of methods related to the five soil functions and will provide detailed practical training in a subset of measures.

In this module we discuss how to analyse data for which the assumption of independence is violated. So: Do you have a nested experimental set-up? Or repeated measurements? Or weight of the same animal over time? Or pseudo-replication? Then, you are likely to need Mixed Models. In this course, you will learn all about it!

This course is actually a follow-up of the " Resilience of Living systems" course which focusses on the basic concepts of resilience in an array of living system (cell to globe) while this course clearly focusses on using ABM to analyse the resilience of systems.

Researchers trying to summarize the constantly growing body of published research are increasingly using meta-analysis. The focus of this 2-day course will be on concepts of linear models and mixed linear models in meta-analysis. The statistical software R will be used.

Intercropping is the next frontier for diversifying agriculture and increasing its productivity, resource use efficiency and resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses. Given the challenges of biodiversity decline and climate change it might well be that intercropping is one of the solutions to strengthen the resilience of cropping systems to these environmental threats and sustain food security. Nevertheless intercropping is not a common practice in the Western world. The question is why.

The central theme of this course is the development of resilient seed systems (RSS) with participatory breeding programs (PPB) that are responsive to the needs of farmers and society as a whole. The focus is on longer-term solutions for sustainable, agro-ecological agriculture in the broad sense, departing from the underlying question: how to move food systems forward in the South and the North?

In this third edition of the European Forestry course, organised under the flag of the Euro League for Life Sciences (ELLS), we aim to shed light on the current management strategies of European forests, and how to adjust these to become climate-smart. There is much variation in forest management across Europe, at least in part based on differences in ecology, economics, social perceptions, ethics and morality towards forests and the resources and services they provide. The idea of this course is to bring PhD candidates and postdocs from various countries and cultural backgrounds, and working in different scientific disciplines but related to European forests, together in a professional on-site training course. The course will be organised at the BOKU training centre “Traunkirchen” in Austria. This venue is perfect for this course, as it sits in a location that is surrounded by forests that are managed in a varied way, so as to provide excellent learning experiences for the participants. A travel subsidy is available for PE&RC PhD candidates.

The course aims at assisting steps towards a holistic understanding of the complex social-ecological landscape that is the northern Maloti-Drakensberg. Centered on the Bergville/Mont-aux-Sources/Royal Natal National Park area, the course will provide an opportunity for an in-depth study of the ecological and social processes that drive change (for good or bad) in this region.