Education

National strengths

To choose your subject, you may wish to consider the strengths at the involved universities:

Strengths at HU-AF (Helsinki, Finland):
Viral diseases of perennial and clonally reproducing host plants (including potato, berries and tropical crops such as sweet potato and cassava)
Infection strategies of plant pathogenic bacteria
Use of molecular methods, such as gene silencing, microarray analysis and proteomics, to study plant-pathogen interactions in agricultural and forest ecosystems
Ecology and epidemiology of plant disease including forest microbes, wild plant-pathogen interactions and agricultural systems

Strengths at KU-LIFE (Copenhagen, Denmark):
Infection and resistance biology with special emphasis on molecular, physiological, structural and populations aspects
Biological plant disease management
Diagnostics of plant pathogens (classical and molecular)
Seed pathological aspects in relation to the developing countries

Strength at LBHI (Reykjavik, Iceland)
Forest pathology
To be compleeted later

Strengths at SLU (Uppsala, Sweden):
Plant disease epidemiology in agriculture and forest production systems
Population biology and population genetics of plant pathogens
Use of molecular methods to study plant pathogens from individual to community level
Characterization of genetics of fungal and viral pathogens, and plant molecular responses to biotic stress

Strengths at UMB (Ås, Norway):
Close collaboration and localisation within the research center "Bioforsk Plantehelse", that employees approximately 30 plant pathologists, including specialists on oomycete plant pathogens, and a "Clinic" for diagnosis of plant pathogens (classical and molecular methods)
Plant health legislation and pest risk assessment
Induced disease resistance
Unique competence in low temperature plant pathogenic fungi

Facilities at participating universities
Areas for field experiments are located in the near vicinity of the universities. Also controlled environment facilities and greenhouses are available for research. Molecular laboratories are very well equipped, and the students have access to modern microscopes, including confocal microscope units.