Experimental Design and Data Analysis of Breeding Trials
In this course, students are taught principles of experimental design of trials and statistical analysis of trial data with a special emphasis to linear and generalized linear methods, mixed models, analysis of multi-environment trials using different statistical methods
Practical Computing for Life Scientists
This course offers a practical introduction to advanced computer use for the analysis of biological data. It is focused on technical aspects of handling large data files, working on remote computers running the Linux operating system using the command line (shell), and developing practical programming/scripting skills. There will be some emphasis on biological molecules (DNA,
Systems Analysis and Modelling
This course introduces students to systems approaches for analysing ecological and agro-ecosystems through quantitative simulation models. Students learn to formulate and specify dynamic models, evaluate model performance using statistical methods and inverse modelling, and simulate spatial processes using partial differential equations. Topics include population and nutrient dynamics, dispersal, vegetation patterning, and model calibration. Programming is
Gene Technology
Recombinant DNA technology has brought about a revolution in our understanding of molecular processes in living organisms. To date, there is no field in experimental biology that has remained untouched by the potential of isolating, analyzing and manipulating genes and organisms. Thus, gene technology provides essential tools in both fundamental and applied medical, industrial, agricultural,
Data Science for Plant Breeding and Genetics
One of the major goals for plant breeders is to identify candidate varieties that are well adapted to the set of environmental conditions that are relevant for the agricultural system of interest. To achieve this goal, breeders characterize their genotypes in multi-environment trials or in phenotyping platforms. The ranking of genotypes might change across trials,
Climate Smart Agriculture
Agriculture contributes significantly to global warming through large scale greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time many agriculture systems are vulnerable to climate change and without adaptation global food production could significantly reduce affecting food security. In response to these challenges the concept of climate smart agriculture has been developed. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) aims to
Plant Breeding
This course introduces students to key principles of plant breeding. Plant breeding is the science-driven creative process of changing the traits of plants in order to develop new plant varieties. Several essential approaches and tools used in the process are discussed: different modes of reproduction, selection methods, including molecular selection methods, the production of hybrid
Plant Biotechnology
During the course, lectures will be given to introduce various aspects of Plant Biotechnology. The first set of lectures outlines the techniques used in Plant Biotechnology, including recent developments such as gene editing, and in the second set, specific examples of application of these techniques and the effects on science and society are provided. Societal
Molecular Systems Biology
Nowadays increasing numbers of complete genomic sequences are available and methods have been developed to study system wide gene expression, protein abundances and interactions and metabolite formation. Systems biology integrates the results of the different omics techniques in order to understand how they work together by using dedicated analysis and visualisation techniques (e.g. machine learning,
Data Management
This course covers database design and the use of databases in applications, with a focus on applications in the life sciences. Topics include the relational model, database design principles, the structured query language (SQL), including temporal and spatial queries. Data lifecycle topics and contemporary issues for data scientists and practitioners are also introduced, i.e. big