Faculty of Science

AgroEnvironmental Modelling with Daisy
Provider: Faculty of Science

Activity no.: 5717-26-00-00	There are 20 available seats
	Enrollment deadline: 01/06/2026

Place	Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
Date and time	31.08.2026, at: 09:00 - 04.09.2026, at: 16:00
Regular seats	20
Lecturers	Bjarne W. Strobel
ECTS credits	2.50

Contact person	Maja Holbak E-mail address: maja.holbak@plen.ku.dk

Enrolment Handling/Course Organiser	PhD Administration SCIENCE E-mail address: phdcourses@science.ku.dk

Enrolment guidelines This is a toolbox course where 80% of the seats are reserved for PhD students enrolled at the Faculty of SCIENCE at UCPH and 20% of the seats are reserved for PhD students from other Danish Universities/faculties (except CBS). Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules. Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at a Danish university (except CBS), you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to applicants on the waiting list. Type of Assessment For the short version of the course (2,5 ECTS) simple attendance and participation in the full-week program is required. For the long version of the course (7.5 ECTS) simple attendance and participation in the full-week program is required, followed by a project work ending with a written assignment and oral examination. Grading scale will be passed / not passed. To obtain the assessment "passed", the students must show both knowledge, skills, and competences without major weaknesses in more than two areas. Registration After you have applied for enrolment, please write to mail daisy@ku.dk and state if you will be following the long or short version of the course. Aim and Content The aim of the course is to give the students an introduction to the 1D/2D DAISY agro-ecological model. It covers the main processes in DAISY: • Water flow (matrix and biopore flow) • Solute transport (mineral N, DOC/DON, pesticides, particles, natural toxins, etc.) • Heat transport • Soil organic matter turnover • Soil vegetation atmosphere transfer of water and energy • Crop model, including a new dynamic litter (residues) layer on the soil surface • Management practices (conservation vs conventional ag systems) • And recent developments in terms of N20, PFAS, and Nitrification Inhibitors. The course includes a series of short presentations, each followed by hands-on group exercises where participants learn how to use the Daisy agro- ecological simulation model and analyze a simple, pre-defined system. Specifically, students will learn how to prepare data for the model, run the model, and extract and analyze output from it. Students are encouraged to present their scientific topics and their plans for testing their hypotheses/research questions using Daisy. Learning outcomes Knowledge: • The function of the major components in Daisy • How the main components in Daisy act together • How to find details on how the Daisy model functions • How to prepare input data for Daisy • How to extract output for traditional model applications Skills: • Students can apply the Daisy model for traditional agroecological system analyses including effects on the water cycle (e.g. evapotranspiration and runoff), the carbon cycle (e.g. crop production) and the nitrogen cycle (e.g. nitrate leaching). • Students can make use of the model for some more specialized analyses as for instance the leaching of pollutants like pesticides or natural toxins to ground water and surface waters. Competences: • Can extract and analyse relevant figures from model simulations with Daisy. • Can interpret results of this analysis and draw right conclusions. • Can apply the Daisy model in testing the formulated hypotheses. Target Group The course aims at PhD students working with agriculture and environmental modelling, within fields such as soil physics, environmental science and agronomy Recommended Academic Qualifications A master within the fields soil science, environmental science, geography, agronomy or similar. Specifically, knowledge, skills, and competences equivalent to what can be obtained from the master course Applied Agrohydrology I. Research Area Agriculture, Soil Physics, Environmental Science, Soil Science. Teaching and Learning Methods The teaching will require active participation of students by means of exercises and real, targeted model work, discussions, group work, etc. The students must bring their own computers (Windows or Mac, not locked for software installation). In the second part of the course, the knowledge obtained during the first week is used in a more realistic system analysis. PhD students will typically formulate a scenario based on their own thesis work. The students will individually formulate hypothesis based on their chosen scenario, and they will use the Daisy model to test these hypotheses. During this phase there will be no lectures as such, but consultations with teachers as per individual agreement. Some sessions may be arranged with general instructions and presentations by students of their project. The work will be documented in the form of an individual course report. Course coordinator Bjarne W. Strobel, Associate Professor, Plant and Environmental Sciences Guest Lecturers Efstathios Diamantopoulos, Professor, Soil Physics, BAYCEER, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, University of Bayreuth. Stathis will contribute with lectures on soil physics and water flow in soil, and how this is modelled in Daisy, during the first two days of the course. Dates Teaching 31st of August – 4th of September, followed by project work. Course location University of Copenhagen. Deadline for registration 1st of June 2026 Expected frequency Annually Requirements for signing up Seats to PhD students from other Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules. Applications from other participants will be considered after the deadline for registration. Course fee Short course (2,5 ECTS) • Participant fee: DKK 0 • PhD student enrolled at SCIENCE: DKK 0 • PhD student from Danish PhD school Open market: DKK 0 • PhD student from Danish PhD school not Open market: DKK 3.000 • PhD student from foreign university: DKK 3.000. • Master's student from Danish university: DKK 0 • Master's student from foreign university: DKK 3.000 • Non-PhD student employed at a university (e.g., postdocs): DKK 3.000 • Non-PhD student not employed at a university (e.g., from a private company): DKK 8.400 Extended course (7,5 ECTS) Participant fee: DKK 0 • PhD student enrolled at SCIENCE: DKK 0 • PhD student from Danish PhD school Open market: DKK 0 • PhD student from Danish PhD school not Open market: DKK 9.000 • PhD student from foreign university: DKK 9.000 • Master's student from Danish university: DKK 0 • Master's student from foreign university: DKK 9.000 • Non-PhD student employed at a university (e.g., postdocs): DKK 9.000 • Non-PhD student not employed at a university (e.g., from a private company): DKK 25.200 Cancellation policy • Cancellations made up to two weeks before the course starts are free of charge. • Cancellations made less than two weeks before the course starts will be charged a fee of DKK 3.000 • Participants with less than 80% attendance cannot pass the course and will be charged a fee of DKK 5.000 • No-show will result in a fee of DKK 5.000 • Participants who fail to hand in any mandatory exams or assignments cannot pass the course and will be charged a fee of DKK 5.000 Course fee and participant fee PhD courses offered at the Faculty of SCIENCE have course fees corresponding to different participant types. In addition to the course fee, there might also be a participant fee. If the course has a participant fee, this will apply to all participants regardless of participant type - and in addition to the course fee.

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