Faculty of Science

Plant beneficial and plant pathogenic microorganisms
Provider: Faculty of Science

Activity no.: 5134-26-00-00	There are 30 available seats
	Enrollment deadline: 15/04/2026

Place	Department of Biology
Date and time	08.06.2026, at: 09:00 - 12.06.2026, at: 16:00
Regular seats	30
Lecturers	Flemming Ekelund
ECTS credits	2.50

Contact person	Flemming Ekelund E-mail address: fekelund@bio.ku.dk

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

Enrolment guidelines This is a specialised course where 50% of the seats are reserved to PhD students enrolled at the Faculty of SCIENCE at UCPH and 50% of the seats are reserved to other applicants. 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. *Requirements for signing up* Applicants must apply for the course and also send submit half page motivation letter and support letter from their supervisor. The letter must be sent to Flemming Ekelund (fekelund@bio.ku.dk) Aim and Content The course aims to introduce the students to plant-associated microorganisms through theoretical and practical engagement with experts in the field of microbiome research in plants and other hosts in terrestrial ecosystems. We aim to unravel the role of microorganisms in the One Health concept, i.e. to teach students about the role of microorganisms in sustainable and unified optimization of health of people, animals and plants. We will tackle the topics such as the role of microorganisms in plant and animal systems, comprising both symbiotic and antagonistic relationships. We will focus on belowground plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions. Major topics will be plant-pathogen interactions and beneficial plant-microbiome interactions. We will also comprise the drivers of plant- and animal-microbiome interactions such as global change factors and intrinsic host-microbiome associations. We will round up the course with knowledge on the management practices for a sustainable plant growth. Our course aims to bridge the gap between the theoretical studies and research experience. Therefore, we aim to organize practical exercises for the students along with the lectures. We plan to start our course with a poster session where the students will introduce themselves and their own work. We aim to distribute the relevant literature to the students and ask them to do their own literature research for the course. The course will end with a presentation of the practical work and an engaging discussion on how the acquired knowledge from the course can be applied to the students’ own work. Learning outcomes Intended learning outcome for the students who complete the course: Knowledge: • Holobiont – relevance, methods and application • Plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere and aboveground • Nematode-protist-microbe interactions • Sustainable management practices for plant growth Skills: • Literature review • Scientific writing and presentation • Structure of scientific review • Ability to design an expriment/project • Competences: • Individual and team work • Project management • Bridging and application of acquired knowledge to students’ own work Target Group PhD students working with microbiome related research Recommended Academic Qualifications Master of Science in biology, microbiology, nematology or similar qualifications Research Area Biology, plant pathology, microbiology, nematology Teaching and Learning Methods Lectures, exercises, individual and group work, excursions, data analyses, report writing Type of Assessment Attendance Poster presentation Presentation of group work Report on and critical evaluation of the teaching Literature State of the art scientific papers Course coordinator Flemming Ekelund Guest Lecturers - Regin Rønn (Unit for Plant Health and Feed Composition, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark) - Ahmed Abdelfattah (Leibniz Institute for Agrotechnology and Bioeconomy) -Olivera Topalovic (INRAE, Institute for Genetics, Environment and Plant Protection) - Rute Andreia Rodrigues da Fonseca (Section for Biodiversity, University of Copenhagen) Dates June 8th – 12th 2026 Course location Nørre-campus Course fee • Participant fee: 0 DKK • PhD student enrolled at SCIENCE: 0 DKK • PhD student from Danish PhD school Open market: 0 DKK • PhD student from Danish PhD school not Open market: 3000 DKK • PhD student from foreign university: 3000 DKK • Master's student from Danish university: 0 DKK • Master's student from foreign university: 3000 DKK • Non-PhD student employed at a university (e.g., postdocs): 3000 DKK • Non-PhD student not employed at a university (e.g., from a private company): 8400 DKK 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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