Organised by: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Course level: Postgraduate level / Doctoral or equivalent third cycle (EQF level 8)

ECTS: 2
Venue: Alnarp, Sweden

Online participation dates:
19 & 26 September 2024
10 & 24 & 31 October 2024

Organised by: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Course level: Postgraduate level / Doctoral or equivalent third cycle (EQF level 8)

Organised by: Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). Faculty of Biosciences

ECTS: 3
Course period: 24 - 28 June 2024. 

Venue: Ås, Norway. 

Field of teaching: Immunonutrition. 

Language of teaching: English. 

Application deadline: 30 April 2024. 

Application method: via email to Dr. Byron Morales Lange the course supervisor, with the following, information: 1 page CV, Thesis topic, Main supervisor and a Motivation letter (200 words maximum).

Aquaculture is an important economic activity across Europe. Although projections from the Food and Agriculture Organization (United Nations) suggest continued growth in the coming decades, fish farming faces challenges related to infectious diseases, environmental conditions and access to novel feed sources. To contribute to solving these problems, immunonutritional strategies have gained interesting relevance in recent years, since they combine (in a holistic approach) aspects of fish health, welfare and nutrition, in addition to environmental sustainability. Thus, through both theoretical classes and laboratory sessions, this NOVA course will focus on: Diet formulation, Feed production and pellet quality, Fish performance, Fish immunology, Microbiota characterization.

Syllabus: Principles of Fish Immunology (Textbook | 2022), Editors Kurt Buchmann, Christopher J. Secombes, Available in: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-85420-1; Fish Nutrition (Textbook | 2022), Editors Ronald W. Hardaym, Sadasivam J. Kaushik. The Fish Microbiota: Research Progress and Potential Applications; Luan, Y., et al (Review | 2023), available in: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2022.12.011.

Contact and/or course organiser: Dr. Byron Morales Lange 

All NOVA courses are arranged locally by each member university. Teachers who would like to arrange a NOVA course should consult the local regulations or focal points, please see below. Funds for teacher mobility can be supported through Erasmus+ or Nordplus, if courses do not have budget for incoming teachers. The local NOVA coordinators may advise on how to apply for this.
According to the NOVA agreement, a course shall have the following characteristics:

• PhD students or specialising post graduate veterinarians from NOVA members are part of the target group.
• The main teachers should be experts in their fields and at least one of them must be employed by the host university.
• The host university guarantees the quality of the course by following their internal requirements for PhD-level or post-graduate veterinarian specialisation courses. The course quality can be subject to follow-up from web-based student evaluations using a NOVA template.
• It is desirable that the course is planned and executed in collaboration between teachers from the host university and other universities, preferably another NOVA member.
• The pedagogic approach builds upon active participation and engagement by all teachers and students during the course. Commonly, the courses contain a classroom/field/lab module combined with distance education modules, but courses can also be completely online.
• If the number of seats is limited, visiting students from other NOVA members should be given priority to at least 25% of the seats, if possible.
• NOVA students do not pay course fees. The hosting university is not obliged to cover expenses for accommodation, food, student travelling and similar expenses.

NOVA the Nordic Forestry, Veterinary and Agricultural University Network

• Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet (Swedish University of Agricultural Science), Sweden (SLU)
• Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet (Norwegian University of Life Sciences), Norway (NMBU)
• Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands (Agricultural University of Iceland), Iceland (LBHI)
• University of Copenhagen - PLEN
• Aarhus University - QGG
• University of Eastern Finland - Forest and EnvBio, (UEF-FE)
• Helsingin yliopisto - Eläinlääketieteellinen tiedekunta (University of Helsinki - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine), Finland, (UH-V)
• Helsingin yliopisto - Maatalous-metsätieteellinen tiedekunta (University of Helsinki - Faculty of Agricultura and Forestry), Finland, (UH-AF)

NOVA Local coordinators

• Denmark: Aarhus University - Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Luc Janss at QGG

• Denmark: University of Copenhagen - Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences (PLEN), NOVA - PHD at PLEN

• Finland: University of Eastern Finland (UEF/FE), Marjoriitta Mottonen at UEF/FE

• Finland: University of Helsinki (UH-AF and UH-V), NOVA Coordinator at UH

• Iceland: Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI/LBHÍ), NOVA Coordinator at LBHÍ

• Norway: Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Anna Lewandowska-Sabat, Anna Lewandowska-Sabat at NMBU

• Sweden: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), NOVA Coordinator at SLU

BOVA University Network (BOVA)

NOVA collaborates closely with The Baltic Forestry, Veterinary and Agricultural University Network, BOVA UN, and encourages course organisers from NOVA to jointly plan courses with colleagues from BOVA universities.