Doctoral Studentships

Meet the Researchers

At the heart of the FutureForests network are 15 PhD students who are early in their forestry research careers. Over the four years of the project, these doctoral researchers (DRs) will be trained up as the next generation of experts, advancing their knowledge, developing their innovative research, and fostering partnerships which they can take forward into their future careers. 

Shova Akter (University of Birmingham)

DR8 Project Title: Assessing Soil Carbon Dynamics under Elevated CO₂ at BIFoR-FACE

Roxanne Schinas (University of Bologna)

PhD Project Title: Effects of Nitrogen Deposition on Forest Productivity and Nitrogen Dynamics

Hongshan Zhang (University of Bologna)

PhD Project Title: Effects of Nitrogen Deposition on Forest Biodiversity and Microbiome

Marie Bellanger (Technical University of Munich)

PhD Project Title: tree carbon allocation to the rhizosphere and related microbial processes as well as changes of biodiversity in forest soils under recurrent drought

Abiodun Oladipo (University of Birmingham)

PhD Project Title: Evaluation of biotic and abiotic stress in oak under atmospheric and elevated CO₂​

Verena Koppe (Swiss Federal Research Institute)

PhD Project Title: Soil organic matter dynamics under altered water availability in a dry Scots pine forest

Alberto Mattia Perronace (University of Innsbruck)

PhD Project Title: Tree water and carbon dynamics in a subalpine forest under recurrent drought: does drought history matter?

Sofia Berlanda (Forest Research Institute - ELGO-FRI)

PhD Project Title: Effects of understory removal on C sequestration, fire risk and soil biodiversity in Mediterranean pine forests​

Céline Sijlmans (Swiss Federal Research Institute)

PhD Project Title: Carbon balance under dual droughts: Disentangling the effects of soil and atmospheric moisture on tree sink and source dynamics in European forests

Saniya Peter (Aix Marseilles University)

PhD Project Title: Drought and soil warming effects on soil biodiversity and organic matter decomposition and soil C fluxes​

Valentina Lara Rivera (University of Exeter)

PhD Project Title: Simulating the response of European forest to heatwaves

Aditi Panda (University of Birmingham)

PhD Project Title: Impact of elevated CO2, heatwaves and soil drought on thermal tolerance and C sequestration in plants

Yue Hu (University of Innsbruck)

PhD Project Title: Physiological and biochemical responses of forest trees to drought and elevated CO₂

Marco Falda (University of Athens)

PhD Project Title: Modelling the effect of understory removal of C-fluxes and fire risk in Mediterranean forests

Sahil Narwal (University of Tartu)

PhD Project Title: Effect of Elevated Air Humidity and Soil Moisture on Functioning and Growth of Hemiboreal Tree Species

Learn more about the students