The FutureForests Doctoral Network officially launched its activities with its Year 1 Training School, held from July 8th to 10th, 2026 at the University of Birmingham in the UK. The three-day inaugural event brought together Doctoral Researchers (DRs), Principal Investigators (PIs), and Associated Partners (APs) from across Europe under the core theme: “Foundation of Good Science, Team Building, and Experimental Research Designs”.
The Year 1 Training School was designed to establish a solid foundation for the 15 recruited Doctoral Researchers, with the primary goals of:
- Introducing the network’s 9 flagship experimental facilities and their scientific designs
- Providing essential training in experimental design, data archiving, open science, and research ethics
- Facilitating face-to-face team building, networking, and allow DRs to plan their secondments directly with hosting supervisors
- Helping researchers establish their personalized Career Development Plans (CDPs) and set research goals
The three days of the Training School were filled with lectures, seminars, presentations, discussions, and lots of networking and team building. The second day included a visit to the University of Birmingham’s BIFoR-FACE facility in Staffordshire, one of the world’s largest climate change experiments simulating elevated atmospheric (CO_2) in a mature temperate oak forest.
The Training School provided a valuable opportunity for network members to meet in person to establish working relationships and build a sense of community. As one DR commented:
“For me, the most valuable thing was that we now had the opportunity to meet each other in person and to network. It feels much easier now to establish collaborations and to reach out to others”