The latest IUFRO-EFI collaboration, the Young Scientists Initiative (YSI), is a great opportunity for IFSA students.

The program provides an opportunity for PhD students and researchers from Africa, Asia and Latin America, through short scientist visits, to establish international relations with leading universities and scientists in forest science in Europe. The grant provides a trip for productive cooperation, which provides the grantee with great opportunities, for example, developing skills, writing scientific papers, to improve his/her own research and establishing productive relationships with colleagues of the host country.

One of the participants in the 2019 goal program was Joice Aline Freiberg, a Ph.D. student of Soil Science at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Brazil, working on the project “Potentials of use of mycorrhization of plantation forests in Brazil with edible mushrooms and truffles”, in collaboration with the Slovenian Forestry Institute, explores the theme “Forest for people”. The work is aimed at studying non-wood products, namely truffles and edible mushrooms, in the neotropics, especially on plantations. By their contribution, they improve the attitude of farmers to forest areas through the creation of alternative methods of income, for example, the development of ecotourism with use of edible fungi. During her stay in Slovenia, a program participant helped to process roots for morphological and molecular identification, participated in an expedition to collect mushrooms in the forest and on hazelnut and oak plantations, visited truffle plantations, had the opportunity to get overview of Slovenian forestry management in spruce monocultures, natural mixed stands, and natural regeneration, which directly affected the scientific work. The participant was very pleased with the YSI experience.

Thus, the YSI gives young scientists the necessary impetus to the beginning of an international scientific career, as well as uniting young specialists, contributes to solving the challenges of forest and forestry.

More information you will find following the link to the IUFRO web-site: https://www.iufro.org/science/special/spdc/ysi/

Any queries should be sent to the Secretary of the Review Committee, Mr Daniel Boehnke; boehnke(at)iufro.org.