Education 

NEWS:
We have a refreshed BIFoR Education website for KS3, GCSE and A level resources. BIFoR Education is a free online learning platform for schools that contains everything you need to bring BIFoR to a classroom near you! An explanding set of engaging, curriculum linked activities have been developed. We also have a free STEM kit for schools including equipment needed to measure trees - BIFoR in a box! 

BIFoR now has 61 doctoral students either completing or having recently completed research related to forested landscapes and we need more! We have a growing number of academics ready to supervise students wishing to study trees, woodlands and forests! 

There are many opportunities for University undergraduates and masters students to get involved with BIFoR FACE research including collecting primary data, using secondary data and volunteering. 

Please click on the + symbol below to expand more information on each of these areas.  

 new virtual BIFoR

 

Doctoral Research

There are now  61 PhD students completing research related to forested landscapes, 14 of which are working on research directly linked to the BIFoR FACE facility.  Details of the projects underway are available on our Doctoral Research page. 

BIFoR advertise doctoral research opportunities through the year. Opportunities are also listed on the University of Birmingham Doctoral ReSEARCHer Database and FindAPhD.  Did you know there is now a new "Forestry" filter? 

CENTA

Opportunities arise annually through the Central England NERC Training Alliance (CENTA) CENTA is a consortium of Universities and research institutes that are working together to provide excellence in doctoral research training. Funded by The Natural Environment Research Council.  CENTA is a consortium of Universities and research institutes that are working together to provide excellence in doctoral research training. Funded by The Natural Environment Research Council.  New opportunities are being advertised now. The forested landscape positions are:  

CENTA PhD studenships related to trees currently available are listed below and many more are advertised on the CENTA website. 

MIBTP 

The Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership Doctoral Programme  

Forest Edge Doctoral Scholarship programme

The Forest Edge Doctoral Scholarship programme offered 18 Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships at the University of Birmingham.  This Scholarship programme is no longer available, however our Forest Edge Training Programme continues and anyone new to the University who is completing research related to trees, woodlands and forests has the opportunity to join our monthly training sessions.  Students choosing to become involved in the Forest Edge programme, benefit from engaging with an interdisciplinary group of students for knowledge sharing and training. 

Dual Award with University of Western Sydney

BIFoR has opportunities for Dual Award PhDs with the University of Western Sydney.  The latest opportunities have just recently closed but future opportunities will be listed here.  Academic staff from BIFoR and University of Western Sydney will work together to develop projects and identify potential supervisors from each institution.  Students can split their research between BIFoR FACE and EucFACE.

 

Masters

Potential students interested in our research themes may like to consider some of the taughter masters courses listed below.

More and more masters students are choosing to complete their dissertation topic with data from / samples from the BIFoR FACE Facility.  For example, Sam Walrond, took the opportunity to work alongside Angeliki Kourmouli and Dr Rebecca Bartlett to look at "Soil Water Cation Chemistry Under Elevated CO2 Conditions at BIFoR FACE" and Nina Karvik looked at 'Changes in the leaf chemistry of Oak trees under elevated CO2 conditions at BIFoR FACE.'

Some of the students enrolled in the following courses are volunteering with BIFoR and/or using the BIFoR FACE facility for their end of year project. 

MSc Human Sciences 

MSc Global Environmental Change and Sustainability

MSc in Applied Meteorology and Climatology

MSc in Environmental Health

PG Dip/ MSc in Air Pollution Management and Control

MSc in River Environments and their Management

MSc Toxicology

MRes Molecular Mechanistic Toxicology

Global Environmental Change and Sustainability course

 

Undergraduate

There are now two new Undergraduate / Masters degree programmes that are taught by and incorporate the research of BIFoR colleagues:  MSci Human Sciences and MSci Global Environmental Change and Sustainability.

Students at the University of Birmingham might like to consider the module Critical Issues for 21st Century Ecosystems if they are interested in the work of BIFoR as there are clear links in this module.  

Global Environmental Change and Sustainability Course


More and more undergraduate students are choosing to complete their dissertation topic with data from / samples from the BIFoR FACE Facility.  This could be both primary and secondary data.  For example, Sam Walrond, took the opportunity to work alongside Dr Angeliki Kourmouli and Dr Rebecca Bartlett to look at "Soil Water Cation Chemistry Under Elevated CO2 Conditions at BIFoR FACE" and Nina Karvik looked at 'Changes in the leaf chemistry of Oak trees under elevated CO2 conditions at BIFoR FACE.'

Students can also volunteer with BIFoR.  This has proven popular for many students and we have logged over 4,000 hours of volunteering! Students also receive a reference and 'service awards' from BIFoR for their time. We have some lovely examples of students that have volunteered with us, then found part-time work during their degree with us and/or graduate and come and work with us afterwards. 

A Level / GCSE including Teaching Resources

There is a whole host of resources for schools our our new webpage

Find out about the BIFoR in a Box project and discover how you can get involved. 

 

In collaboration with the Higher Education Futures Institute (HEFI) team BIFoR have developed a number of teaching resources for KS3, KS4 and KS5. The resources are available, on our 'BIFoR Educational Resources' site. Visitors to the site can explore the BIFoR FACE facility at their own pace, clicking on the arrows to move forward, and on the numbered dots to find out more information. 
new virtual BIFoRBIFoR Education website 

 Examples of the current educational resources available are: 
i) a resource to teach students about transpiration using sap flow information taken from instruments installed in the BIFoR FACE woodland
ii) a resource to teach students about plant cell organisation / photosynthetic reaction / how plants use glucose using measurements of tree growth from dendrometers installed in the BIFoR FACE woodland 
iii) a resource to teach students about infection and response in particular the fungal disease Rose black spot using images of sycamore leaves collected from the leaf litter traps at the BIFoR FACE woodland. 

It is an exciting opportunity to engage schools and other members of the public who may not be able to visit the FACE site.

We do offer schools an opportunity to visit the BIFoR FACE facility  who are able to make the journey to the facility in Staffordshire. If you would be interested in learning more about a visit or to book a visit please contact bifor@contacts.bham.ac.uk. 

Further great teaching resources linked to forests are available on the Forest Education Network England Resource Hub.
Further information on careers in forestry can be found on the new forestry careers website. There are number of great videos to watch including interviews with a people involved in a variety of roles.   

new virtual BIFoR updated