
Participation in courses is free of charge for students from NOVA member universities. Travel and accommodation, however, is usually not covered.

Attend a course
Biological Consequences of Selection
Course level: Postgraduate level / Doctoral or equivalent third cycle (EQF level 8)
Course form: Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP)
ECTS: 5
Venue: Hafjell Øyer, Norway
Course term: 18 - 22 August 2025 (on site); online from 01 June 2025
Maximum number of participants: 20
Course description:
This course explores the consequences of domestication and selective breeding. Students will critically evaluate the ethical implications of animal breeding and examine how domestication and selection has shaped various traits, including performance, behavior, functional attributes, and maternal ability. The course also covers the fundamentals of animal growth, genetic scaling, resource allocation, and feed efficiency, emphasizing the interaction between genetics and environment. Through group discussions and collaborative reflection, students will integrate key concepts and analyze real-world dilemmas in animal breeding and selection. The course fosters a multidisciplinary approach, encouraging students to engage in critical thinking and present informed perspectives on complex challenges in the field.
Application deadline: 01 May 2025; APPLICATION FORM for PhD STUDENTS
Plant breeding for extreme environments
Course level: Postgraduate level / Doctoral or equivalent third cycle (EQF level 8)
ECTS: 5
Venue: Skálholt, Biskupstungur, Iceland
Course term: 05 - 10 October 2025
Online participation period: 16 September 2025
Maximum number of participants: 20
Agriculture must meet large challenges in the coming decades. Crops must be adapted to severe challenges caused by climate change and calls from society for sustainable agricultural practices. With increased temperatures and changing weather patterns, crops must adapt to new conditions, in some cases extreme conditions such as water shortages, water lodging, high temperatures and wind. In other cases, crops must be adapted to new environments, for example arctic agriculture. New methods in plant breeding, including genomic and molecular genetic techniques are essential tools to address these challenges. This course will give doctoral students a broad insight to essential plant breeding techniques to face current and future challenges.
Application period: 01 March - 01 July 2025; APPLICATION FORM
One Health: concept, cases and methodology
Course level: Postgraduate level / Doctoral or equivalent third cycle (EQF level 8)
ECTS: 3
Course format: online only, ZOOM
Course term: 13 - 24 October 2025
Maximum number of participants: 20
Application period: 25 March - 21 September 2025; APPLICATION FORM
01 July 2025
Plant breeding for extreme environments
Organised by:
Agricultural University of Iceland
Course term:
05 - 10 October, 2025
Venue:
Skálholt, Biskupstungur
Iceland
Application period:
01 March - 01 July, 2025
APPLICATION FORM
Course details
01 July 2025
21 September 2025
One Health: concept, cases and methodology
Organised by:
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Online participation term:
13 - 24 October 2025
Course format:
online only, ZOOM
Application deadline:
21 September 2025
Online application form
Course details
Arrange a NOVA Course
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 members
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
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Denmark: Aarhus University - Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Luc Janss at QGG
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Denmark: University of Copenhagen - Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences (PLEN), lma@plen.ku.dk
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Finland: University of Eastern Finland (UEF/FE), Marjoriitta Mottonen at UEF/FE
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Finland: University of Helsinki (UH-AF and UH-V), NOVA Coordinator at UH
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Iceland: Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI/LBHÍ), NOVA Coordinator at LBHÍ
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Norway: Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Anna Lewandowska-Sabat, Anna Lewandowska-Sabat at NMBU
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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.
Member Universities
Agricultural University of Iceland (LBHI)
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
University of Copenhagen - (PLEN)
University of Eastern Finland - Forest and EnvBio
University of Helsinki - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UH-V)
University of Helsinki - Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry (UH-AF)
The NOVA Secretariat
The NOVA secretariat is responsible for the administration of NOVA and has secretarial functions for the Board. In 2023-2025, the secretarial functions are held at the Agricultural University of Iceland (LBHI).
NOVA Secretariat:
Lukáš Pospíšil
nova@lbhi.is
The NOVA Student Board
The NOVA Student Board (NSB) is a forum in which students from the NOVA member institutions can work together and carry out discussions.
The Nova Student Board: