Romanian Forestry Research Institute Launches International Training Initiative Through ForestValue2 Project
The “Marin Drăcea” National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry will organize the international Summer Training Course “Dendroscience, a tool to understand future forest resilience to climate change” as part of the ForestValue2 Project initiative focused on advancing forest-based bioeconomy innovation across Europe from 24th-29th of August 2026.
The course is organized under the Horizon Europe-funded project Innovating Forest-based Bioeconomy and forms part of Work Package 6 dedicated to joint training activities for early-stage researchers.
Hosted with the support of Transilvania University of Brașov, the program aims to strengthen scientific capacity in dendroscience and climate resilience research among emerging researchers from EU-13 countries and neighboring regions.
Understanding Forest Resilience Through Tree-Ring Science
The Summer Training Course will focus on the use of tree-ring parameters to assess drought impacts, forest resilience, and climate–growth relationships in support of sustainable forest ecosystem management and climate adaptation strategies.
Participants will receive specialized training in dendrochronology, combining theoretical foundations with practical methodologies for sampling, measurement, and chronology development. The course also emphasizes resilience assessment, pointer-year analysis, and climate–growth relationship analysis across multiple temporal scales.
The program is designed to bridge scientific research with practical forest management applications, enabling researchers and decision-makers to better anticipate future climate-related risks affecting forest ecosystems.
An additional objective of the course is to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among experts working in ecology, hydrology, climatology, and related environmental sciences.
International Lecturers and Research Collaboration
The invited lecturers include Tom LEVANIC from the Slovenian Forestry Institute and Ionel POPA, Head of the Dendrochronology and Wood Anatomy Laboratory at the Romanian forestry research institute.
The training is targeted primarily at early-stage researchers from EU-13 countries — including Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic states — as well as participants from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.
Researchers with limited or no previous experience in dendroscience are encouraged to apply. Participation is open to master’s, doctoral, and post-doctoral researchers, with a maximum of 20 participants selected.
Financial Support and Application Process
The ForestValue2 Project will provide full financial support covering travel, accommodation, and subsistence expenses for selected participants.
Applicants are required to submit:
- A Europass CV
- Full contact details and address
- An application email with the subject line: “FOREST VALUE2 – SUMMER TRAINING COURSE”
Applications must be sent to Ecaterina Apostol at by June 10, 2026.
Selected participants will be informed of the results on June 15, 2026, and will subsequently receive details regarding registration and presentation of their own research contributions.
The course will be hosted by the National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Drăcea” together with Transilvania University of Brașov in Romania.
Here is full Programm and practicalities.
