EWRS Training Course "II° Weed Seedling Identification course"
3-days-training course of the EWRS WGs "Soil Seed Bank, Germination and Early Growth" and "Education and Training"
University of Lleida, Spain, 19th to 21st of March 2025
EWRS Training Course from 19-21 March 2025
The EWRS Working groups “Soil Seed Bank, Germination and Early Growth” and “Education & Training” are organizing a 3-day in-depth training course on the identification of weed seedlings from 19th to 21st March 2025. During the course, lectures, practical sessions and field excursions will be used for training on the identification of weed species at an early growth stage. The course is aimed at early career and senior scientists that want to improve their practical knowledge on weed identification.
Aside from deepening your weed identification skills knowledge, this course also offers an excellent opportunity to broaden your network and to interact with scientists from all over Europe. Additionally, students can be awarded 3.0 ECTS-credit points from the University of Lleida (Spain) when successfully participating in the course.
Local organizing group: Weed Science and Plant Ecology research group
The consolidated research group of Weed Science and Plant Ecology (grem.udl.cat/en/) of the University of Lleida will oversee the course. This group has a long experience organizing weed seedling identification courses at a national level. The specialized course on winter weed seedling and diaspore identification is in its 28th edition, while the weed identification in summer crops is going to have its 18th edition in May 2025. Besides, members of this research group have imparted over 70 weed seedling identification courses to phytochemical companies, such as Bayer Cropsciences, Corteva Agriscience, Syngenta, SIPCAM, ARAGRO among others. All these courses have been given in Spanish, while the current course offered under the auspicious of the EWRS will be the first one offered in English.
Lecturers from the University of Lleida (Spain)
Dr. Aritz Royo Esnal
Dr. Joel Torra
Dr. Jordi Recasens
Dates of the course: 19 - 21 March 2025
Venue
Lleida is situated in Catalonia, in the north-east of Spain. The city is located surrounding a hill (Turó de la Seu Vella) and beneath a river (Segre river), it is 167 m a.s.l. It was founded by the Iberians some centuries BC and conquered by the romans in 206 BC. Although there are few remains from these times, the middle age legacy is rich, where the old cathedral of the hill of the Seu Vella (which literally means Old Cathedral) stands out. Due to the long presence of the boundary between Muslims and Christians, the surroundings of Lleida are full of castles and lookout towers.
The course will take place at the School of Agronomy, Food, Forestry, Biotechnology and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lleida (Spain) (Figure 1). Lleida can easily be reached with fast trains from Barcelona (1h), Zaragoza (45’) and Madrid (2h 10’).
Figure 1: Left, location of the School of Agronomy, Food, Forestry Biotechnology and Veterinary Medicine (ETSEAFIV) in Lleida, and right, situation of Lleida (Lérida) with respect to Barcelona, Madrid and Zaragoza.
Course Organizers
Dr. Aritz Royo Esnal (University of Lleida, Spain)
Dr. Aleksandra Savić (Institute for Plant Protection and Environment, Serbia)
Local Coordinator
Dr. Aritz Royo Esnal
Department of DCEFA, ETSEA,
University of Lleida-Agrotecnio
Lleida, Spain
aritz.royo@udl.cat
Accommodation
Lleida has plenty of accommodation services with hotels, apartments and hostels.
Please DOWNLOAD the PDF with all useful information.
Number of participants and costs
The course will be limited to a maximum of 25 attendees. All attendees must be members of the EWRS, those who would like to attend the course must previously become EWRS members (one-year fee of 60€ for ordinary members, 30€ for students).
Registration fees are:
Senior scientists: 165 €
Master/PhD students: 135 €
The fees will cover the documentation, buses to field excursions, coffee breaks and the gala dinner on 20 March.
Travel grants are offered for young scientists (i.e. Master-students, PhD-students and scientists younger than 35 years of age) which will refund part of their travel expenses. Travel grants can be applied for by sending an e-mail to Aritz Royo-Esnal (aritz.royo@udl.cat) and Aleksandra Savić (aleksandra.m.savic@gmail.com) not later than 21st February 2025. The grant distribution between all applicants will be announced on 25th February 2025.
The maximum amount of the travel refund cannot exceed 600€. If the applicant is not an EWRS-member, an amount equal to the yearly EWRS fee (30€ for students and 60€ for regular members) will be deducted from the subsidy, and the applicant will be enrolled in EWRS for a year.
Applications for the travel grant need to include in their e-mail:
- A short motivation letter (limited to one page).
- A brief curriculum vitae (limited to one page).
- An estimate of the costs for travel and accommodation
- A statement from the home institute/supervisor that they will cover the remainder of the expenses for travel and accommodation, should the travel grant be awarded.
Successful applicants will be informed about the allocation of subsidy by the organizers in due time. The EWRS does not provide the subsidy in advance. Travel expenses will be reimbursed to subsidiaries by bank transfer after active participation in the workshop. Details on reimbursements and declaration forms will be provided later by the EWRS Treasurer.
Registration
Please send your registration by e-mail to Aritz Royo-Esnal (aritz.royo@udl.cat) and Aleksandra Savić (aleksandra.m.savic@gmail.com) before 7 March 2025 with the course application form attached. Participants applying for the travel grants should also attach the above-mentioned documents.
The period for paying the registration fee will be opened in late February 2025. All accepted participants will be informed when the paying period will be opened to proceed with the registration.