Offered PhD positions
DP‑FOBI focuses on three core research areas and offers the following PhD projects.
Forest inventory and ecosystem modelling
This PhD project applies deep learning and generative AI approaches to identify spatial drivers of forest management and predict natural processes and harvesting.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in forestry or data science, computer science, applied mathematics, statistics, geoinformation sciences, or a closely related field.
This PhD project investigates the dynamics of dead wood in Fennoscandian boreal forests, and quantifies how characteristics of the tree, and its environment influence the rates at which dead wood progresses through decay stages.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in forest ecology, ecology, environmental science, or a closely related field.
This PhD project will develop biometric modelling and data-mining approaches to integrate existing European forestry datasets, with particular attention to plantation forests and intensively managed stands.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in forest sciences, environmental sciences, applied ecology, geoinformatics and modelling, or a closely related field.
The aim of this PhD research is to develop a multisource-data approach for canopy composition characterization and habitat mapping.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in geography, forestry, ecology, environmental science, geoinformatics, computer science, or a closely related field.
This PhD project seeks to enhance forest mensuration, providing novel methods and insights for both the scientific community and practical forestry organizations responsible for large-scale data collection and forest resource management.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in a relevant field such as forestry, geography, geoinformatics, applied statistics, or a closely related field.
Novel forest-based products
This PhD project focuses on the isolation, purification, and functional evaluation of bioactive chemical compounds derived from biomass fractions, with particular emphasis on forest-based side streams such as bark and other lignocellulosic residues.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in biorefining engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, material science, or a closely related field.
This PhD project focuses on enzyme-driven processes for converting renewable lignocellulosic biomasses into bio-oils and high-value biobased chemicals.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, biotechnology, or a closely related field.
This PhD project explores how forest resources can be transformed into innovative food and health-related food ingredients.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in a relevant field, preferably in food science and technology, particularly with a focus on food and health. Relevant academic backgrounds also include biochemistry or chemistry, especially food chemistry; biotechnology or bioengineering; nutrition science or human nutrition, when complemented by laboratory-oriented skills; or environmental science, forestry, or bioeconomy-related disciplines, when complemented by food science-oriented expertise.
This PhD project explores how legal and regulatory frameworks shape innovation from idea to successful commercialization.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in law or a closely related field and has a strong legal background in intellectual property regulation, particularly in patent law, trademark law, or EU intellectual property law in the context of the Digital Single Market.
Market behaviour in bioeconomy
This PhD project focuses on decision-making under novelty, where consumers rely on heuristics and behavioural biases that may hinder the evaluation and uptake of unfamiliar bio-based solutions.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in business administration, marketing, cognitive sciences, innovation studies, or a closely related field.
This PhD project concentrates on scrutinizing the different ways in which forest and nature are conceptualized through various rhetorical, metaphorical, and affective means of expression in the public bioeconomy-related discourses that deal with forest-based suggestions to the societal and environmental problems we are trying to solve.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in languages, translation studies, linguistics, media studies, communication studies, cultural studies, environmental humanities or a closely related field.
This PhD project investigates how discourses and (dis)information about climate, the environment, and climate‑smart solutions spread in digital social media networks.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in linguistics (general or any of its subfields), in computational linguistics, translation studies, or a closely related field relevant to the study of language.
This PhD project investigates how sensory cues influence consumer perceptions and sustainable product choices.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in business administration, marketing, psychology, information systems, or a closely related field, with experience in (advanced) quantitative research methods, behavioral laboratory and experimental research design.
This PhD project examines how different strategic orientations, such as market, innovation, and entrepreneurial orientation, support the bioeconomy transition in forest-based SMEs.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in business administration, marketing, entrepreneurship, management, innovation studies, or a closely related field.
This PhD project develops effective and efficient methodology for sustainability assessment of forest-based companies’ businesses.
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in forestry, business administration, engineering, or a closely related field.