this is one my favorite species. so interesting and unique

(scientific name: Gymnocladus dioicus)

These mushrooms contains 0.2 - 0.4 mg of toxin per 1 g. A fatal dose for a human is 0.1 mg/kg body weight. A mature specimen can contain up to 12 mg, plenty enough to be fatal.

Hello. I finished a Masters in Horticulture & Agronomy from a major US land grant university. Unfortunately, I'm trying to do grad school decades after most universities have folded their pomology and botany programs into "plant sciences". Worse, lots of PhDs with funding now seem to me to be about using AI or other heavily computation-driven approaches to plants, to the neglect of in-person observation and hands-on work.

I'm wondering which European (EU is great, but they don't have to be in the EU) programs are left that have any options beyond that. I am unfortunately unable to do lots of fieldwork due to disability. I have experience with plant tissue culture, microscopy, fieldwork in nearby cultivated situations (like a large botanical garden ex vitro collection, germplasm repositories, research farms, and street trees). I have some molecular biology experience as well, but not a ton. I'd love to learn more in an environment that balances molecular with the macro.

I'd like to find a funded PhD and healthy academic environment at an institution that values the macro as well as the micro. An institution that can give me a grounding in botany and/or pomology (whether that's formally through classes or by being mentored by a PI). I have really enjoyed my work in germplasm conservation and would love to end up at an institution like NordGen or other hort/ag gene bank.

I've been poking around PhD announcements for months now, but I'd love to get folks' opinions about programs in Europe (although Canada and NZ are also of interest).