The PhD Program Land, Environment, Resources and Health (LERH; in Italian TARS: Territorio, Ambiente Risorse e Salute) is a multi-disciplinary three-year Doctoral Program (180 ECTS) organized at the Dept. TESAF of the University of Padova.

Mission

LERH Program mission is to understand the processes governing natural and agricultural ecosystems and food quality and to train researchers in integrated strategies for the management of natural resources, for promoting an intersectoral rural and agri-food development and associated bio-based economic activities. The emphasis is on basic and applied research on agri-forest ecosystems, sustainable technologies, innovative management options and integrated policies.

The final objective of the LERH Program is to educate the leaders of the future generations of top management staff and researchers working with sustainable rural, nature and food management to ensure wider societal benefits. 

The five Research areas of the LERH Program are: Agriculture, forest and food economics and policy; Forest ecology and forest management; Hydrology, water resources, land and soil conservation; Agriculture and forest mechanization and operations management; Viticulture and enology, food quality and nutrition.

An international network

LERH has special agreements for the joint or double PhD degree based on co-supervision with the following academic institutions:

• Stellenbosch University, South Africa
• Universidad Austral de Chile
• Universidad Politecnica di Madrid, Spain, PhD “Ingenierìa Forestal”
• Universidad Nacional di Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina, PhD “Agronomia”
• Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brasil, PhD "Engenharia Florestal"
• Universitat de Lleida, Spain, PhD “Gestió Forestal i del Medi Natural”
• Guangzhou University, School of Geographical Science, Guangzhou
• China University of Geosciences, Beijing

The PhD course is also participating to the following International programs for the students and scientists mobility:

• China Scholarship Council (China)
• Ciencia sem Fronteiras (Brazil)
• Mobility CONFAP - Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa (Brazil)
• Coimbra Group Scholarship Programme for Young African Researchers (Africa)
• Coimbra Group Scholarship Programme for Young Researchers from European Neighbouring Countries
• Erasmus Mundus Action 2 SILKROUTE (Central Asia)
• Erasmus Mundus Action 2 El Idrisi (North Africa)