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As a PhD Student at the University of Kassel, Institute of Ecological and Organic Agriculture, I am in the unique position of being able to offer an undergraduate summer internship exchange position through the DAAD RISE (Research in Science and Engineering) Program. If you are not familar with this exchange program, in brief, it allows students from the US, Canada and Great Britain to spend time working in Germany as a research assistant. The database opens on 06 Dec 2014 with application deadlines closing on the 15th of January. I am contacting you directly as the SAFS program at MSU seems to include similar study options to the work which we are doing here in Witzenhausen. As such, it is possible that your students would benefit from this program, while providing an asset to the research group here. Details on the program may be found here: https://www.daad.de/rise/en/ The work which I am doing focuses mainly on vegetable production in urban agriculture, "micro-agriculture", "mini-farms", etc. In the US I work with a high raised bed system to promote accessibility and reclamation of food sovereignty. Here in Germany my research focuses on the microbial communities related to the plantt - both in the rhizosphere and in the growing media itself. I am interested in how these communities change with growth media composition changes in an organic system with and without exposure to common plant pathogens. Details on the Institute may be found here: http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb11agrar/en/home.html Details on our working group may be found here: http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb11agrar/en/sections/oekologischer-pflanzenschutz/home.html I would ask that you make this opportunity known to the students in your department, especially those interested in sustainable agriculture. The reference code for my specific internship opportunity is "WitzenhausenGermany_BI_1149". I encourage students in the SAFS program with an interest in Organic Ag to apply for this internship, however, there are many other interesting opportunities in other areas available as well which may be of interest to the students in other majors within your area. Thank you for your time, Victoria -- Victoria Ferguson-Kramer FG Ökologischer Pflanzenschutz Universität Kassel Nordbahnhofstr. 1a D-37213 Witzenhausen Deutschland Dept. of Ecological Plant Protection University of Kassel Nordbahnhofstr. 1a D-37213 Witzenhausen Germany [log in to unmask] Tel. 05542 98 1563 Fax. 05542 98 1564