2025-2026 Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Program at the University of Barcelona in Environmental Remote Sensing.
If you are interested in receiving more information about the ERASMUS ERS BIP for the 2025-2026 academic year, please fill out THIS FORM.
Apply for your Erasmus+ mobility grant and join us in Barcelona next summer!
This Erasmus BIP will offer 3 ECTS through the Erasmus mobility program and the University of Barcelona Faculty of Biology Environmental Sciences degree track. The course plan started in the winter semester (February 2025 for the first year, though the course is pre-approved for 2 years with second edition in 2025-2026!) with virtual/online classes from February (Introductory Lectures) through April (Topics Seminars) and then return in the second week of July with a one-week intensive program in Barcelona, where we will put everything that we learned in the classroom to use in the lab and the field!
SIGN UP STAY TUNED FOR THE ERASMUS BIP Environmental Remote Sensing Informative Session with Prof. Shawn Kefauver to be held during the first week of the second semester at the University of Barcelona early February 2026, where we will present the course plan and schedule and answer any inquiries towards participation.
The virtual classes are tentatively planned for Wednesdays from 15:00 to 16:30h, March 4 to April 29, considering a few local holidays when the University of Barcelona is closed.
The in-person mobility is tentatively planned for July 6-10 for 2026 and will be held at the University of Barcelona Faculty of Biology located in Barcelona, Spain.
The modules are designed as 4 Session of Introduction Theory, 4 Sessions of Applications Seminars from leading scientists across Europe, and 2 Sessions for a small mobility preparatory project assignment, then we have our one week intensive part of the Erasmus Blended Intensive Program in Environmental Remote Sensing. During that week we will learn all of the processes from piloting and capturing images using RGB, Multispectral and Thermal sensors on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs/drones) to processing the images and analyzing the results.
Though the course is now set for only 3 ECTS credits, I would like to potentially increase that in future years, depending on how well it goes the first few years.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ):
Some recently asked questions, answered to the best of my ability now (this is a new format of course for me and I am also not sure how much my university will try to affect my ideal plans for scheduling specific course components):
– In what form will the online lectures take place? Would it be prerecorded lectures or online meetings?
I want to have the online lectures all as live online meetings. The basic concept of the course plan is to have a series of core lectures that cover basic concepts (4×1.5 hour core lectures) followed by a series of topical seminars that take a deeper dive into specific topics, featuring guest lecturers with introductions and discussion components facilitated by myself (2×1.5 hour seminar sessions).
– How many lectures will there be in each block and will they take place in multiple weeks or all at once?
As for the timing of the lectures, my idea was 2x 1.5 hours per week, but placed every other week with reading assignments between lecture weeks. This gives us time for a short Introduction and reading/video assignment to start in January and then spaces the lectures over a 3 month period from February to April. I would then assign a small preparatory assignment for the month of May that would lead up to the intensive week long program in-person still to be decided but between late June and early July.
Masters or Undergraduate?
The course is intended as a senior level undergraduate course and as an introduction to remote sensing in general. Though designed for undergraduate and providing undergraduate level credits, I am open to master’s level students based on availability, though their eligibility may also in part depend on your university.
What topics will it cover?
It will cover the basics of the most relevant physics concepts to applications in water, soil, land, etc. with special mentions in agriculture and forestry, my specialties. The one-week intensive component will be conducted at the IRTA facility Torre Marimon and will feature young pine plantations with UAVs.
Who is eligible?
As an ERASMUS program, the BIP requires international mobility to be eligible for ERASMUS funds for support. So, students and collaborators from Spain are not counted. I may accept up to 5 students from my own university but there is no support for them, nor from anyone else based in Spain.
How to join?
In order to be able to offer the course to your students, we should sign an ERASMUS agreement between our university ERASMUS programs. So, to join please look up your ERASMUS contact and share with me that contact information.
We don’t teach any similar material at our university; are we still eligible?
To clarify, this is an Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing course that is offered by the University of Barcelona through the ERASMUS program. So, if you do some related research but this is not offered at your university, then it would be a great fit for a new offer to students. I do the teaching and the students get the credits towards their degree as an ERASMUS mobility. The difference between the ERASMUS BIP and other ERASMUS mobility programs is that this is partially virtual with only a 1 week stay during the summer, making it more compatible with other courses already made available.
If any of you would like to contribute with a lecture on your related research, please let me know, as I have included in the study plan a series of guest seminars for March and April of 2025. Professors may also apply for ERASMUS funds to join the one week in-person summer school as well!
Again, the new participation window is open and the only caveat is that you need to put your ERASMUS program coordinators in touch with my ERASMUS coordinators in order to form the collaborative agreement for this course.
Shawn C. Kefauver, PhD
Ramon y Cajal Research Fellow in Agriculture and Forestry
Professor of Plant Physiology
Chair PANGEOS COST Action CA22136
University of Barcelona, Faculty of Biology
Dept. B.E.E.C.A., Plant Physiology Section,
Av. Diagonal, 643, Margalef Building, 5th Floor
08028 Barcelona, Spain
Tel. +34934021463
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Shawn C. Kefauver 