202 “Plant Protection and Quarantine”

The third (educational and scientific) level of higher education under the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education,” the eighth qualification level of the National Qualifications Framework.

General

Research into patterns and the development of scientific and practical foundations, methods, and approaches regarding:

• biological processes occurring in living organisms;
• fundamental and applied problems in studying the functioning of living organisms, the impact on them of exogenous and endogenous factors for various purposes, and their rational use;
• the creation of models of individual functions of living organisms, a comprehensive approach to studying the structure and functioning of biological objects, the rational use of bioproducts, and methods for predicting the state of living organisms;
• analyzing and evaluating various levels of structural organization of biological objects using mathematical models, analytical or computer modeling based on a metabolite database to formulate hypotheses about biological systems;
• the molecular foundations of the quality of life of living organisms, the characteristics of their biological processes, regeneration, growth, and development, as well as the interactions between living organisms and their environment;
• the rational use of biological resources based on an understanding of biological processes and the promotion of their restoration, as well as the creation of safe living conditions for animals and humans;
• improving the productivity of living organisms and product quality through the regulation of biological processes;
• the species composition of harmful organisms in agrocenoses and the characteristics of their biology and ecology, as well as the patterns governing the formation of populations of harmful and beneficial organisms;
• fundamental and applied aspects of developing predictive models and the impact of the environment on the development and reproduction of harmful and beneficial species;
• organizing a multifactorial assessment of a comprehensive indicator of the patterns of population dynamics of harmful organisms;
• the characteristics of the formation and population control of harmful organisms in modern agricultural systems;
• identifying the mechanisms of harmful organism formation when growing modern varieties and hybrids of agricultural crops;
• breeding and acclimatization of beneficial organisms, and the formation of biologically stable communities;
• increasing crop production efficiency and innovative methods for preserving self-regulatory mechanisms and protecting the environment.

Research Areas
Plant Pathology:

• Development of conceptual, theoretical, and methodological foundations of plant pathology for assessing the impact of plant pathogens on plant development and productivity at the molecular, species, and community levels. Creating models to study plant–pathogen interactions at various levels—from macromolecules to phytocenoses.
• Understanding the patterns of phytopathosystem functioning and elucidating the mechanisms underlying pathogen virulence and plant resistance to disease.
• Acquiring and synthesizing new knowledge about the course of pathological processes in plant organisms, and analyzing plant and pathogen metabolites involved in these processes.
• Identifying and substantiating current trends in the transformation of the pathogen complex in agro- and biocenoses, with an assessment of their impact on food safety and the state of the environment.
• Improving existing and developing new methods for diagnosing fungal, bacterial, viral, viroid, mycoplasmal, nematode, and other plant diseases for their subsequent use in production.
• Structural analysis of the phytopathogenic complex in agro- and biocenoses, identification of new species of phytopathogens, and determination of their taxonomic classification in accordance with the current state of taxonomic and phylogenetic knowledge.
• Development of conceptual frameworks for the conservation of biodiversity in soil microbial communities; determination of the effects of biologically active substances and live strains of antagonistic microorganisms on the development of soil phytopathogens. Investigating the mechanisms by which the soil’s self-regulating function is restored when a plant, in association with microorganisms, is capable of resisting a pathogen.

Entomology:

• Developing conceptual, theoretical, and methodological foundations for plant protection against pests in the context of modern agricultural production.
• The study and application of traditional, breeding and genetic, biological, agrotechnical, organizational and economic, and immunological methods for researching pests and the mechanisms of their interaction with plants.Research into the conceptual, theoretical, and practical foundations of the systematics, morphology, anatomy, physiology, and ecology of insects.Research into the influence of abiotic, biotic, and anthropogenic factors on the population-level dynamics of pests.
• Identification of the species composition of insects in the entomocomplexes of agrocenoses.
• Study of the seasonal and long-term population dynamics and biological characteristics of arthropods under modern agricultural conditions.
• Study of breeding and genetic methods for developing pest-resistant varieties and hybrids of agricultural crops.
• Development of methods for phytosanitary monitoring of agrocenoses to predict the development and reproduction of agricultural plant pests.
• Study of the patterns governing the formation of phytophagous pest outbreaks in agricultural crops within modern farming systems.
• Justification of the theoretical and practical mechanisms underlying insecticide toxicity and resistance to them in pests and beneficial arthropods.
• Ways to increase plant productivity and biological resistance to harmful phytophagous pests.