This proposed summer school has five aims: (1) A survey on current designs of BEF experiments, illustrated with examples from past and ongoing BEF experiments; (2) Demonstration of the realization of such experiments by visiting the currently largest BEF experiments worldwide, BEF-China in Xingangshan, Jiangxi Province (www.bef-china.de), (3) Providing the theoretical background for evaluating these experiments, including teaching the required statistics; (4) Introducing procedures and tools for data handling arising from BEF-experiments; (5) Practical exercises in data analysis, taking BEF-China data as an example.
The participants will get to know conventional and emerging techniques in designing BEF experiments and data analysis of such experiments. They will acquire a fundamental understanding of BEF experiments, be introduced to both experimental sites of BEF-China in Xingangshan, Jiangxi province, be proficient in evaluating these data with the statistical software package R, understand the principles of data management in such large collaborative projects and make hands-on experiences in data evaluation of such projects. The students in the summer school will understand the way of how introducing replicates at the different levels of the design will differently affect the statistical power of the analysis. Furthermore, technical questions of how within-site heterogeneity can be taken into account will be discussed. Considering these issues appropriately requires knowledge of the field situation; this is why the symposium is planned to take place in Gutianshan (Zhejiang Province), near to the experimental sites in Xingangshan.