Ecology (M.Sc.)

Ecology (Master)

BioEU Master of Science Programmes

Are you interested to learn about the fascinating complexity of living organisms, from single molecules to global ecosystems? Would you like to become familiar with cell biology, biochemistry, neurobiology, molecular genetics, evolution, ecology, bioinformatics, metabolomics or proteomics, would you like to understand behavior, neuron function, mechanisms of microbial infection, parasiolgy, tumor development or tissue regeneration?

The eight BioEU Master of Science Programmes offer you tailor-made -curricula according to your personal interests. Selecting a particular BioEU Master programme will allow you to become a specialist in your chosen field of interest, and, during the master programme, you will be involved in ongoing projects in leading edge research groups either at the university of Würzburg or partner universities. Furthermore, you may directly continue your research activities in a subsequent doctoral programme in a leading edge environment.

Programme Profile: Ecology

The multidisciplinary programme combines plant ecology, animal ecology, conservation biology and tropical biology. These topics include animal-plant interactions, plant ecophysiology, biodiversity research, climate-change ecology, and the evolutionary adaptations at the physiological and organismic level. Courses in socio-biology, neurogenetics and behaviour as well as ecological courses like forest ecology, chemical ecology, agroecology, soil ecology, remote sensing and ecological modelling can be chosen. Overall, the study program reaches from molecular biology of single species to all disciplines of organismic biology. Further topics include constraints for plant growth and development (biogeography, biodiversity), the interactions of plants and animals with abiotic and biotic environmental factors (e.g. plant-insect, plant-fungus interactions) including the evolutionary adaptations at the physiological and organismic level, aspects of neurogenetics and behaviour as well as the interaction of individuals, social groups and large populations in complex and variable ecosystems. Using tropical biology with its specialties, unique and general principles in ecology are communicated. Both fundamentals and novel approaches based on molecular biology tools are discussed with respect to organismic biology. The two selected topics are composed of two theory modules as well as a practical course unit each. Further research training is provided in a selected field of interest, and the students are actively involved in ongoing research projects and learn to independently plan and perform both theoretical and experimental work and finally, to summarize and discuss the results obtained in the thesis.

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