Practical course 2018

Teaching

Practical course 2018
Image: Stefan Halle

Courses

The appealing landscape with cliffy lime stone hillsides makes Jena an attractive and ecologically interesting study place, which we intensively make use of for many excursions, practical training and field courses.

The Institute of Ecology and Evolution is involved in several study programs of the Faculty for Biological SciencesExternal link. Core areas are the Bachelor Biology, the Master Evolution, Ecology and Systematics and the training of biology teachers.

Information for PhD-students may be found on the pages of the Faculty of Biological Sciences.

Below we present information on:
Topics for theses
Courses given by us

Topics for theses

The Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Botanical Garden and Herbarium Haussknecht offers the following listed topics as final or admission work. The scope of work will be adjusted to the degree. Unless otherwise stated, all works can be written in German or English.

Professorship of Plant Biodiversity
Effects of land use change on the performance of plant species
Effects of climate change on the performance of plant species
Tracking biodiversity changes in the Anthropocene using herbaria
Using trait spaces to quantify the “naturalness” of herbaceous plant populations grown in botanical gardens
Can changes in the hidden chemical diversity in herbaria be revealed using ecometabolic approaches?

Stomata density as an indicator of climate sensitivity of selected plant species
Fingerprints of climate change - a space-time comparison of phenological data
Tannin content of Potentilla erecta as a function of abiotic factors and plant age

If you are interested in any of these suggestions or for other possible topics, please contact Christine Römermann de or Franziska Bucher de.

Professorship of Ecology
For current topic suggestions in the field of small mammal ecology, please contact Stefan Halle de.
For current topic suggestions in the field of polar and bird ecology, please contact Hans-Ulrich Peter.
Effect of Corridors on Small Mammal Population Genetics. Small mammal ecology. Detailspdf, 116 kb
Green Eyes: Effects of forest conversion on plant communities and soil. Detailspdf, 217 kb · de
Kooperationsprojekt zwischen dem Institut für Geographie und der AG Vegetationsökologie
Analysis of vegetation changes taking into account climate, soil and deposition. Detailspdf, 157 kb · de
Cooperation project between the Forstliche Forschungsungs- und Kompetenzzentrum Gotha and the AG Vegetation Ecology
Vegetation changes in forests of Thuringia. Detailspdf, 157 kb · de
Cooperation project between the Forstliche Forschungsungs- und Kompetenzzentrum Gotha and the AG Vegetation Ecology
Forest development, tree species and climate adaptation and wildlife management, habitat development or socio-economic and social aspects of forest management and forest conversion. Detailspdf, 3 mb · de. 
Cooperation project between the Forstliche Forschungsungs- und Kompetenzzentrum Gotha and the AG Vegetation Ecology

If you are interested in any of these suggestions or for other possible topics, please contact Stefan Halle de (small mammal ecology), Hans-Ulrich Peter (polar and bird ecology) or Markus Bernhardt-Römermann de (vegetation ecology).

Professorship of Population Ecology
Effects of invertebrate communities on differently managed grasslands (Jena Experiment) Detailspdf, 179 kb · de
The effect of soil- and plant history on invertebrate predation across a gradient of plant species richness (Jena Experiment) Detailspdf, 141 kb · de
Plant diversity effects on pollinators in different old plant communities (Jena Experiment) Detailspdf, 148 kb · de
The effect of plant diversity on the temporal stability of consumer communities (Jena Experiment) Detailspdf, 146 kb · de

If you are interested in any of these suggestions or for other possible topics, please contact Holger Schielzeth or Anne Ebeling.

Professorship of Systematic Botany
Cytotype characterization atAlyssum montanum L. (Systematic Botany) Detailspdf, 102 kb · de
Molecular differentiation of ecotypes in Galium aparine (Systematic Botany) DetailsExternal link
Morphological and karyological studies on the rib differentiation in the liverwort genus Porella (Herbarium Haussknecht) Detailspdf, 161 kb · de
What is Frullania tamarisci? - Are the European forms of liverwort Frullania tamarisci morphologically distinguishable? (Herbarium Haussknecht) Detailspdf, 118 kb · de
On the geographical extension of the liverwort Conocephalum salebrosum in Thuringia (Herbarium Haussknecht) Detailspdf, 138 kb · de
The distribution of two river valley mooses in eastern Thuringia (Herbarium Haussknecht) Detailspdf, 138 kb · de
Endangered beauties! Portraits of Red List plants (Herbarium Haussknecht) Detailspdf, 86 kb · de
Rare and endangered plant species in the FFH areas "Großer Kalmberg" and "Muschelkalkhänge um Teichel and Großkochberg" (Herbarium Haussknecht) Detailspdf, 41 kb · de

If you are interested in any of these suggestions or for other possible topics, please contact Frank HellwigExternal link (Systematic Botany), Stefan ArndtExternal link (Botanical Garden) or Jörn Hentschel (Herbarium Haussknecht).

Study programms

Bachelor Biology

The aim of the study program Bachelor Biology is to provide the students with a solid knowledge in the field of biology and to make them capable of independent scientific work. In order to study and understand biological processes on the molecular, cellular, organismic or ecosystem level it is necessary to apply methods of other scientific disciplines such as chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer sciences. Therefore, a broad basic education in natural sciences is required which covers the first two study years. In the third years students are obliged to one of the three study lines Evolution, Ecology and Systematics, Microbiology or Molecular Life Sciences that are pursued in consecutive master programs.

The Bachelor Biology is offered in German language only.

Master Evolution, Ecology and Systematics

The Master's program Evolution, Ecology and Systematics conveys in-depth knowledge of biological systems with a clear relation to current research in organismic and evolutionary biology. The study is interdisciplinary, so that competencies in ecology, biodiversity (including species knowledge), evolutionary biology, paleontology, systematics and phylogenetics can be acquired at different organizational levels and for different groups of organisms.

Further information can be found on the central pages of the Faculty of Biosciences. Members of our institute are involved in the following courses:

  • C1 - Basics in Evolutionary Research

    Summer semester

    • L Evolutionary Ecology (Halle)
    • S Evolutionary Biology (Halle, Hellwig, Fischer, Schielzeth)
  • C2 - Ecology and Diversity

    Winter semester

    • L Ecology and diversity of habitats (Römermann, Bernhardt-Römermann)
    • L Ecology and diversity of populations (Ebeling, Schielzeth)
  • C3 - Species Identification

    Summer semester

    • E Advanced determination exercises on plants (Arndt)
    • P Field practice on species knowledge (Arndt, Pohl)
  • C4 - Experimental Design and Analysis of Biological Data

    Winter semester

    • L Experimental design and implementation (Halle)
    • E Statistical analysis of biological data (Römermann, Bernhardt-Römermann, Rall)
  • C5 - Excursion EES

    Summer semester

    • P Excursion
  • E3 - Morphology

    Summer semester

    • E  Morphology: questions, methods, application (Schmidt, Pohl, Bernhardt-Römermann)
  • E7 - Collections in Biodiversity Research

    Winter semester

    • L Collect and curate biological objects (Arndt, Schmidt, Hentschel, Müller)
    • E  Practical aspects of contemporary collection activity (Arndt, Schmidt, Hentschel, Müller)
    • EX Collections in practice (Arndt, Schmidt, Hentschel, Müller)
  • E8 - Plant Microevolution and Population Genetics

    Summer semester

    • L Microevolution (Hellwig)
    • E Microevolution research on plants (Hellwig)
  • E9 - Plant Phylogeny / Phylogenetics

    Winter semester

    • L Palaeobotany (Hellwig)
    • L Phylogeny and evolution of plants (Hellwig)

    Summer semester

    • E Phylogenetics (Hellwig)
  • E10 - Evolution and Diversity of Cryptogams

    Winter semester

    • L Evolution and diversity of cryptogams (Hellwig, Hentschel)
    • P Morphology, anatomy, and biology of cryptogams (Hentschel)
  • E11 - Applied Vegetation Ecology

    Winter semester

    • S Functional ecology (Römermann)

    Summer semester

  • E12 - Crop Plants

    Winter semester

    • L Diversity of crop plants (Hellwig)

    Summer semester

    • P Production and processing of crop plants (Hellwig, Arndt)
  • E13 - Functional Biodiversity Research

    Winter semester

    • S Experimental biodiversity research (Römermann)

    Summer semester

    • E Project planning and implementation in functional biodiversity Research (Römermann)  
  • E14 - Project Module Habitat Description and Nature Conservation

    Summer semester

    • P Project module nature conservation and habitat description (Hellwig, Arndt, Hentschel, Müller, Römermann, Bernhardt-Römermann)  
  • E15 - Ecological Concepts 1: Current Fields of Ecological Research

    Winter semester

    • L Current ecological research at the FSU Jena (Halle, Schielzeth, Küsel, Brose, Bonn)
    • S Open questions of general ecology (Halle)
  • E16 - Ecological Concepts 2: History of Ecological Ideas

    Summer semester

    • S History of ecology (Halle)
    • S Influential publications in ecology (Schielzeth)
  • E17 - Evolutionary and Population Genetics

    Winter semester

    • E Evolutionary and population genetics (Buri, Schielzeth)
    • L Population genetics analysis (Buri, Schielzeth)
  • E18 - Behavioural Ecology

    Summer semester

    • L Behavioural ecology (Halle)
    • E Models in game theory (Halle)
    • S Essay behavioral ecology (Halle)
  • E25 - Science Communication

    Winter semester

    • S Scientific Writing (Schiezeth)

    Summer semester

    • S Science Communication Culture (Schiezeth, Ebeling)
  • T1 – Project Module MEES

    Winter semester

    • S EES Colloquium (Halle, Hellwig, Römermann, Schielzeth, Fischer)

Training of Biology Teachers

The training of prospective biology teachers is primarily organized according to the requirements of the state examination, but should also promote a general understanding of biological processes on all levels of complexity. Various courses offered by the Institute of Ecology and Evolution within the Bachelor program can be chosen as specialisation modules.

The  deTraining of Biology Teachers is offered in German language only. de

Other study programmes

In addition to the courses mentioned above, employees of our institute are also involved in the following study programs:

  • Bachelor of Nutrition
  • Bachelor Biochemistry/Molecular Biology
  • Bachelor of Biology as a supplementary subject
  • Bachelor History of Natural Sciences as a supplementary subject
  • Bachelor Biogeosciences

These corses are offered in German language only. de