209524 Supplementary Module on research synthesis (Pj) (WiSe 2026/2027)

This weekly course offers master students and exceptionally motivated bachelor students a collaborative research experience to produce a scientific review in behavioral ecology or evolutionary biology. Working in a small group of up to five students alongside the instructor as an active participant, the class elects a review topic of mutual interest and spends the semester reading, discussing, and synthesizing the literature together.

The group will progressively build a structured bibliography database containing standardized information such as study system, methods, key findings, and limitations. At the same time, students collectively assemble a review manuscript incrementally throughout the semester, transforming notes into paragraphs, and paragraphs into a coherent scientific synthesis. This course will offer experience of collaborative scientific research. Students will develop their skills in literature synthesis, scientific writing and critical discussion. Because the entire class contributes to a single collective manuscript, the course also builds on teamwork and editorial coordination.

Depending on the direction of the synthesis and the interests of the group, the project may be prepared for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. This publication component remains optional and will depend on the quality and ambition of the work. As a last component of the course, students can decide to translate their scientific synthesis into a creative format intended for a general audience, such as illustrations, street art, short films, social media projects, or campus-wide interactive experiences such as “treasure hunts” that distribute fragments of the work across public spaces.