209518 Research Module A: Ultimate and proximate aspects of animal behaviour (S+Pr) (WiSe 2008/2009)

Important note: The Supplementary Module and the two Research Modules must be taken in at least two different departments. Research Module A may be taken in fields related to the graduate program in other Biology departments, but also in other faculties.

A weekly seminar (Thursday 17:15 ¿ 18:45) for all students of the Graduate Programme Systems Biology of Brain and Behaviour will be an integral part of the Supplementary and the Research Modules. This seminar will have the following goals:
· Scientists from other research institutions will be invited to give talks and to discuss their results with the graduate students.
· The students of the Graduate Programme will present the project plan and results of their research projects and discuss these with the other graduate students and the supervisors. Discussions will focus on the projects themselves, but also on presentation techniques.
· Conceptual, methodological and statistical issues relevant in all research areas participating in the Masters Programme will be discussed.
General issues of science management, such as designing scientific projects or writing a grant application, will be trained.

Research module B
The graduate students will do a project in the following research areas: (1) Parent-offspring and sibling interactions, (2) life history questions; (3) neuroethological research on Zebra finches; (4) animal communication; (5) optimisation of foraging behaviour ; (6) depending on the season field work involving small rodents and birds. Methods to be learnt: (1) quantitative behavioural analysis; (2) respirometry and calorimetry; (3) telemetry; (4) acoustic analysis; (5) neuroanatomical and neurophysiological methods; (6) statistical data analysis.
Research Module B can be used as preparation for the Masters Project. The entire workload of the module corresponding to 10 credit points (300 hours) will be rendered during the time of the module.