Masters Studies with EECRG
We have a number of interesting projects for Masters students to get involved with and provide good support and academic and social meetings to participate in.
Main content
Masters students in the EECRG work with a wide range of ecological problems/questions (mostly related to biodiversity, conservation, environmental change) in a wide range of species groups (plants, insects, micro-organisms) at very different timescales (0-10000 years) using a range of methodologies (from lab and field experiments via field observational data to palaeoecology and data extracted from databases). This work is done in different biomes (arctic, alpine, temperate, desert, tropical), in both terrestrial and aquatic systems, and at different geographical locations (all of Norway including Svalbard, and many other localities around the world). What pulls us together as a group is a focus on (the effect of) environmental and ecological change on species or ecosystems and the collaborative effort to develop good field and statistical methods to enable us to answer sometimes complicated questions using "real" field data. Most of us collect our own data in the field, but some use data collected as part of larger projects or from databases.
The EECRG believes that the best Masters projects are developed in collaboration between the student and the supervisors. The challenge is to find a specific topic and research system that interests the student and where the EECRG has research interests and expertise, and design a good Masters thesis project that will give the student interesting and challenging research experience in all phases of the work, from data collection via analyses to write-up.
EECRG MSc activities / support: weekly research group meetings, where ongoing and future research in the group is presented and discussed; R-coding club; research group parties; social activities.
We have a policy of supporting student participation in at least one international scientific conference (financial support can be applied for) and we encourage and support (but do not demand or guarantee) the development of Masters projects that will be publishable in the scientific literature. We think of the publication process as an important (and fun!) part of the scientific experience that a Master's education should be.
Follow the links below to read about potential Masters projects you could be involved with. And if you have a good idea for a project that fits within the research of the group, please come and discuss it with us - we are mostly located on floors 4 and 3 of block A of Biologen, Thormøhlensgate 53A or can be contacted by email.