Admission requirements
Advice:
BSc-course Biodiversity, theory and practice of systematics or equivalent knowledge of phylogenetic reconstruction.
MSc-course Advanced Statistics.
Description
The main aim of this course is to introduce a number of approaches, methods and issues that are relevant to biological taxonomy and biodiversity in the wide sense, including actual and historical analyses of biodiversity and evolution. The following topics will be introduced and practiced:
Taxonomy as an information storage and retrieval system in the age of Internet.
Phylogenetic analysis: concepts and applications.
Molecular biodiversity methods for species identification and delineation.
Analysis of geographic structure and gene flow in and between populations.
Analysis of historic and stratigraphic patterns and the timing and geographic context of reconstructed phylogenies.
Data analysis and management applied to (spatial) biodiversity data.
Course objectives
After completion of this course, students can:
1. Interpret biological diversity in space and time.
2. Develop a phylogenetic analysis from molecular data and evaluate the results.
3. Summarize the findings of a scholarly publication relevant to the course topic and critique it in class.
4. Formulate a hypothesis on climate impacts and design a species distribution modelling experiment to test it.
5. Appraise different types of biodiversity data and their applications, such as DNA barcodes, species occurrences, and character evolution.
6. Present and argue the merits of scientific findings in writing and speech.
7. Describe the (specific) characteristics of spatial data and GIS.
8. Select and use biodiversity database resources related to molecular and geographic data.
Timetable
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
Lectures, computer exercises, literature study, demonstrations.
Assessment method
Written reports, oral presentation, and examination.
The final grade consists of the following partial grades:
Exam, 30%
Written reporting, 50%
Oral presentation, 20%
Minimum grade:
Courses require a minimum, unrounded 5.5 grade to complete.
If a course has 2 or more written partial exams, the minimum grade only applies to the weighted average of the exams.
For partial grades from components other than exams (e.g. practicals, seminars, writing assignments), the bottom grade does apply to the individual components.
Please refer to the Student Charter for an overview of regulations.
Reading list
Relevant literature will be made available on Brightspace.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Coordinator: Dr. J.A. Miller and Dr. R.A. Vos
Email: jeremy.miller@naturalis.nl; rutger.vos@naturalis.nl
Remarks
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.