Admission requirements
Basic knowledge of microbiology, evolutionary biology or ecology.
Description
The course covers various aspects of the important role of microorganisms in their natural environments. This includes the role of bacteria and fungi in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, the cooperative and antagonistic interactions among microbes and with plant and animal hosts, the role of microorganisms in food chains and nutrient cycles, antagonist-plant pathogen interactions, and the evolutionary and ecological aspects of microbial diversification and community interactions. The course teaches modern approaches to detect and understand the processes that give rise to and maintain the diversity of microbial communities. Specialists in various fields of microbial evolution and ecology, both scientists from the IBL and guest speakers from other universities and research institutes will contribute to the course lectures. Practicals will develop knowledge and skills that complement the lecture material.
Course Objectives
After completion of the course, students are able to:
Explain the beneficial and harmful roles of microorganisms in natural systems.
Explain the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms by which microorganisms interact with each other and with plants or animals as pathogens, commensals and mutualists.
List different evolutionary and ecological mechanisms regulating microbial diversity and can discuss how these interactions evolved and are coordinated at a community level.
Measure and isolate microbial communities from natural sources.
Explain how microbiomes are shaped and can carry out analyses of microbiome composition.
Design and conduct experiments in microbial ecology and evolution and analyze microbial community data.
Discuss the development and consequences of microbiome engineering for plant and animal health.
Timetable
You will find the timetables for all courses and degree programmes of Leiden University in the tool MyTimetable. Any teaching activities that you have successfully registered for in MyStudyMap will automatically be displayed in MyTimeTable. Any timetables that you add manually, will be saved and automatically displayed the next time you sign in.
MyTimetable allows you to integrate your timetable with your calendar apps such as Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and other calendar apps on your smartphone. Any timetable changes will be automatically synced with your calendar. If you wish, you can also receive an email notification of the change. You can turn notifications on in ‘Settings’ (after login).
For more information, watch the video or go the the 'help-page' in MyTimetable.
Please note: Joint Degree students Leiden/Delft have to merge their two different timetables into one. This video explains how to do this.
Mode of Instruction
Lectures (attendance is mandatory)
Assessment method
Written exam.
Minimum grade:
Second and third year 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
Not applicable.
Registration
Every student of all years must enroll via MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you will see step by step how to enroll in courses in MyStudyMap. Note that your enrollment is only completed when you submit your course planning in the 'Ready for enrollment' tab by clicking 'submit'.
There are two registration periods per year: registration for the fall semester opens in July and registration for the spring semester opens in December. Please see this page for more information.
Please note that it is compulsory to register for every exam and retake. Not being registered for a course means that you are not allowed to participate in the final exam. Keep in mind that there are enrollment deadlines, see this page
for more information.
Extensive FAQ on MyStudymap can be found here.
Contact
Coördinator: Dr. D. Rozen
E-mail: d.e.rozen@biology.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
Inspection and feedback on the examination date: to be announced.
Lecture attendance is compulsory.