- Degree
- Master of Science, Biosciences, Ecology
- Course location
- Würzburg
- Teaching language
- • English
- Languages
- Courses are all in English. In addition to the regular programme, students are supposed to enrol in German language courses.
- Programme duration
- 4 semesters
- Beginning
- Winter and summer semester
- Additional information on beginning, duration and mode of study
- The winter semester begins mid-October.
The summer semester begins mid-April.
- Application deadline
- Online application is possible for all applicants.
May to 15 July for the following winter semester
November to 15 January for the following summer semester
- Tuition fees per semester in EUR
- None
- Combined Master's degree / PhD programme
- No
- Joint degree / double degree programme
- No
- Description/content
- The multidisciplinary programme combines plant ecology, animal ecology, conservation biology and tropical biology. These topics include animal-plant interactions, plant ecophysiology, biodiversity research, climate-change ecology, and the evolutionary adaptations at the physiological and organismic level. Courses in socio-biology, neurogenetics and behaviour as well as ecological courses like forest ecology, chemical ecology, agroecology, soil ecology, remote sensing and ecological modelling can be chosen. Overall, the study programme reaches from molecular biology of single species to all disciplines of organismic biology. Further topics include constraints for plant growth and development (biogeography, biodiversity), the interactions of plants and animals with abiotic and biotic environmental factors (e.g. plant-insect and plant-fungus interactions) including the evolutionary adaptations at the physiological and organismic level, aspects of neurogenetics and behaviour as well as the interaction of individuals, social groups and large populations in complex and variable ecosystems. Using tropical biology with its specialities, unique and general principles in ecology are communicated. Both fundamentals and novel approaches based on molecular biology tools are discussed with respect to organismic biology. The two selected topics are composed of two theory modules as well as a practical course unit each. Further research training is provided in a selected field of interest. The students are actively involved in ongoing research projects, and they learn to independently plan and perform both theoretical and experimental work as well as to summarise and discuss the results obtained in the thesis.