This minor in ‘Biology - Ecology’ gives you an introduction in all kinds of topics in ecology. You can get acquainted with plants, animals, nature management and ecology in general. More information on a specific course described below can be found in the online course guide.

If you come from a relevant Bachelor's programme (see ingangseisen) this minor can replace the mandatory Pre-Master's. That means that with this minor of 30 ECTS, you will be directly admitted to the relevant specialisations of the Master’s in Biology at Radboud University after having finished your Applied Sciences diploma + this minor. 

You will follow three courses per quarter: one course on Monday/Tuesday, one course on Wednesday and one course on Thursday/Friday. In the schedule below, you can choose a course of your own preference on the Mon/Tue in quarter 3 and on the Thursday/Friday in quarter 4.

 

QUARTER 3

Monday/Tuesday

• Man and Nature - Present, Past and Future (NWI-MB023C)

or

• Applied Ecology (NWI-BB036B)

 

Wednesday

• Statistics 2 (NWI-BB093)
You need background in Statistics 1. If you don't have that choose the alternative course.

or

• Introduction to R Programming (NWI-BB095) – Self study course

 

Thursday/Friday

• Ecophysiology of Plants (NWI-BB018C)

or

• Macroecology (NWI-BB110)

QUARTER 4

Monday/Tuesday

• Animal Ecology (NWI-BB060B)

 

Wednesday

• Philosophy & Ethics of Science (NWI-FFIL100)

or

• Introduction to R Programming (NWI-BB095) – Self study course

 

Thursday/Friday

• Population and Evolutionary Biology (NWI-BB087)

or

• Geographic Information Systems (NWI-MB021B)

Man and Nature - Present, Past and Future: The student is able to critically reflect on nature conservation issues and to contribute to the development of conservation plans from the viewpoint of different visions on nature and nature management, while taking into account societal interests, and from a firm basis of relevant knowledge and concepts from biology, geography, archaeology and history.

Applied Ecology: The course deals with anthropogenic effects on ecosystems as well as measures to improve environmental and ecological quality. After this course you will oversee the gamut of measures available to enhance or conserve biological quality in terrestrial and aquatic systems.

Statistics 2: For this course you need to have passed an introduction to Statistics in your programme at home. 

Keywords are:

Multifactorial and multivariate procedures
Bayesian statistics
Meta-analysis
Power analysis and sample size calculations

Introduction to R Programming (NWI-BB095): This course provides a gentle and stepwise introduction to the world of R programming. After completion of this course, you will master the basics of programming in R. In particular, you can

1. Create, load and manipulate data
2. Perform exploratory data analysis
3. Visualize your data in attractive graphs
4. Create efficient code by applying functions to series of objects
5. Find help and resources to take your coding skills to a next level.

Ecophysiology of Plants: In this course, you will learn how plants interact with their abiotic and biotic environment. Key are the traits that determine the survival and reproduction of plants.

Macroecology: After this course you are able to analyse and explain key macroecological patterns and processes, and use the knowledge to inform broad-scale biodiversity conservation measures. This entails the following specific objectives:
1. Understand the discipline of macroecology and its applications
2. Explain observed broad-scale patterns of biodiversity and species distributions in terms of key macroecological processes
3. Identify and understand how humans may modify macroecological patterns
4. Analyse macroecological data
5. Apply models for predicting and projecting broad-scale patterns of biodiversity
6. Apply macroecological concepts and models to inform broad-scale conservation measures       

Animal Ecology: The course is about half on animal ecological concepts, in the other half you may train yourself in practice (experiment, field excursion) and you will be trained in setting up animal ecological experiments in laboratory and field situations and to communicate about the results.

Philosophy & Ethics of Science: This course addresses in an integrated manner philosophical and bioethical aspects of bioscience. It provides a window for exploring the philosophical, ethical and societal dimensions of scientific research in biology and the life sciences.

Introduction to R Programming (NWI-BB095): This course provides a gentle and stepwise introduction to the world of R programming. After completion of this course, you will master the basics of programming in R. In particular, you can

1. Create, load and manipulate data
2. Perform exploratory data analysis
3. Visualize your data in attractive graphs
4. Create efficient code by applying functions to series of objects
5. Find help and resources to take your coding skills to a next level.

Population and Evolutionary Biology: This course, which is positioned on the interface of different scientific disciplines, will give an integrated picture of mechanisms and processes contributing to population viability by dealing with the different aspects, both in theory and in hands-on greenhouse, lab and computer projects.

Geographic Information Systems: GIS is an instrument (often a software package) that is used to study and analyse spatial data. The course focuses on GIS applications in biology and environmental studies. You will learn to think "geographically" and apply GIS software.

 

See the learning goals of each individual course in the online course guide for more detailed information.

Third or fourth year's students from the Bachelor's of Applied Sciences Universities. In general all natural sciences course programmes, such as Applied Biology (Toegepaste Biologie), Land and Water Management, Aquatic Ecotechnology, Second degree teacher in Biology, Microbiology, Environmental Sciences.
If you are not sure about your eligibility for this minor please contact us.

See the literature (mandatory or optional) of each individual course in the online course guide.

The courses of quarter three are scheduled from January 29 – April 5, 2024. Courses of the fourth quarter are scheduled from April 8 – July 12, 2024.

See the schedule of each individual course in the online course guide for further details.

For every course there is a first exam and a resit opportunity in the same semester. 

See the information in the online course guide for more details about exams / products of each individual course.