Behavioural
Ecology Group


  • Home
  • Team
  • Research
  • Publications
  • Courses
  • News
  • Thesis/Internship
  • Contact
  • Elke Molenaar

Thesis opportunities at Behavioural Ecology Group



Interested in doing your BSc / MSc Thesis or internship at the Behavioural Ecology group?


We always welcome new students to join our research!

If you have a passion for studying wild animals in their natural environment, please have a look at the various research topics within our group, contact our staff directly or browse here through a selection of our thesis topics.


Your thesis can both be done in the Netherlands or abroad!

With the more relaxed new international travel policy, we specifically look for MSc students for our running larger international field projects in

- Trinidad (guppies, contact Hannah de Waele; CLOSED),

- Eswatini (Mousebirds, Bulbuls and other; contact Sjouke Kingma),

- Australia (Zebra finches; Marc Naguib),

- Brasil (Lined Seedeaters; Filipe Cunha),

- Egypt (Waterbirds; Marc Naguib),

- Spain (Black wheatears; contact Gretchen Wagner).


We are also specifically looking for BSc and MSc students for our various field projects in Wageningen:

- students interested in working on social behaviour with Magpies (contact Miriam Kuspiel).



Doing a BSc thesis

Before you can start with your BSc thesis you should make sure you have met the admission requirements, found a BSc thesis subject, filled in the BSc thesis contract with your thesis supervisor and handed in the contract at the biology office.

Find here all the information needed to successfully start and complete your thesis.


Doing a MSc thesis

Students from MSc Animal Sciences, MSc Biology and MSc Forest and Nature Conservation can do their MSc thesis with us if they meet the requirements. Students from other MSc programs can do a thesis with us if this has been pre-approved by their study advisor/examination board.


Several grant possibilities and travel fundings are available for Dutch and international students to start and conduct your thesis abroad or in the Netherlands. See the following websites for more information:

http://www.beursopener.nl/content/index.asp (unfortunately in Dutch only)

https://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/master/Study-grants.htm

https://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/Current-Students/Trvel-Funding.htm

https://www.fonaconservation.nl/en/home-en-gb-1

https://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/Study-Abroad-and-Exchange-Students.htm


For general information about our thesis topics and doing your internship with us, please contact Bonne Beerda.


Thesis topics

Prospective PhD students


We are always open to new and innovative ideas!

If you are interested in studying questions relating to ecology, evolution, cognition and animal welfare, and you wish to conduct your PhD in close alignment with the species and questions addressed by the group, please have a look at the various research topics within our group, and contact directly our staff.


At Wageningen University & Research, we distinguish three types of PhD scholarships:


- Sandwich-Fellow PhD candidates are embedded in a local institute in their home country where they perform their research. They spend part of their time at WUR (generally the first 6-8 months, the final 6-8 months and intermittent visits). They have fellowships that are not funded by WUR. They are required to pay a tuition fee.


- Sandwich PhD candidates that are funded by WUR have a special labour agreement with WUR for the time that they are in the Netherlands. They do not pay a tuition fee.


- Guest PhD candidates have a fellowship and are based at WUR for a period of four years. The candidate can be affiliated to, or employed by, a local institute that pays the fellowship. Guest PhD candidates are required to pay a tuition fee.


For more information, click here.



To be competitive for a full-time four-year contract financed by the Graduate School of Wageningen University and Research, the candidate would need to be enrolled at the Research Master Cluster : Proposal Writing class. Please find more information here.


For general information about doing a PhD within our group, contact Bonne Beerda.


Thesis topics



Thesis Behavioural Ecology




You are currently doing your BSc or MSc thesis within the Behavioural Ecology group?


Stay connected !

Students at WUR can enroll in the Thesis Behavioural Ecology course. There you can find the links to the weekly Journal Clubs and Thesis & Waffle meetings and all documents and forms needed to successfully complete your thesis/internship with us at BHE.

All students are highly encouraged to join the Journal Clubs and Thesis & Waffles meetings.

By enrolling in the course, you will also automatically subscribe to the BHE student mail list. You can double-check your enrolment on the Brightspace “Thesis Behavioural Ecology” / communication /classlist.


Thesis information

Make sure to carefully read the BHE Thesis and internship Guide to ensure you are aware of the general setup of a thesis. You can also find the guide on Brigtspace / Content.

Your report will be formatted as a scientific article in the style of a journal like Animal Behaviour, Behavioral Ecology, or similar. Thus, check here the guidelines for writing your thesis that are directly adapted from the author guidelines of the journal Animal Behaviour.



Brightspace page
Guidelines MSc



CLOSED - New PhD position on social evolution



Are you curious as to why wild animals cooperate? Do you dream of studying the social behaviour of savanna birds in Africa? Do you want to do conceptually-driven PhD research?

Then read on, because this PhD position may be the perfect fit for you!


We offer a fully-funded PhD position in the Behavioural Ecology Group at Wageningen University to work in our “Social Savanna” project.


The Social Savanna project was set up in 2017 with the goal of understanding the evolutionary drivers of sociality and cooperation in birds. The research of the vacant position, funded by NWO ENW, is based on cutting-edge concepts in the field of social evolution, and consists of fieldwork supplemented by phylogenetic analysis. The focus will be on how adverse environmental circumstances affect the relation between sociality, cooperation and reproduction. Using state-of-the-art tracking and monitoring technology, the successful candidate will study a range of different bird species, covering both cooperative and non-cooperative breeders.


The fieldwork, conducted in savanna habitat at Mbuluzi Game Reserve, Eswatini, includes for example catching and ringing birds, monitoring breeding attempts and reproductive behaviour, tracking individual movement, and recording various ecological and environmental features such as vegetation and predators.


The research is embedded within the chair group Behavioural Ecology, and the successful candidate will be a member of the ‘Social Savanna’ team, which is led by Dr. Sjouke A. Kingma. You will be part of a team consisting of, among others, Dr. Kat Bebbington, Prof. Marc Naguib, and Prof. Ara Monadjem.


You have:

• a successfully completed MSc degree in the field of Behavioural Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Animal Ecology, or similar

• experience (or an affinity for) conducting fieldwork on birds, ideally including behavioural observations, catching and handling of wild birds, and/or nest and population monitoring

• strong organisational skills, are a team player willing to work with a diverse group of researchers and technicians, and have the ability to work independently

• strong communication skills and are able to lead a team of students and technicians under difficult field conditions

• good quantitative skills in statistics, and preferably in phylogenetic analysis

• excellent English language proficiency (a minimum of CEFR C2 level). For more information about this proficiency level, please visit our special language page.


Do you want to apply?

You can apply via the WUR webpage or AcademicTransfer page using the apply button on the vacancy page which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval. Please upload a motivation letter, a CV and the contact details of two references.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including 15 February 2022. We hope to schedule the first interviews in the second half of February. The preferred starting date for this position is March 15 (and must start before of March 29th).


Do you need more information?

For more information about this position, please contact Sjouke A. Kingma, Associate Professor in Behavioural Ecology, by email by clicking on the button below. For more information about the procedure, please contact Ine van 't Land, corporate recruiter by e-mail by clicking on the button below.


send email to Sjouke A. Kingma
send email to Ine van´t Land














​



Follow us online