Behavioural
Ecology Group


Thesis opportunities at Behavioural Ecology Group



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


BSc / MSc Thesis

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

Check below for a small selection of the thesis opportunities within our group:


Project 1: Eco-acoustics for nature-positive food production

Project 2: Linking Social Competence & Cognition in a Cooperatively Breeding Fish

Project 3: Bimodal dispersal strategies in black wheatears - radiotracking wild birds (fieldwork in Spain)

Project 4: Functional Diversity of Birds in the Neotropical Region

Project 5: Investigating Referential Alarm calls (fieldwork in Brazil)

Project 6: The Cinderella-effect: Do stepparents have a negative effect on individuals?

[comparative study]

Project 7: Cooperation, dispersal, and climate adaptation in Australian fairy-wrens

Project 8: Do predators make prey smarter?

Project 9: Cat personality and anticipatory behaviour

Project 10: Animal cognition: dogs' understanding of human knowledge

Project 11: Does duck feeding change the social behaviour of coots in winter?

Project 12: Effectiveness of animal conditioning interventions in mitigating Human-Wildlife conflicts (meta-analysis)

Project 13: Great tit (Parus major) personality in space



Field projects


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

With current international travel policy, we specifically look for MSc students for our larger international field projects in

- Brasil (Lined Seedeaters; Filipe Cunha),

- Brasil (Ecoacoustics project; Filipe Cunha),

- Trinidad (Guppies, Lysanne Snijders),

- Egypt (Waterbirds; Marc Naguib),

- Tenerife (Parrot cognition, Marc Naguib),

- Spain (Black wheatears; Gretchen Wagner),

- Australia (purple-crowned fairy-wrens; Niki Teunissen),

- Eswatini (Social Savannah Project, Sjouke Kingma),

- Australia (Zebra finch, Marc Naguib),

- New Zealand (Stitchbird, Marc Naguib).


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

- social behaviour with Magpies (contact Sjouke Kingma),

- cognition and cooperative breeding in cichlids (contact Elizabeth Phillips),

- cognition and personality traits in the great tit (contact Kees van Oers).



Other projects with external collaborators:

Project: Wat zijn de effecten en risico’s van neonicotinïden voor de Nederlandse natuur en specifiek voor vleermuizen?

Project: Wat zijn de effecten en risico’s van glyfosaat voor de Nederlandse natuur en specifiek voor vogels?

(collaboration with the vogelbescherming, Dutch only)

Click here for more info.

Or contact:

Janske.vandeCrommenacker@vogelbescherming.nl en/of frans.vanalebeek@vogelbescherming.nl





Internship and Research practice opportunities



Are you currently finishing your MSc and looking for an internship or research practice opportunity within the Behavioural Ecology group? Click here to get a list of current and previous internship/research practice examples, as well as a contact list for new internship/research practice opportunities. Click here to get an overview of the internship positions provided via the university.


Internship Project:

Subject:

Call for assistance in research on aggressive behaviour and cognition in wild blue tits at Antwerp University.


Description:

Are you passionate about behaviour and cognition? Would you like to contribute to research on aggressive behaviour in wild blue tits? We are seeking motivated students to assist us in our ongoing research at the Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology (BECO) department at the University of Antwerp. Our research focuses on the relationships between personality traits, cognitive functions and aggression in female blue tits.


Join us in the exciting world of behavioural analysis by examining video footage from 'problem-solving' tests conducted with wild blue tits. Gain hands-on experience in coding and interpreting avian behaviours. Contribute to the discovery of patterns and insights that could advance our understanding of bird behaviour and cognition. Specifically, we are looking at the relationships between female aggression and problem-solving, to determine if less aggressive individuals utilize alternative strategies in order to compete for resources. Depending on the scope of the project (to be discussed) we are looking for a student for 1-3 months between October – December 2023.


Moreover, during the coming breeding season (between late April and early June 2024) we are looking for additional assistance in the field, to help monitor a resident nest box population and execute various experiments in the wild (including studies on female aggression, cognition and anti-predator behaviour).


Contact us

This is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in exciting research and gain hands-on experience in the field of behavioural biology. If you are interested or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via mail: Robin van Iersel (robin.vaniersel@uantwerpen.be). Together, we can explore potential opportunities for a suitable project.






Student Career Services



Did you know that Student Career Services helps WUR students with finding an internship?

Student Career Services give training on how to find an internship and can help you 1 on 1 to find an internship via their extensive network. They also give trainings about how to make a CV, a motivation letter, LinkedIn, how to pitch yourself and network.

Click here to see how to start your internship search.

Also, they organise Career days to get in touch with your possible future internship/job provider. See the following links for financial support projects for your internship abroad:

Are you an external student and interested in doing an internship at WUR, please contact Student Career Services. If you have any questions about your MSc internship or MSc research practice, contact Bonne Beerda.


Brightspace page
Guidelines MSc



Information for students



You are currently doing your BSc or MSc abroad, and you want to do your thesis with us?


We welcome students from abroad to join us and start their internship/thesis with us.

Find here all the relevant information to start your thesis within WUR !


University registration

University requires registration and has some requirements for incoming students. Here you can find some useful links to apply for a thesis at Wageningen University:


Partner Universities - WUR

Check here whether your university has an exchange agreement with Wageningen University.


Incoming students - WUR

Here you can find the Student Exchange Brochure 2022-2023, as well as other relevant information for incoming students.


Admission Requirements - WUR

Check here all the admission requirements to the Erasmus+ and NON Erasmus+ Exchange Program.


Important information for Non-EU students



Erasmus+ Program

The Erasmus+ program allows you to study abroad and helps you to cover the costs. You can find here the exchange agreements between your home university and Wageningen University:

What is Erasmus+?

Erasmus+ grant for study exchange



If you found an interesting project and fulfilled the requirements, you can now directly contact the Departmental Exchange Coordinator (lifesciences.studentexchange@wur.nl), as well as one of the supervisors of our group to start planning your internship/thesis.


We hope to see you very soon!






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 biweekly Thesis Peer 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 Thesis Peer 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 Brightspace / Content.


Contact person

For general information about our thesis topics and doing your thesis with us, please contact Bonne Beerda (bonne.beerda@wur.nl).


Brightspace page
Guidelines MSc

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