PhD COURSE: TAXONOMY, IDENTIFICATION AND ECOLOGY OF EUROPEAN ANTS, COPENHAGEN
The course « Taxonomy, Identification and Ecology of European Ants » will be held for the fourth time this year at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, From 19-24 August.
The course is designed to give an introduction to the diversity of the European Ant fauna, and to give hands-on experience of methods for collecting, preserving, mounting and identifying ant specimens. During the course, we will have a series of short lectures on diversity and ecology from two guest lecturers, one an expert on the Southern European ant fauna, and the other an expert on Northern European ants. These will be supplemented by lectures by experts from Copenhagen on general topics of European ant ecology, including invasive species and social parasites. The main body of the course will then provide a practical introduction to the taxonomy and morphology-based identification of ant specimens, using specimens from the Natural History Museum of Denmark. A mid-week field excursion to several sites with different habitats will then allow students to collect their own ants, which they will subsequently mount and identify. We will finish the course with discussions on tips and tricks to use in the identification of « difficult » groups, and alternatives to morphology-based taxonomy and identification.
Guest lecturers this year will be Dr. Riitta Savolainen (Helsinki) and Dr. Christos Georgiadis (Athens/United Arab Emirates University).
The course is free to attend, but participants are responsible for organizing their own travel and accommodation for the course. Seats are limited to 25 students, and priority will be given to PhD students, but other students and postdocs can also participate if space allows. For informal inquiries, please contact David Nash (DRNash@bio.ku.dk)
For further details, and to apply, visit: https://phdcourses.ku.dk/DetailKursus.aspx?id=105903
Closing date for applicants is 31 July 2019