Bachelor & Master Theses
If you are interested in writing your BSc or MSc thesis in the Animal Ecology and Trophic Interactions group, please consider the following:
- Theses are typically done in the context of ongoing research projects, because this is where we can offer the best supervision. Your work will be relevant for the research project and your data and/or results will be used.
- Our research projects use quantitative methods of natural sciences.
- All theses topics involve data analysis in R (no exceptions!).
- Projects that involve field or laboratory work need time to organize. Please make sure that you approach us early enough.
- We prefer theses to be written in English but there are options to write in German.
Currently available topics:
Thermal niches of dung beetles and/or ground beetles and/or ants (summer 2027, specimen collection near Lüneburg and assessment of thermal tolerances)
Evaluating recolonization of grassland patches after insect sampling (summer 2027, insect sampling, sorting of specimens)
Functional redundancy in plant-aphid networks along microclimatic gradients (summer 2027, field observations and assessment of thermal tolerances)
Thematic trends in species interaction networks (from now on, literature review with data analysis) (preferably MSc)
Species accumulation along land-use gradients (from now, data analysis) (preferably MSc)
Microclimatic preferences of insects along land-use gradients (summer 2027, field collections all over Germany)
Influence of land-use intensity on ecosystem processes (summer, 2027, field experiments all over Germany)
Relationship between deadwood availability and saproxylic beetles (from now, data analysis)
If you are interested in a topic or would like to discuss own project ideas, please contact Prof. Dr. Michael Staab (michael.staab@leuphana.de)
