Bachelor & Master Themen

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:

Can traits explain the population trends of insect species? (from now on, literature review with data analysis)

Thermal niches of dung beetles and/or ants (spring/summer 2026, specimen collection and assessment of thermal tolerances)

The relationship between species accumulation and land use (from now on, analyses of already collected data, requires advanced knowledge in R)

Are insects expanding their distribution with climate warming? (from now on, requires advanced GIS and R skills)

Evaluating recolonization of grassland patches after insect sampling (spring/summer 2026, insect sampling, sorting of specimens)

Functional redundancy in plant-aphid networks along microclimatic gradients (summer 2026, field observations and assessment of thermal tolerances)

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)