Topics
My research broadly falls within the field of Behavioral Ecology, with a focus on parental investment and parent-offspring communication. Most of the current topcis for master projects and internships, therefore, deal with the evolutionary ecology of parental care.
The evolutionary ecology of parental care
Parental care is a crucial component of reproduction as it increases fitness through improved offspring development and survival. However, although any parental contribution is beneficial for the offspring, it is at the expense of the parents’ survival and their future breeding success. The amount of care parents are willing to provide is thus limited by an associated cost, creating important life-history trade-offs. To complicate matters, each offspring is more closely related to itself than to any of its siblings, while parents are equally related to each of their offspring. As a result, offspring will seek greater parental investment than parents are selected to provide.
I have listed a number of potential topics for MP and IP (Thesis topics for 2013/14, pdf 433 kB) . Students from other universities interested in a master project or internship should contact me directly. If you have an idea for a project with a specific species or topic, you are more than welcome to bring it and discuss it with me!