3 ETSC credit points
Spencer Barrett (University of Toronto)
Mark Kirkpatrick (University of Texas, Austin)
John Pannell (University of Lausanne)
Tadeusz Kawecki (University of Lausanne)
Target participants: PhD students, advanced Master students
This workshop, based on a concept developed by Stephen Stearns and John Maynard Smith.
The main goals of this course are to develop the following skills:
. developing your scientific ideas through discussions in groups;
. thinking critically and expressing oneself clearly;
. turning a general idea into a research project;
. writing a research proposal and defending it.
It is you, the students, who will be in charge in this course. You will be divided in groups of 4-5 students. In those groups, you will work on your ideas. You, as a group, will decide what the important open questions in broadly defined evolutionary biology are, you will choose one, and attempt to develop a proposal for a research project that will address it. The faculty will visit the groups during the discussions to answer your questions, provide coaching and give you feedback on your projects, but they will generally take the back seat. Additionally, the faculty will give talks about their research and be available for informal discussion with individual students. At the end you will present your projects to other participants, and we will party.
The workshop will take place in Villa Cassel (http://www.pronatura-aletsch.ch/home-en), at 2000 m of altitude, amid the magnificent mountain landscape of UNESCO World Heritage Site, walking distance from the largest glacier of the Alps. This isolated site will help you to concentrate on the course while giving you also the chance to enjoy the views and the alpine flora.
Costs: CHF 530.- for room and board; there is no tuition fee.
To apply, send a single file (pdf or rtf) containing a short motivation letter, a cv, and the name of your scientific advisor to Nadia Bruyndonckx , with a Cc to tadeusz.kawecki@unil.ch
Deadline for application: 15 February 2012.