spring 2020
BIO-8105 Ecological methodology: Study design and statistical analysis - 10 ECTS

Application deadline

Registration deadline for PhD students at UiT - The Arctic University of Norway: 1 February.

Application deadline for other applicants: 1 December.


Type of course

Theoretical

Admission requirements

PhD students or holders of a Norwegian master´s degree of five years or 3+2 years (or equivalent) may be admitted.

PhD students register for the course through StudentWeb. The registration starts in the middle of December.

Other applicants apply for admission through SøknadsWeb. Application code 9303.

Non-UiT PhD students must upload a document from their university stating that they are registered PhD students. This group of applicants does not have to prove English proficiency and are exempt from semester fee.

Holders of a Master´s degree must upload a Master´s Diploma with Diploma Supplement / English translation of the diploma. Applicants from listed countries must document proficiency in English. To find out if this applies to you, see the following list:
Proficiency in English must be documented - list of countries.

For more information on accepted English proficiency tests and scores, as well as exemptions from the English proficiency tests, please see the following document: Proficiency in english - PhD level studies
https://uit.no/Content/254419/PhD_EnglishProficiency_100913.pdfContact Ingjerd Gauslaa Nilsen at the BFE-faculty if you have troubles or questions regarding registration to the course. 


Course overlap

If you pass the examination in this course, you will get an reduction in credits (as stated below), if you previously have passed the following courses:

BIO-3123 Ecological methodology: Study design and statistical analysis 10 stp

Course content

The course aims to demonstrate how ecological theory, study designs and analyses should be linked, and the course should make students able to plan and conduct empirical, ecological research through all stages of the research processes from formulation of hypotheses to the presentation and interpretation of the results. Simple (e.g. crossed) as well as more advanced (e.g. split-plot, multi-level) experimental and observational designs are presented and compared with respect to issues such as precision, confounding and bias. Statistical aspects of the course focus on statistical estimation of biologically relevant effects and issues of model selection. Statistical methods covered are generalised linear and additive models, and a short introduction to the bootstrap is given. Multivariate analyses (PCA, Correspondence Analysis) are also briefly covered. The course emphasized also the practical aspects through the analyses of real data sets in R. The course is relevant for doctoral students within all field of ecology and evolutionary biology.

Recommended prerequisites

STA-0001 Applied statistics 1

Objectives of the course

The course aims to make students able to plan and conduct empirical, ecological research through all stages of the research processes from formulation of hypotheses, statistical analyses and to the presentation and interpretation of the results. The course focuses on the underlying principles of study design and statistical methods.

Language of instruction and examination

The language of instruction is English and all of the syllabus material is in English. Examination questions will be given in English, but may be answered either in English or a Scandinavian language.

Teaching methods

Lectures 30 hours and PC-lab 30 hours.

Assessment

Project work must be approved to take the oral exam. Grade: Pass/fail. There will not be arranged a re-sit exam for this course.
  • About the course
  • Campus: Tromsø |
  • ECTS: 10
  • Course code: BIO-8105