Biology without borders

The main goals of this course are to:

1. Acquaint students with interdisciplinary understanding and critical thinking of current research and applications of biological science in physiology, ecology, ethology, evolution, biosystematics, and molecular biology, and
2. Develop skills in planning, implementing, discussing, and present the results of a Master’s level research project.

The framework of the course is seminars, guest lectures, group work, and student presentations. Senior researchers at NTNU, guest speakers from other institutions in the Trondheim area, and invited international speakers will give seminars focused on application of biological research to sustainable utilization and management of natural resources.

Students will work in interdisciplinary groups to develop and deliver seminar presentations, the first early in the studies to discuss the scientific plan, and the second towards the end of the studies to present results and conclusions. The seminars require active involvement and participation from the students.

This course is designed to provide academic and career training for MSBIO students. The specific topics of training will include scientific discussions, presentation skills, giving and receiving feedback to/from peers, and career development for future non-academic jobs. The course also aims to help students find their thesis research topics and potential career path beyond the degree program.

Course organization:

Each semester consists of 10 classes, which span 11-12 weeks’ time. The fall semesters include practical lectures and group discussions, where different disciplines may be grouped together. Spring semesters include preparing individual presentations as part of groupwork and giving presentations. This will prepare you with presentation skills as well as skills to give feedback to your peers. First-year students present their research topic as a poster presentation and second-year students present their research topic as an oral presentation at the end of the semester. To have meaningful seminar discussions, all students are required to submit a short abstract prior to their scheduled presentation. Abstracts must be submitted at least one week before the presentation and will be shared with fellow students to allow for preparation and informed participation.

General organization of groupwork:

The groups will be arranged by the course leader. Throughout the semester, the students will be placed in different groups, so they get to work together with different students. Each group will contain 5-6 students.

Expectations from the students:

You must meet a minimum of 75% attendance and two presentations. Additionally, active participation and positive input during the class are expected.

Examples of discussion topics in the following years

• How to write a thesis
• How to write an abstract
• How to find literature
• How to give good presentations
• Plagiarism
• Writing a cover letter and CV
• Career opportunity after MS degree
• Open, reproducible, sharable science
• Science and activism