General Information📄

General information 📚

Warning

📅Date: 15.09.2025 - 20.09.2025 (Monday to Saturday)

🗺️Location: Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic

Get ready to dive deep into the fascinating world of ecology! Our diverse team of instructors, who are active researchers in various ecological subdisciplines, will guide you through both theoretical and practical aspects of the course. Here’s what you can expect:

  • Engaging Lectures🔬: Drawn directly from the instructors’ current research projects, ensuring you learn the most up-to-date information.
  • Hands-On Practice🤝: Sharpen your skills with practical exercises in R, tailored to help you tackle real-world data challenges.
  • Social Events😊: From barbecues to informal gatherings, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to relax, network, and forge new friendships with fellow participants.

Course Content 🎯

What to expect

Dive into a diverse range of exciting subjects designed to empower you with advanced ecological analysis skills and a deep understanding of the environment. By the end of this course, you’ll be equipped to tackle pressing ecological questions such as:

  • 🌐 Quantitative Ecology Fundamentals: Understand why we use quantitative analysis in ecology, exploring the differences between data exploration, inference, and prediction.
  • 🛠️ Mastering Project Management: Gain proficiency in managing large, reproducible ecological projects with tools like Git/GitHub, and learn the art of clean coding and effective project planning.
  • 🌿 Plant Taxonomy Deep Dive: Gain a comprehensive overview of resources regarding plant taxonomy, occurrences, and traits, essential for accurate (paleo)ecological research.
  • 🌱 From Past to Present: Seamlessly integrate paleoecological data with current plant species data to uncover ecological trends. Learn to address macro-ecological questions using paleontological data, connecting ancient life with today’s plant species.
  • 🌍 Evolution of Ecological Patterns: Delve into (paleo)ecological patterns on grand scales to study the processes that have shaped life on Earth over millions of years with the help of phylogenies.

Additional Topics We Might Cover:

  • 💻 Coding for Ecologists: Enhance your coding skills in R for a variety of applications from functional programming to developing R packages.
  • 🎲 Statistical Sophistication: Get to grips with Bayesian basics, causal inference, multivariate analysis, and advanced modeling techniques like hierarchical models.
  • 🤖 Tech Meets (Paleo)Ecology: Explore the intersection of machine learning, deep learning, AI, and remote sensing in (paleo)ecological research.

Costs 💰

Important

The participation in science school is free of charge. In addtion, the organisers expect that we should be able to partly/fully cover expences for accommodation, lectures, main meals, and materials. Costs for travelling need to be covered by the applicant. However, the organisers may be able to reimburse some travel expenses.

Funding

The Science School of Qunatitive Ecology 2024 was funded by the The Bavarian-Czech Academic Agency (TBHA)

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