M1 - Erasmus Mundus Master's Program in Evolutionary Biology (MEME)

https://www.evobio.eu/summer-school

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Each year, teachers will suggest a number of topics, from which students will choose (the list will be neither binding nor exhaustive: any topic that relates to evolution is fair game). Working in groups of two or three people, the students will be responsible for presenting the topic they have chosen. Each person in a group should participate equally in these presentations. Each group will be given a small selection of recent papers that they will use to begin to explore the topic, or the groups will themselves propose pertinent papers. Among these, the group will distribute (one week before the class session) one-two papers that everyone should read before class. The group will be responsible for presenting the topic to the rest of the class and leading discussion of it. The group presentation should explain why the topic is interesting and present the state of the art, outlining points of controversy and defining big open questions. The presentation format will be defined by the group, keeping in mind that it should open discussions. For the last session(s) at the end of the course, students will give short individual presentations providing a recap of some aspect(s) of another group's topic. In addition to the main hot topic presentations, there will be a brief 'writing summaries' exercise at the beginning of the course, and regular "news & views" briefings of recent articles picked by the students from journals of their choice.

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https://www.umontpellier.fr/en/research

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Starting from scratch for analyzing biological data: describing, testing, and modeling simple experimental protocols;

Getting to know fundamental properties of linear models dealing with simple regressions and simple ANOVAs;

Incorporating into models the essence of biological data: collinearity, dependence, spatial structure, laws that are not normal....

Representing data and results from models.

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Modeling is a methodology that is frequently used in biological sciences nowadays, in particular in ecological and evolutionary studies. However, models usually frighten students. The aim of this initiation is to show that modeling is by no means more inaccessible than other techniques in biology. The goal is to give students a feel for how a model is constructed, to be able to spot the key assumptions behind a result, and to test their validity. The course will seek to familiarize students with several basic modeling techniques and tools.

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This one-week course will be offered at least in winter 2020 (and in subsequent years if independent funding can be secured). It will be organized as a retreat during which students will write grant proposals on evolutionary biology topics in small groups.

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The course discusses cases where evolutionary biology-based implementations provide invaluable insight into applied issues such as vector control, conservation biology, or fish stock management.

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"The objectives of this course are threefold: (i) to remind students of the theoretical bases of some essential concepts of population genetics theory; (ii) to detail some "classical" inference methods (e.g., F-statistics) and more "modern" approaches (based, e.g., on coalescent theory); (iii) to show how demographic history may be inferred from the analysis of genetic polymorphisms."

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The objective of this course is to provide the theoretical background for understanding, and potentially being able to use and apply the principles of how selection will affect the evolution of populations. Y. Michalakis describes the basics of selection theory and shows with elementary algebra that it is possible to derive some fundamental results in Population Genetics, such as Fisher’s Fundamental Theorem. He also gives an introduction to mutation-selection balance and two-locus theory. The latter topics are put into perspective in the courses by T. Lenormand on the evolution of sexual reproduction, migration, and local adaptation. T. Lenormand also presents the theory that allows understanding the dynamics of adaptation. G. Martin's courses explain how stochastic effects interact with selection to influence the fate of adaptive mutations.

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