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 mandatory nor exhaustive: any topic related to evolution is fair game). Working in groups of two or three, 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 to help them begin exploring the topic, or the groups may propose relevant papers themselves. From among these, the group will assign (one week before the class session) one or 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 a discussion on it. The group presentation should explain why the topic is interesting and present the current state of the field, outlining points of controversy and identifying major open questions. The presentation format will be determined by the group, keeping in mind that it should encourage discussion. For the final session(s) at the end of the course, students will give short individual presentations summarizing certain aspects of another group’s topic. In addition to the main presentations on hot topics, there will be a brief “writing summaries” exercise at the beginning of the course, as well as regular “news & views” briefings on recent articles selected 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 to analyze biological data: describing, testing, and modeling simple experimental protocols;

Gaining an understanding of the fundamental properties of linear models used in simple regressions and simple ANOVAs;

Incorporating the essence of biological data into models: collinearity, dependence, spatial structure, non-normal distributions....

Presenting data and results from models.

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Modeling is a methodology that is frequently used in the biological sciences today, particularly in ecological and evolutionary studies. However, models often intimidate students. The purpose of this introductory course is to show that modeling is by no means more difficult to grasp than other techniques in biology. The goal is to give students a sense of how a model is constructed, to help them identify the key assumptions underlying a result, and to test their validity. The course will aim to familiarize students with several basic modeling techniques and tools.

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

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The course discusses cases in which implementations based on evolutionary biology provide invaluable insight into applied issues such as vector control, conservation biology, and fish stock management.

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

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The objective of this course is to provide the theoretical background necessary to understand—and potentially be able to use and apply—the principles of how selection affects the evolution of populations. Y. Michalakis describes the basics of selection theory and demonstrates, using elementary algebra, that it is possible to derive some fundamental results in population genetics, such as Fisher’s Fundamental Theorem. He also provides an introduction to mutation-selection balance and two-locus theory. These latter topics are put into perspective in the courses taught by T. Lenormand on the evolution of sexual reproduction, migration, and local adaptation. T. Lenormand also presents the theory that enables an understanding of 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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