Naturalis offers various internships. For example, there are opportunities for students at both bachelor's and master's level to do an internship at one of our research groups. During such a research internship you focus on one research project, and you help a researcher at exploring and answering one or more research questions. Some of these research projects are part of a larger project, while others stand on their own.
All available research projects are listed below.
AvailableResearch projects
How did early osteichthyans grow their dermal skeleton?
Despite their extensive fossil record, the skeletal structure of early jawed vertebrates remains poorly documented. This project will investigate the mechanics of bone remodelling and growth in the head and trunk dermal skeleton of some of the earliest…
Structural basis of thermal properties of downy feathers
Many waterfowl species use feathers during nest construction to create a microclimate that is suitable for the development of their eggs. Mother birds particularly use downy feathers from their own bodies to line their nest because these types of feathers…
Revision and phylogenetic position of Croton species (Euphorbiaceae) in Sulawesi & Moluccas
Which species of the plant genus Croton are present on the island groups Sulawesi (also known as Celebes) and the Moluccas in Indonesia? During this internship you will investigate this, and determine with which characters you can recognize the different…
Floristic origin of Malesian flora from northern Australia?
The geological history of the Malay Archipelago, better known as Malesia, is an amalgamation of small tectonic plates that mainly moved below water. This means that the present rich flora of this tropical area must have ancestors from surrounding areas…
Coot nests made from plastic debris personalities, fledging success and nest isolation
Coots use all kinds of litter in their nests; windscreen wipers, bicycle tires, condoms, cocaine envelopes, artificial plants, sunglasses and nowadays also our face masks. Biologist Auke-Florian Hiemstra wants to know why these birds do this and what the…
Inferring hybrid zone history
Where the ranges of closely related species meet they may hybridize. The regions where this occurs are called hybrid zones. A balance of selection against hybrids and dispersal of parental species determines the width of the hybrid zone, but the…
Revision of Excoecaria
This internship is focused on the revision of the Malesian species of Excoecaria (euphorbiaceae).
Amazonian seeds in indigenous body ornaments
Many ethnographic body ornaments are kept in European museums, made by indigenous people from Amazonian seeds. Many of these artefacts miss the associated information on who made these objects and when, what seeds are included, and what information we can…
Bioinformatics at Naturalis
At Naturalis, research and development in bioinformatics and biodiversity informatics takes place on an ongoing basis. Projects are available that range from the fundamental, when a new research idea needs to be tested out, to the highly applied, for…
Phylogenomics of the mustard family (Brassicaceae)
In the flowering plants, herbaceous plants have evolved into woody plants hundreds of times independently from each other during evolutionary history. With over 100 documented cases, this rigorous morphological transition is especially common in the…
Modeling environmental variables to understand rampant evolutionary transitions towards woodiness in the mustard family (Brassicaceae)
In the flowering plants, herbaceous plants have evolved into woody plants hundreds of times independently from each other during evolutionary history. This is especially true in the mustard family (Brassicaceae), a family well-known from the model plant…
Taxonomic and functional diversity of sandy beach meiofauna
Sandy beaches are highly important ecosystems for a wide range of species. The most diverse group of animals inhabiting sandy beaches is the meiofauna, which consists of species smaller than 1mm. Due to difficulties in species identification, relatively…
Phylogenomics of species radiations
In species radiations it is often not clear how many species are included, because ‘cryptic species’ are involved. Cryptic species behave as distinct species, but have gone unnoticed due to their morphological similarity. Deciphering the phylogenetic…
Unraveling evolutionary patterns in microscopic wood anatomy
The Sapotaceae, or sapodilla, family is a large pantropical woody family of ca. 1100 species ranging in habit from small understory shrubs to large canopy trees. They thrive in humid, lowland tropics with high concentration of species in Amazonian South…
MtDNA barcoding invasive species
As a consequence of increasing globalization, species can reach places that were previously inaccessible. Invasive species are considered to be one of the main threats to global biodiversity. They can threaten native species with extinction via predation…
Enhancing biodiversity in Leiden BioScience Park
What are the most effective corridors in, to and from the LSBP?
Urban biodiversity and patterns in species occurrences
Urban biodiversity is the result of urban design (architecture, city planning), management of the green area (planting, sowing, mowing, etc.), and the context (geomorphology, connections with other areas in an ecological network). A better understanding of…
