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
The black pages of colonial history investigated through the genomic analysis of African rice
Suriname is home to a large community of Maroons, descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped the plantations during colonial times. The Maroons have many traditions that connect them to Africa. An important one for their survival is their long…
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…
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…
Morphometrics and phylogeny of the wild tulip (Tulipa sylvestris)
Tulip taxonomy is complex and different treatments do not agree on the delimitation of species and subspecies. In this thesis you will focus on the taxonomy of Tulipa sylvestris, a small yellow tulip commonly called the ‘wild tulip’ or bostulp in Dutch…
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…
Taxonomy and evolution of the Myristicaceae in the Neotropics
What does the phylogeny of the Neotropical Myristicaceae tell us about the evolution of its genera in the Amazon and about the diversity of the genus Virola Aublet? Among the six Neotropical genera, Virola has the widest geographical range and the largest…
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…
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…
Enhancing biodiversity in Leiden BioScience Park
What are the most effective corridors in, to and from the LSBP?
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…
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…
Positive root pressure and xylem repair
The main aim of this project is to further our understanding of the conditions under which positive root pressures develop in the tomato plant, and to test the hypothesis that the ability to generate positive root pressure enhances drought-resistance.
Physiological response to drought of a giant woody cabbage cross (Brassica oleracea)
Background and context In the context of climate change and the higher probability of extreme climate events such as droughts and heatwaves, more research is needed to understand and predict how plants will react to these stressful events. In particular…
Revision of Excoecaria
This internship is focused on the revision of the Malesian species of Excoecaria (euphorbiaceae).
