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In het nieuwe Naturalis ontdek je het mooiste van de natuur. Reis terug naar de wereld van de dino's en sta oog in oog met T. rex Trix, of leer meer over de verrassende versiertrucs van dieren en planten.

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Wetenschap
Onze kennis draagt bij aan het behoud van biodiversiteit.

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Collectie
Educatie
Wij ontdekken samen de rijkdom van de natuur. Wat je ook weet en wat je ook voelt, er is altijd meer om enthousiast over te zijn, meer om te leren en meer om te onderzoeken.

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Over ons
Fascinatie voor de schoonheid en diversiteit van de natuur, dat is het fundament van Naturalis. We willen het leven op aarde beter begrijpen en helpen om de rijke variatie van de natuur in stand te houden.

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Ben je van plan Naturalis te bezoeken? Hier vind je alles om je bezoek zo plezierig mogelijk te laten verlopen.

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Onderwijsactiviteiten

Onderwijs speelt in belangrijke rol in het uitvoeren van de missie van Naturalis om biodiversiteit te beschrijven, begrijpen en uit te leggen ten behoeve van het voortbestaan van de mensheid en de natuur op Aarde. Naturalis participeert in veel universitaire curricula en biedt hoogwaardig research-based onderwijs met een uniek profiel, gebaseerd op de bijzondere verbinding tussen taxonomische expertise, collecties en onderzoek. Al onze onderzoeksgroepen werken mee aan educatie door vakken en onderzoeksprojecten aan te bieden aan bachelor- en masterstudenten. De volgende kenmerken staan centraal in ons onderwijsaanbod: 1) Professionalisme en kwaliteit van docenten, faciliteiten en inhoud; 2) Interactieviteit en persoonlijk contact; 3) Blended learning; and 4) Openheid en toegankelijkheid, inclusief Citizen Science.

Onderzoeksprojecten en stages
Bsc. en Msc.

Er zijn binnen Naturalis veel mogelijkheden om mee te werken aan onderzoek. Zowel studenten op bachelor- als masterniveau kunnen ons helpen onderzoeksvragen te beantwoorden in onafhankelijke projecten. Je onderzoek kan deel zijn van een groter project, of op zichzelf staan. Alle beschikbare projecten staan hieronder:

Plant ingredients for traditional glue-making in Zambia

Internship aug 2020 Plant ingredients for traditional glue-making in Zambia

Making glue from plants is not easy, but early humanoids were able to make complex adhesives. How did they do this? Research on traditional glue-making in Africa helps us to reconstruct ancient way of adhesive production. A major step in the development of…

Indigenous woman processing cassava roots in Guyana

Internship fall 2020 Retracing the footsteps of the last Taruma by their crop names

The indigenous Taruma people of Guyana have dwindled from ca. 500 people to a handful today, but their Amazonian origin is unclear. The Taruma names for their crops may give a clue on where they come from. Background and context The last Taruma live in…

dandelion seeds

Urban evolution of fruits of dandelion

The amount of urbanized land surface on earth is expected to triple by 2030, casting great pressure on organisms that live in cities. Natural habitats are becoming increasingly fragmented, decreasing the population sizes of wild animals and plants and…

Ladybugs

Apps for relevant taxa near Leiden

Background and context The ‘Leidse Ommelanden’ is a program in which 8 municipalities around Leiden (incl. Leiden itself) cooperate to take biodiversity aspects seriously into consideration in a number of land use (planning) projects and their site…

Arctic Fungi

Arctic fungi and Climate Change

Background and context The arctic tundra is experiencing profound warming-induced changes. As a response to warming temperatures, marked changes have already been observed in terrestrial arctic ecosystems, including increased microbial activity leading to…

Pond in Leiden

Enhancing biodiversity in Leiden BioScience Park

What are the most effective corridors in, to and from the LSBP? Background and context The Leiden BioScience Park (LBSP) will be further developed according to a Masterplan LBSP- Gorlaeus, which includes more buildings and the accommodation of some 5000…

map of Malesia

Everwet and dry monsoon in Malesia?

Do everwet and dry monsoon distribution patters in Malesia really exist? Background and context Van Steenis once indicated two distribution patterns in Malesia. One is shown by species which only prefer an everwet distribution on the Sunda Shelf (Malay…

Women in Science

Evolution of orchid mycorrhiza

Supervisors Vincent Merckx & Sofia Gomes Contact vincent.merckx@naturalis.nl, sofia.fernandesgomes@naturalis.nl Period & duration 2017-2018; 6 months Study & level Biology, MSc. Background & context The Orchidaceae, with ~25 000 species the largest family…

Milkcaps

Evolution of the milkcap mushrooms Reconstructing relationships and understanding tropical to arctic distribution

Background & context Milkcaps belong to several genera (Lactarius, Lactifluus and partially Multifurca) in the family Russulaceae within the Basidiomycetes. They exude a milky fluid or latex when bruised and many of them are edible, though some are not…

Microscopic Wood

Evolutionary patterns in microscopic wood anatomy

Complete the wood anatomical observations in our ongoing Apocynaceae wood project. Give a detailed overview of the variation in the family and highlight broad-scale evolutionary patterns in this lineage that includes some rare but fascinating features such…

Microscopic image of Vessel Plates

Evolutionary shifts in vessel plate morphology

Background and context Baileyan trends in wood anatomy are arguably one of the most common textbook examples of evolutionary patterns in plant anatomy. This set of linear “primitive-to-specialised” transformation series in wood anatomical features found…

Foraminifera

Exploring the diversity of North Sea Foraminifera

The North Sea is one of the most intensely used seas in the world. Its natural resources are exploited for gas drilling’, fishing and renewable energy, and these activities greatly impact the North Sea ecosystems and their biodiversity. Despite the heavy…

Map of Area

Floral exchange Why often the same species in Sumatra and Borneo?

Background and context Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula have an everwet climate, thus seemingly easy for species to disperse between these three areas. However, barriers exist. During interglacial periods, like present, sea forms a barrier. During…

Orange and yellow group of mushroom

Fungal diversity of the Netherlands Closing the gap in our mycological knowledge

Background and context Fungi are everywhere. They live in the soil, float in the air, digest dead plant material, parasitize other organisms or live in mutualistic relationships. They are essential for the functioning of nearly all ecosystems, yet they are…

Bryophyte

What is a species in the moss genus Campylopus?

Background and context Campylopus is one of the largest moss genera, with about 150 species worldwide. The genus occurs in Western Europe, but has its hotspot of diversity in Central and tropical South America (Neotropics). Identification of Campylopus…

Species map Leiden Area

Urban biodiversity and patterns in species occurrences

Background and context 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…

Microscopic Images

Leaf anatomy of Macaranga

Background and context Macaranga is a large genus of c. 250 species in Africa and Asia, its sister genus Mallotus occurs in the same area, but has less species. Anatomical characters of Mallotus were extremely helpful to separate species and, more…

tomaat fruit

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.

Callitris

Xylem anatomy of drought resistant trees

Understanding the adaptation of plant species to potentially lethal drought is critical to help predict the impact of climate events on species distributions and ecosystems.

brassica

Response to drought of a giant woody cabbage cross

This project will aim to determine the differences in water-use behavior and hydraulic traits related to drought-resistance, and various molecular responses to drought stress between the two parents and a number of offspring genotypes selected to represent…

Banana Plants

Mycorrhizal communities of banana plants

Banana accommodates the fourth most important global food commodity. Background and context Banana accommodates the fourth most important global food commodity (after rice, wheat and maize) and is grown in more than 130 countries, mainly in the tropical…

Man with cabbage Bush

Phenotyping an F2 population in cabbage (Brassica oleracea)

' to look for genomic regions associated to a number of life history traits' Background and context Why are there so many phenotypic differences between woody and herbaceous species? To this day, scientists have failed to provide satisfying answers. We…

Image of species

Revision of Excoecaria

Revision of the Malesian species of Excoecaria (euphorbiaceae) Background and context Probably Excoecaria has 6 species in Malesia, which need revision. One species, E. agallocha, the only one with only alternate leaves, is only growing in the mangrove or…

Tree

The influence of plant evolution on their interactions

The roots of more than 70% of all plant species contain multi-species communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), all members of the subphylum Glomeromycotina Background & context The roots of more than 70% of all plant species contain multi-species…

Tropical Fungi

Tropical fungal diversity

Background & context Fungi represent one of the largest groups of living organisms. Their true diversity was estimated to be between 1.5 and 5 million species. Therefore, with the appr. 100 000 described specie,s we currently know only a fraction of total…

Man with cabbage Bush

Unraveling the genes responsible for late flowering

in the giant woody cabbage (Brassica oleracea) Background and context Why are there so many phenotypic differences between woody and herbaceous species? To this day, scientists have failed to provide satisfying answers. We have crossed a tall, woody, late…

heat map Zeeland

Urban evolution heat islands and snail shell color

The students will test the hypothesis that shell color adapts to raised urban temperatures Background and context The shell color and banding pattern in the common garden snail Cepaea nemoralis are highly variable. The genetics of the color variation is…

Academische vakken
Bsc. en Msc.

Naturalis offers academic courses at several universities

Naturalis researchers organize and teach academic courses at all (applied) biology curricula.

The Biology curriculum at Leiden University is a joint programme of IBL (responsible institute), CML and Naturalis. The substantial contribution by Naturalis and detailed information about the courses offered can be found in the e-Prospectus (https://studiegids.universiteitleiden.nl/studies/6581/biologie#tab-1). The courses we organize or substantially participate include:

Bachelor - first year

Popularisering van de Wetenschap
Biodiversiteit Planten/Paddestoelen/Protisten - Tree of Life, en Fylogenie
Flora en Fauna excursies
Onderzoekprojecten Ecologie, Biodiversiteit en Gedrag

Bachelor - second and third year

Evolutiebiologie
Ontwikkelingsbiologie Dier en Plant
Biodiversiteit
Veldonderzoek Flora
Minor Biodiversity
Honours class Crises in Biology

Master

Together with CML and IBL, Naturalis organizes two Master tracks at Leiden University.

Mandatory and elective courses include:

Orientation courses
Genomic architecture
Paleobiology
Development and evolution
Methods in biodiversity analysis
Integrative taxonomy
Plant families of the tropics
Tropical biodiversity and field methods

Contributions to the curricula of other universities

Naturalis also participates in other biology curricula. The courses coordinated by Naturalis staff include:

UvA

BSc 1 Mile stones in Sciences
BSc 1 Organisms in the environment
BSc 2 Evolutionary biology
BSc 3 Paleoecology
MSc Biological Oceanography

WUR

BSc Ethnobotany