Bij Naturalis zijn er veel mogelijkheden om deel te nemen aan onderzoek. Studenten op zowel bachelor- als masterniveau kunnen ons helpen vragen te beantwoorden door middel van zelfstandige projecten. Je onderzoek kan deel uitmaken van een groter project of op zichzelf staan.
Alle beschikbare onderzoeksprojecten en stages staan hieronder vermeld:
Beschikbareonderzoeksprojecten
Using environmental DNA to characterize diatom communities
Diatom community assemblages are often used as indicators of freshwater quality. Together with various regional water management authorities, Naturalis takes part in a collaboration with KWR Water Research Institute to assess the use of DNA-based community…
Cranium and lower jaw development of the Pond bat
Pond bats are insectivorous mammals. Females and males live in segregated habitats. Recently, a DNA based dietary analyses revealed that both sexes have a different diet during the start of the reproductive period of the females. Pregnant females are very…
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…
Investigating unknown Antarctic deep sea biodiversity through eDNA sequencing
Deep sea biodiversity is largely unknown due to limitations posed by difficulties in sampling at large depths. New molecular approaches have been recently developed to enhance our ability to study and monitor aquatic ecosystems. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is…
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…
What is a species in the moss genus Campylopus?
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).
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…
Leaf anatomy of Macaranga
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 important, to characterize…
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…
