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This course is no longer available, see the current course list.

BIO9910 - Adaptive Dynamics

Course content

This course is not available.
BIO9910 was only given in Spring 2008.

Provides an in-depth introduction to adaptive dynamics, a theoretical framework for studying frequency- and density-dependent evolution with a high degree of ecological realism. This framework integrates and extends concepts and techniques from evolutionary game theory, with special emphasis on dynamical phenomena such as the origin and divergence of new lineages by evolutionary branching.

Learning outcomes

The lectures will focus on the fundamental theory of adaptive dynamics, but also look more briefly at the links between adaptive dynamics and other modeling frameworks, and at the current research challenges within the field. The course will provide a general understanding of the principles and underlying assumptions of adaptive dynamics, and provide training in the analysis of simple models, to the extent that you are able to critically read and understand original research articles.

Admission

This course is primarily intended for PhD students admitted to a program at a Norwegian University or University College. However, anyone interested will be allowed to sit in, and people that are not on a PhD program may obtain a course certificate after completion of the course (UiO credits /grades are strictly limited to PhD students). Master students and research assistants might under certain conditions be able to use the course certificate in later PhD-studies.

Participants must have access to a computer, and a software package that they are familiar with and that is suitable for mathematical modeling.

Please contact Øistein Haugsten Holen (o.h.holen@bio.uio.no) for registration within 15th December. PhD-students from Norwegian universitites will be given priority. After 15th December, registration will be assigned as first come, first served.

PhD-students from other universities (than Oslo) must in addition apply for hospitant status.

For more information, please contact the Department of Biology (studieinfo@bio.uio.no)

Prerequisites

Formal prerequisites

There are no formal requirements.

Recommended prior knowledge

The course is aimed towards PhD students that use mathematical models or simulation models in their work, and thus have some familiarity with dynamical systems and ecological modeling. There are no formal requirements, but we recommend that the participants have taken the following courses:

• BIO2100 General Ecology
• BIO2120 Evolutionary Biology

and one of the following courses:

• MAT1010 Mathematics for applications II
• MAT1110 Calculus and linear algebra
• MAT1120 Linear algebra

Teaching

The course will be running in January and February 2008.

Dr. Eva Kisdi, researcher at the University of Helsinki, will give the course and evaluate the student projects.

The first lecture as well as the last three days of the course are all mandatory.

A timeline is available at the spring semester page

Exam information

Each student will write a report of the analysis of the adaptive dynamics model they have been assigned, and the report will be marked as passed/not passed.

Assessment and grading

Students are awarded either a passing or a failing grade. Read more about the grading system .

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