Phylogenetics is one of the scientific areas of Biology that has grown fast and evolved in methodological terms in the last years. Its applications go from the studies of the evolution of species and populations to the least expected, as the study of the origin of the AIDS virus or seasonal cycles of the flu. The course is aimed at students and professionals that intend to get started in phylogenetic analysis as well as researchers already with some experience wanting to deepen or update their knowledge in the field.

On completion of the course, the students shall have acquired the following knowledge and understanding:

Under the general framework of Global Change Ecology, the goal of this course is to provide the participants with the most recent and practical knowledge on the use of Functional Diversity. This includes the selection of functional traits and calculation of Functional Diversity Indexes. Examples of the application of this knowledge will be given regarding Ecological Indicators and Ecosystem Services.

The specific objectives are:

Lack of fertile land to feed the exponentially growing population, insufficient water availability and quality, changes in the flow of nutrients through the bio-geo-cycles (especially N and P) and climate and land use changes are impacting ecosystems and their capacity to deliver goods and services for humans. It is striking that all these issues interact around one common resource - SOIL and its biodiversity.

This course introduces the field of island biogeography, a discipline that has long influenced other research areas such as macroecology, community ecology, evolution and conservation biology. This course covers the main aspects of island biogeography, and on completion of the course the students shall have acquired knowledge and understanding on:

Evolutionary theory provides a framework for understanding all living systems. Nevertheless, throughout the 20th century, with a few exceptions, evolutionary biologists have “avoided” using evolution to address problems related to our own species. EvoS is a program created by David Sloan Wilson at the University of Binghamton, and later adopted at other faculties that have joined into the EvoS international consortium. EvoS aims at turning evolutionary theory into a common language to areas that pertain to the natural world, including human affairs.

This course aims to give basic skills in R, but with some applications in the field of Evolutionary Ecology.

This course can have a recognition of 6 ECTs for FCUL PhD students enrolling in it, as part of their first doctoral year. For FCUL PhD students only requiring 5 ECTs recognized in their specific PhD programmes, the last 6 hours of the course are not mandatory and the certificate will be on 'Topics in R without fear’.

O programa detalhado de Cursos Avançados disponibilizados pelo cE3c - Centro de Ecologia, Evolução e Alterações Ambientais para o ano letivo 2016/2017 já está disponível. Trata-se do ano com maior número de cursos disponível desde a sua criação: são 17 no total, dos quais 4 são inteiramente novos.