Mögliche Themen für B.Sc. und M.Sc. Arbeiten in der Abt. Bioklimatologie
In order to make the assignment and supervision of B.Sc. and M.Sc. theses in our Bioclimatology Group more transparent and fairer, the following application procedure should be applied.
Theses Day
Once every semester, we invite all Bachelor and Master students that are interested in writing a thesis in the Bioclimatology Group to our Theses Day. On this day, we supervisors introduce ourselves, present ideas for thesis topics, possible research questions, and the necessary methodology. Please find below the dates for the upcoming Theses Days and sign up for it under stud.IP (Course: Bioclimatology Theses Day).
How It Works
If you are interested in a specific thesis topic, you can apply for it by writing an email to the respective supervisor (within one month after Theses Day, see deadline below). This email may already include your motivation, possible research questions and hypotheses, your skills, and a rough time schedule.
The supervisor will organize a meeting with all interested students to discuss the details and (if needed) select a candidate. Feedback by the supervisor will be provided shortly thereafter.
More information about the application, possible topics, and the general supervision will be given on the Theses Day.
| Writing thesis during... | Thesis Day | Application Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| ... summer semester 2025 | Jan 14, 2025, 10:15-11:30 FSR 2.7, Büsgenweg 2 |
Feb 07, 2025 |
| ... winter semester 2024/25 | Jul 11, 2024, 14:00-15:00 FSR 2.7, Büsgenweg 2 |
Aug 01, 2024 |
Possible Topics
Some topics listed below can be worked on as B.Sc. or M.Sc. thesis and thematically adapted accordingly. The thesis can be written in German or English in our group. Own suggestions for topics are also always welcome. Please, also note that each supervisor will only supervise 1-3 theses per semester.
In the context of this work, evapotranspiration and CO2 exchange should be measured at the agricultural experimental farm Reinshof (i) by means of hand measurements with a photosynthesis device (LI-6800) and (ii) the evapotranspiration and photosynthesis rates measured on leaf scale should be scaled to the ecosystem and compared with direct eddy covariance measurements. The measurements should be carried out under different environmental conditions over the course of a growing season. The results should give an indication of the reliability of the CO2 and energy fluxes measured at the Reinshof site.
The eddy covariance method is considered the standard method for measuring vertical energy, water and greenhouse gas fluxes. An eddy covariance system consists of a fast wind sensor, a so-called three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer, and a gas analyser that measures, for example, the CO2 or H2O concentration. The covariance of the fast measured (20 Hz) vertical wind component and the optional CO2 or H2O concentration then results in a CO2 or H2O flux. The aim of this work is to derive both the sensible and the latent heat flux from the fast wind measurements using an ultrasonic anemometer and an additional fast temperature measurement. This is a highly experimental topic and includes the joint installation of the additional temperature sensor and the subsequent evaluation of the data. A good knowledge of a programming language, e.g. R or Python, is required for this. The measurements are carried out during the vegetation period in the Forest Botanical Garden, Göttingen.
In the context of this work, transpiration should be measured at the agricultural experimental farm Reinshof (i) by means of hand measurements with a photosynthesis device (LI-6800) and (ii) the water fluxes measured on leaf scale should be scaled to the ecosystem and compared with direct eddy covariance measurements. The measurements should be carried out under different environmental conditions over the course of a growing season. The results should give an indication of the reliability of energy fluxes measured at the Reinshof site.
In March/April 2025, a soil sampling campaign must be carried out in the Hainich National Park and here we are looking for support. Further, the collected soil samples have to be prepared in the lab for chemical analysis. The latter will be conducted by the MPI-BGC Jena. Based on this newly collected data and on soil carbon data from previous sampling campaigns, the changes in soil carbon and other characteristics of this forest stand can be analyzed. In addition, a soil carbon model can be developed to simulate the carbon dynamics within this near-natural forest ecosystem. This thesis is offered by the Department of Bioclimatology in close collaboration with the Research Group Soil Biogeochemistry of the MPI-BGC Jena.
At our study sites in the Forstbotanischer Garten, Göttingen, and Jambi, Indonesia, measurements of meteorological parameters (such as humidity, temperature, pressure, precipitation, wind speed and direction, as well as radiation), have been carried out for some time using two different compact measuring devices. The aim is to evaluate these two measuring devices with regard to their comparability to each other and to additional sensors. For this comparison, various temporal scales should be considered.
Various approaches to check and assess the quality of meteorological measurements of our study sites should be compared. This study will include a literature research for the various approaches, the application of these approaches with the R or python programming languages to the existing measurements, and a thorough comparison of the filtered data. For the various meteorological variables a different combination of approaches can be of advantage.