Current topics for BSc and MSc theses


(1) BSc theses and MSc theses on the ecological impact of the historic three-field and four-field rotation systems. Possible topics include:

  • Designing artificial landscapes based on historical knowledge
  • Conducting literary research on historical agricultural practices
  • Agent-based modelling of animal landscape ecology

Kontakt: Eyal Goldstein ((eyal.goldstein@forst.uni-goettingen.de)
Details: PDF

(2) Within the research project "Management effects on wildfire risk and degradation of ecosystem services by eastern redcedar encroachment into the private sector of the Cross Timbers: A modeling and simulation approach" BSc theses and MSc theses can be done on

  • Remote sensing
  • Machine learning and neural networks using remote sensing data
  • Agent-based modeling, point pattern analysis, and statistics.

Possible topics:

  • Tree identification and segmentation
  • Allometric equations
  • Fire susceptibility of vegetation
  • Vegetation dynamics

Contact: José Ortega (josemaria.ortegaballadares*uni-goettingen.de)
Details: PDF

General remarks on topics for MSc- and BSc-theses

We supervise master's and bachelor's theses of students of any discipline (especially forestry, biological and agricultural sciences) with an interest in ecological modeling or spatial statistics. Often, participation in ongoing research projects is possible. Literature-based review-style theses are also possible. You are also welcome to bring your own ideas. Just write to Katrin Meyer (Katrin.Meyer*forst.uni-goettingen.de), ideally with the following information:

  • Which topics and which methods are interesting to you in general?
  • Do you have an own idea that you would like to implement?
  • Do you have any experience with programming languages, R, modelling, or statistics or would you be interested in learning a language (depending on the thesis topic, of course)?
  • Would you like to develop a new model, extend an existing model, analyze an existing model, perform a data analysis, develop a method, develop a model concept, or write a literature review?
  • Until when do you want to complete the thesis, when do you want to start?
  • Would you be willing to work in English?

Examples of completed theses

:

  • Ecohydrological modeling of fairy circle patterns
  • Simulation of the behavior of wildland fires in savanna ecosystems
  • Extreme shifts in rattan yield with increasing harvesting intensity revealed with a simulation model
  • Modelling avian alpha-diversity in the land use transformation systems of Indonesia
  • LiDAR-based analysis of vegetation structure in Triodia grasslands with scattered shrubs and trees in Western Australia.
  • Distribution of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid in honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera) and its effect on the egg-laying rate of the queen bee
  • A lingua franca for neutral landscape models: Developing a classification approach to advise their future usage
  • How does the percolation threshold behave in relation to host density in case of a pandemic at the example of Great gerbil populations?