Life History Theory 2026
Dates
The course starts the 25th of January and ends Friday the 30th of January 2026.
Organizers
Dr. Magdalena Kozielska-Reid (RSEE)
Prof. Simon Verhulst (Behavioural & Physiological Ecology, GELIFES)
Course Teachers
Prof. Simon Verhulst (Behavioural & Physiological Ecology, GELIFES)
Prof. Kees van Oers (Online - NIOO-KNAW & WUR)
Prof. Ido Pen (Theoretical Biology, GELIFES)
Prof. Koen Verhoeven (NIOO-KNAW & WUR)
Prof. Tom van Dooren (Evolutionary Ecology, CNRS, Paris)
Prof. Christiaan Both (Global Change Ecology, GELIFES)
2026 Special guest lecturer(s)
Prof. Gert Stulp (Sociology & Evolutionary Biology, UG)
Dr. habil. Sandra Bouwhuis (IFV - Life History Biology, Institute of Avian Research, Wilhelmshaven, Germany)
Aim of the course
Life History Theory deals with species-specific adaptive schemes of the distribution of the reproductive effort over the life of an organism. The general theoretical problem is to predict which combination of traits will evolve under specific conditions. The concepts used are also relevant to study within species variation in life history traits. The one week course aims at giving an overview of the field and will discuss methodology and recent developments.
Contents & Structure
The subject will be worked out on the basis of lectures, case histories, discussion and literature. The contact with current research projects is guaranteed as concrete examples will be treated by scientists working in the field. A lot of discussed examples refer to birds, but attention will also be paid to other groups of organisms, such as humans, fishes, insects and plants. In poster sessions work and/or plans of the participating students will be discussed with the whole group and we will use computers to illustrate some of the concepts.
Topics and Teachers:
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Life History Theory, Cost of reproduction and aging in a life history context, Calculating fitness (Simon Verhulst, GELIFES)
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Evolutionary genomics, Personality, Epignetics and life history trade-offs (Kees van Oers, Online - NIOO-KNAW & WUR)
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Modelling age-structured and stage-structured life, Calculating fitness Life history models, The evolution of senescence in super-organisms (Ido Pen, GELIFES)
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Life history models with rates of development and survival, Age and size at maturity (Tom van Dooren, Evolutionary Ecology, CNRS, Paris)
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Life history evolution in plants & Plant Epigenetics (Koen Verhoeven, NIOO-KNAW & WUR)
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A brief history of life history research on Schiermonnikoog & Excursion (Christiaan Both, GELIFES)
Provisional Program:
Sunday 25 January 2026:
Arrival at the "Herdershut", simple meal, arrangement of lodging, short session on who is who - course venue, Field station the Herdershut , Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands.
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17.00 - 19.00
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Welcome, sleeping arrangements, drinks & dinner
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19.00 - 20.00
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Introduction to the course (Simon Verhulst) /
Speed date/getting to know each other |
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20.00 - 21.00
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'Movie night'
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Monday 26 January :
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Simon Verhulst - The basics of life history evolution
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10:30-11:00
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Coffee
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11:00-12:30
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Simon Verhulst - Optimality in evolutionary ecology
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12:30-13:30
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Lunch
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13:30-15:00
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Ido Pen - Modelling age-structured and stage-structured life
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15:00-15:30
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Tea
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15:30-17:30
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Ido Pen - Calculating fitness (bring your own laptop!)
Life history models
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18:00-19:00
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Dinner
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19:30-21:00
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Poster presentations
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Tuesday 27 January :
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Ido Pen - The evolution of senescence in super-organisms
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10:30-11:00
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Coffee
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11:00-12:30
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Poster presentations
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12:30-13:30
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Lunch
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13:30-15:00
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Gert Stulp - An evolutionary approach towards
understanding human behaviour |
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15:00-15:30
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Tea
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15.30-17.30
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Gert Stulp - Workshop data visualization
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18:00-19:00
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Dinner
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19:30-21:00
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Sandra Bouwhuis - Crisis in a long-term study: avian flu
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Wednesday 28 January:
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Sandra Bouwhuis - Slow Life Histories
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10:30-11:00
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Coffee
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11:00-12:30
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Poster presentations
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12:30-13:30
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Lunch
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13:30-15:00
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Tom van Dooren - Age and size at maturity
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15:00-15:30
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Tea
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15:30-17:30
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Tom van Dooren - Life history models with rates
of development and survival |
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18:00-19:00
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Dinner
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19:30-21:00
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Kees van Oers - life-history trade-offs and
Animal personality |
Thursday 29 January:
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Christiaan Both - A brief history of life history
research on Schiermonnikoog |
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10:30-12:30
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Christiaan Both – Excursion
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12:30-13:30
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Lunch
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13:30-15:00
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Bernice Schepers / Kees van Oers -
Genetics, epigenetics and life-history trade-offs |
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15:00-15:30
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Tea
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15:30-17:30
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Koen Verhoeven - Life history evolution in plants
& Plant Epigenetics |
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17:30-18:30
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Dinner
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19:30-21:00
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Koen Verhoeven and Bernice Schepers / Kees van Oers –
Practical: The genetic basis of life history trade-offs’ |
Friday 30 January:
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08:00-08:45
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Breakfast
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09:00-10:30
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Wrapping up, evaluation & final discussion
(Bernice, Kees & Koen - How does your own PhD project relate to Evolution of Life histories? |
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10:30-11:00
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Coffee
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11:00-12:00
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Early lunch
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12:00-12.45
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Packing & Cleaning
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12:45-13:30
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Departure for boat
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13:30
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Boat
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General Information
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Required knowledge & preparation
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Poster: We ask you to make a poster on your own work to be discussed at the course. Send in your poster as pdf before 5 January 2026 at the very latest and prepare a short 5-minute powerpoint presentation (3-5 slides) to start the discussion on your poster. We will print the posters in a booklet so you can read them before the discussion.
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Course material
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Because we will run computer simulations, PhD students should bring along their laptop.
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Course credits
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2 ECTS
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Location
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Field Station The Herdershut, Heereweg 10, 9166 SE, Schiermonnikoog, phone 0519-531363
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Duration & date
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5 days; the course starts Sunday afternoon the 25th of January and ends Friday the 30th of January 2026
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Costs
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The registration fee is € 350,- for all participants belonging to the RSEE and affiliated research schools (PE&RC, WIMEK). All other participants pay € 650,-. This includes lodging, meals, and the course material at the course venue.
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Participants
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The number of participants is limited to 25.
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Information
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Registration
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Please register by filling in the registration form |
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Payment, Registration
and Cancellation |
Please take note of our general course information on payment, registration and cancellation, applicable to all registrations.
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| Last modified: | 26 September 2025 11.08 a.m. |