Current PhD Projects
Gargi Ahuja
Supervisors: Eddy van der Zee (NeuBio), Arjan Kortholt (GBB)
Combating Parkinson’s disease by modulating the activity of the kinase LRKK2 by way of passive exercise and an evolutionary approach
I. Maureen Baars
Supervisors: Irene Tieleman (BPE), Joana Falcao Salles (GREEN), Maurine Dietz (BPE)
Microbiome-mediated functions of avian preen glands - Understanding the chemosignalling and antimicrobial potentials
Mareike G. Bach
Supervisors: Theo Elzenga (GREEN), Jaqueline Stefels (MarBio)
Predicting DMS(P) production in a high-CO2 world - Does algal carbon-utilization provide the answer?
Wender Bil
Supervisors: Christiaan Both (ConsEco), Raymond Klaassen (ConsEco), Janne Ouwehand (ConsEco)
Ecology of Pied flycatchers on the wintering grounds in relation to migration
Ryan F.A. Brewer
Supervisors: Rampal Etienne (TRÊS), Luis Lima Valente (Naturalis), Frederic Lens (Naturalis)
Trait-dependent diversification of Canary Island plant lineages
J. Romy Buwalda-Smit
Supervisors: Martien Kas (NeuBio), Jon Laman (UMCG), Jocelien Olivier (NeuBio)
Evolutionary function and epigenetic profile of fetal-maternal microchimeric cells during mouse pregnancy
Ricardo Contreras Osorio
Supervisors: Jan Komdeur (BPE), María del Coro Arizmendi Arriaga (UNAM, Mexico)
Birds in transition - Effects of ecosystem displacement caused by climate change
Caterina Coral
Supervisors: Tjisse van der Heide (ConsEco), Tjeerd Bouma (ConsEco/NIOZ)
ReViFES – North Sea reef vitalisation for ecosystem services
S. Delip K. Das
Supervisors: Theunis Piersma (ConsEco), Rampal Etienne (TRÊS)
Why do some Black-tailed Godwits winter in coastal mudflats while others choose inland freshwater habitats?
Ines M. Daras
Supervisors: Franjo Weissing (TRÊS), Sander van Doorn (TRÊS)
Eco-evolutionary causes and consequences of plasmid-mediated horizontal gene transfer
Ornela Dehayem Nanwou
Supervisors: Rampal Etienne (TRÊS), Frederic Lens (Naturalis), Luis Lima Valente (Naturalis)
Untangling the influence of traits on insular diversification - Theory
Lauren de Wit
Supervisors: Roelof Hut (NeuBio), Eddy van der Zee (NeuBio), Rob Henning (UMCG)
What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger - Increased lifespan in hibernators despite DNA damage
Nicolas P. Doubovetzky
Supervisors: Jean-Christoph Billeter (NeuBio), Bregje Wertheim (EGDB)
Neurogenetic dissection of a sexual conflict in Drosophila melanogaster
Merijn M.G. Driessen
Supervisors: Simon Verhulst (BPE), Ido Pen (TRÊS), Irene Tieleman (BPE)
Mosaic aging
Jean-Yves Duriaux Chavarria
Supervisors: Pablo Tittonell (ConsEco), Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez (Cornell University), Ruth Howison (ConsEco)
People-Nature trade-offs and synergies in agricultural landscapes - Guiding conservation and regeneration from local people’s perspectives
Xiaodan Guo
Supervisors: Gertjan van Dijk (NeuBio), Han Moshage (UMCG)
Natural products for the treatment of diabetes mellitus
Julia Hagauer
Supervisors: Felicity Jones (EGDB), Frank Chan (EGDB)
Divergence in gene regulatory response to contrasting environments between populations of threespined sticklebacks
Solveig H. Höfer
Supervisors: Tjisse van der Heide (ConsEco), Valérie Reijers (Radboud University Nijmegen)
Space for sand
Peter K. Hoitinga
Supervisors: Bregje Wertheim (EGDB), Michael Fontaine (MarBio), Sander van Doorn (TRÊS)
Evolution of complex molecular networks in immunity
Shem C. Kifugo
Supervisors: Han Olff (ConsEco), Joseph Ogutu (University of Hohenheim)
Spatial pattern of land use change and its driving forces in the greater Serengeti-Mara ecosystem
Michael H. Kimaro
Supervisors: Han Olff (ConsEco), Kristen Denninger Snyder (Colorado State University/RISE, Tanzania)
Evaluating the efficacy, impacts, and perceptions of electric fencing as a human-wildlife conflict management tool in the western Serengeti
Pinar Kohlmeier-Güler
Supervisors: Ido Pen (TRÊS), Jean-Christophe Billeter (EGDB), Ton Groothuis (EGDB)
Adaptive parental effects in fluctuating environments - Integration of experimental evolution, genomics, physiology and theoretical modelling
E.C. (Elske) Koppenaal
Supervisors: Han Olff (ConsEco), Stijn Temmerman (University of Antwerp), Han van Dobben (WUR)
Effects of soil subsidence following gas extraction on Ameland related to autonomous dynamics in the Wadden Sea
Kevin Kort
Supervisors: Sander van Doorn (TRÊS), Hermie Harmsen (UMCG), Franjo Weissing (TRÊS)
Eco-evolutionary dynamics and control of the gut microbiome
Koosje P. Lamers
Supervisors: Christiaan Both (ConsEco), Raymond Klaassen (ConsEco)
Dispersing to northern breeding areas as adaptation to climate change in migrant birds
Yuhong Li
Supervisors: Han Olff (ConsEco), Michiel Veldhuis (Leiden University)
Consequences of variation in basal resource quality for the structure of savannah food webs
Michella Ligtelijn
Supervisors: Theunis Piersma (ConsEco), Matty Berg (ConsEco/VU)
Ecology of arthropod populations impacted by agriculture
Ilaria Manfredonia
Supervisors: Sebastian Lequime (GREEN), Bregje Wertheim (EGDB)
RNA secondary structures in the evolution of Flaviviruses
Reinaldo S. Marfull Castro
Supervisors: Jan Komdeur (BPE), Franjo Weissing (TRÊS)
Begging responses in a social and environmental context in blue tits
Gordon S.O. Ojwang
Supervisors: Han Olff (ConsEco), Joseph Ogutu (University of Hohenheim)
Savannah herbivore dynamics and changing landscapes of the Maasai pastoral lands within the Mara ecosystem, East Africa
Morrison T. Pot
Supervisors: Marcel Visser (NIOO/NeuBio), Henk van der Jeugd (NIOO)
Towards understanding the avian migratory program
Mayerli A. Prado Rivera
Supervisors: Jocelien Olivier (NeuBio), Martien Kas (NeuBio)
Early life stress and development of the antisocial brain - Individual differences, neurobiological correlates and epigenetic mechanisms
Carolina Prauchner Silva
Supervisors: Rampal Etienne (TRÊS), Renan Maestri (UFRGS), Milton de Souza Mendonça (UFRGS)
Patterns and evolutive consequences of galling insects and its host plants interactions
Miguel A. Puentes-Escamilla
Supervisors: Charlotte Hemelrijk (TRÊS), Bauke Buwalda (NeuBio)
Social behaviour, sex ratio and physiology in mixed-sex groups of rats - Models and experimental data
Tianjian Qin
Supervisors: Rampal Etienne (TRÊS), Luis Lima Valente (Naturalis)
Effects of phylogenetic relatedness and species interactions on macroevolutionary patterns
Nur Qomariyah
Supervisors: Gertjan van Dijk (NeuBio), Anton Scheurink (NeuBio)
Anti-diabetic effects of Sansevieria leaves based on endocrine, behavioural and immunohistochemical techniques in the rat
Jana M. Riederer
Supervisors: Franjo Weissing (TRÊS), Jan Komdeur (BPE)
Social determinants of evolvability
Jorien C. Rippen
Supervisors: Klemens Eriksson (GREEN), Alwin Hylkema (WUR)
Foundation species on artificial reefs - Determined bottom-up or top-down?
E.E. (Lizzie) Roeble
Supervisors: Rampal Etienne (TRÊS), Luis Lima Valente (Naturalis)
Global island biogeography and diversity dynamics of Asteraceae
Mário A. Santos Mira
Supervisors: Ido Pen (TRÊS), Jean-Christophe Billeter (EGDB), Ton Groothuis (EGDB)
Environmental predictability and the evolution of parental effects - Integrating ecology, phylogeny, modelling and genetics
Raphaël Scherrer
Supervisors: Rampal Etienne (TRÊS), Sander van Doorn (TRÊS), Michael Fontaine (GREEN)
Adaptive diversity and eco-evolutionary dynamics
Yang Shen
Supervisors: Rampal Etienne (TRÊS), Luis Lima Valente (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin)
Macroevolution of mutualistic interactions on islands
Marie E.M. Stessens
Supervisors: Theunis Piersma (ConsEco), Rampal Etienne (TRÊS), Eldar Rakhimberdiev (ConsEco)
Demography and conservation of the Black-tailed godwit in the Netherlands
Marrit van der Bruggen
Supervisors: Leo Beukeboom (EGDB), Bregje Wertheim (EGDB), Joana Falcao Salles (GREEN)
Insects as sustainable feed for a circular economy - Housefly behaviour and well-being under mass rearing conditions
Roel J. van der Schoot
Supervisors: Bert Hoeksema (ConsEco/Naturalis), Charles Fransen (Naturalis)
Coral associated fauna, curse or blessing?
Michael van Dijk
Supervisors: Martien Kas (NeuBio), Robbert Havekes (Neubio), Remco Molenhuis (NeuBio)
Lost connections - Information transfer between the left and right brain hemispheres and its role in social behaviour
Renée Veenstra
Supervisors: Theunis Piersma (ConsEco), Matty Berg (ConsEco/VU)
The ecology of soil macrofauna in farmland ecosystems
Tom S.L. Versluijs
Supervisors: Theunis Piersma (ConsEco), Jeroen Reneerkens (ConsEco), Jan van Gils (ConsEco/NIOZ)
Coping with phenological mismatch - How an insectivorous migrant shorebird may mitigate the negative effects of a warming Arctic by prey and patch selection
Maaike Vogel
Supervisors: Bregje Wertheim (EGDB), Leo Beukeboom (EGDB), Joana Falcao Salles (GREEN)
Insects as sustainable feed for a circular economy - Housefly health and immunology under mass rearing conditions
Wenxia Wang
Supervisors: Jan Komdeur (BPE), Hua Wu (Central China Normal University)
Evolution of parental care and communal breeding
Xuelai Wang
Supervisors: Christiaan Both (ConsEco), Roelof Hut (NeuBio)
Tracing evolution of annual timing in a long distance migratory song bird - A combined natural behaviour and neuro-genetics approach
Sophie A. Wilhelm
Supervisors: Elkan Akyurek (BSS), Robbert Havekes (NeuBio)
I'm just not myself today - The cognitive consequences of sleep deprivation
Mingxuan Wu
Supervisors: Johan van de Koppel (ConsEco/NIOZ), Tjeerd Bouma (ConsEco/NIOZ/UU)
Interactions between plant traits and environmental forces drive the resilience of salt marsh ecosystems by shaping biogeomorphic patterns
Yingying Wu
Supervisors: Uli Eisel (NeuBio), Regien Schoemaker (NeuBio/UMCG)
Analyzing the biological function of microglia hyper-ramification in neurodegeneration and depression
Tao Yang
Supervisors: Theo Elzenga (GREEN), Luit de Kok (GREEN)
Role of receptor-like kinases in stress-tolerance traits in root-architecture of Arabidopsis thaliana and selected fodder plants
Gaoyang Yu
Supervisors: Jan Komdeur (BPE), Peter Korsten (Bielefeld University)
Understanding individual variation in aggressiveness in females - What are the eco-evolutionary and physiological drivers?
Qingtian Zhao
Supervisors: Jan Komdeur (BPE), Xin Lu (Wuhan University)
A test of the adaptive benefits of cooperatively breeding ground tits
Tianhao Zhao
Supervisors: Barbara Helm (NeuBio), Bregje Wertheim (EGDB)
Phenotypic and genetic differences of migratory songbirds from central China migration flyway
Jiaoyue Zhu
Supervisors: Roelof Hut (NeuBio), Gertjan van Dijk (NeuBio), Dawei Wang (IPP-CAAS)
Interactions between photoperiod, circadian rhythmicity, energy balance and growth in mammals