Behavioral biology

Education facts

Code: BIO209

How do you do? How do animals do? And why? How does a twelve gram willow warbler find its way from Nyeri to Njutånger? Why does it taste so good with toxic substances? Why are swans so faithful while reed buntings are anything but? Why are socially isolated individuals more often sick? Or is it rather that sick individuals more often are lonely? Or that stressed individuals are both sick and lonely? In this course you gain knowledge of, and curiosity for, animal behaviours, their mechanisms, and their original or current adaptive functions. Behavioural traits comprise the most complex gene-environment interactions in nature, and many of the most fascinating products of evolution by natural selection. Prominent examples include social and sexual communication and organization, predation and foraging, orientation, cooperation, as well as human nature and culture. The course integrates ethology, behavioural ecology and biological psychology, with emphasis on evolutionary explanations (phylogeny, selection and adaptation), but also central genetic and neurobiological mechanisms, and applications in e.g. animal care, conservation biology, and ecotoxicology. Through a combination of lectures, group discussions and literature projects, the main theme is to illustrate how animal behaviours, disregarding complexity (from frowning to fraternization) or heritability (from dexterity to depression), can be explored with regard to all of ‘Tinbergens four questions’; Mechanism, Ontogeny, Phylogeny, and Adaptation

Entry requirements

För tillträde till kursen krävs: **Alternativ 1:** Genomgångna baskurser i biologi omfattande 60 hp i ämnesområdena cellbiologi, molekylär genetik, evolution, botanisk och zoologisk fysiologi, ekologi samt biodiversitet och systematik, eller motsvarande, varav minst 45 hp måste vara godkända. Dessutom krävs Engelska B. **Alternativ 2:** Följande kurser ska vara genomgångna: ES1201, Miljövetenskaplig baskurs, 15 hp, ES1300, Naturresurshushållning, 15 hp, ES1305, Föroreningars spridning och effekter på biologiska system, 15 hp, ES1220 Ekologi och evolution för miljövetare , 15 hp och en av följande tre kurser: BIO900, Cellbiologi, 15 hp, BIO906, Molekylär genetik och evolution, 15 hp, BIO283, Naturvård i vattenmiljöer, 15 hp, eller motsvarande baskurs i miljövetenskap med naturvetenskaplig inriktning. Minst 60 av 75 hp måste vara godkända. **Alternativ 3:** 90 hp godkänt av 120 hp på kurser inom de två första åren på Marin vetenskap, kandidatprogram, Göteborgs universitet eller motsvarande

Education offerings

Each offering has its own dates and conditions. Closed offerings are retained as history and do not mean that a new application is open.

• Behavioral biology

  University of Gothenburg

  Start date: 19 January 2026

  End date: 25 March 2026

  Pace of study: 100 %