Høst 2019

BIO-8012 Fish migration: Theory and technology - 5 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for arktisk og marin biologi

Type of course

PhD course for biology students.

Course overlap

BIO-3003 Fish migration: Theory and technology 5 stp

Course contents

Fishes migrate on different spatial and temporal scales, utilising the best suited habitat during different stages of the life cycle to increase individual fitness. The diadromous migrations of salmonids and eels between spawning and feeding habitats are well known examples. Humans have exploited fishes during their migrations for several thousand years, and many migrating species have a high economic value. During this course, insights will be given in ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of fish migrations, migration patterns, orientation, navigation, anthropogenic impacts, and with examples from a range of fish species in northern marine and freshwater systems. The course will also introduce the students to biotelemetry and other tag and tracking methods, with emphasis on use of radio and acoustic transmitters, manual tracking and use of automatic data logging stations, use of sensors measuring physiological and environmental factors, data storage tags, satellite pop-up archival tags, sampling design, tagging techniques, and ethics and animal welfare issues related to fish tagging.

Application deadline

Registration deadline for PhD students at UiT - The Arctic University of Norway: June 15th.

Application deadline for other applicants: June 1st.

Admission requirements

Maximum participants: 20

If more than 20 applicants, priority will be given as follows:

Participants admitted to the PhD programme at UiT
Participants in the Associate Professor programme (Førstelektorprogrammet)
PhD candidates from other universities
People with a minimum of a Masters degree (or equivalent), who have not been admitted to a PhD programme

PhD students or holders of a Norwegian master´s degree of five years or 3+ 2 years (or equivalent) may be admitted. PhD students must upload a document from their university stating that there are registered PhD students. This group of applicants does not have to prove English proficiency and are exempt from semester fee.

Holders of a Master´s degree must upload a Master´s Diploma with Diploma Supplement / English translation of the diploma. Applicants from listed countries must document proficiency in English. To find out if this applies to you see the following list:https://www.nokut.no/globalassets/nokut/artikkelbibliotek/utenlandsk_utdanning/gsulista/2019/gsu_list_english_14032019.pdf

Proficiency in English must be documented - list of countries.
For more information on accepted English proficiency tests and scores, as well as exemptions from the English proficiency tests, please see the following document:

Proficiency in english - PhD level studies.
PhD students at UiT register for the course through StudentWeb. The registration for autumn semester starts in the middle of June.
Other applicants apply for admission through SøknadsWeb. Application code 9304. Contact Ingjerd Gauslaa Nilsen at the BFE-faculty if you have troubles or questions regarding registration to the course.

Objective of the course

Knowledge

Theoretical knowledge in ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of fish migrations, as well as in technologies used to study fish migrations.
Insights in orientation and navigation mechanisms in fishes
Understanding in how human impacts may influence fish migrations

Skills

Able to design a telemetry study
Able to choose the best telemetry method that will meet the aim of the study
Able to choose the right tagging method for the fish
Able to catch and handle fish in the best way

General competence

Able to reflect on ethical and animal welfare issues related to telemetry studies
Able to present and discuss own telemetry studies carried out in the past or potentially be done in the future
Updated on the status of fish migration and telemetry studies in arctic and sub-arctic areas and other systems

Language of instruction

English

Teaching methods

Lectures, demonstrations and practical exercises. Two week intensive course.

Assessment

Oral exam. A graded scale of five marks from A to E for pass and F for fail.

Coursework requirements: written exercise - must be approved in order to be able to take the oral exam.

Re-sit exam
There will be a re-sit examination for students that did not pass the previous ordinary examination.