Coastal Tropical Biological Research Course Detail

This four week course, aimed at high school leavers & undergraduates, will introduce you to the inns and outs of doing research in a tropical country. It will provide you with research skills that will prove to be useful in your future career. During the course lectures you will learn about the 5 different ecosystems in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, about the parks management, about flora and fauna found here, about nature conservation and local community involvement, about the challenges of doing research in the African continent, about how to set up and conduct research and more. Most lectures are combined with excursions and/or educational game drives, because we believe that practical experience is just as important as theoretical knowledge. In fact, the emphasis of the course is on building skills and understanding, rather than accumulating factual information. Hence, after 10 days, you will pair up with another course participant and start your own independent research project on a topic you choose together, while being supervised by experienced researchers. Some examples about what one can study:

You will be guided through the complete process of formulating hypotheses and asking the right research questions, deciding on the methodology, writing a research proposal, data gathering and analysis, and presenting your results in a scientific research paper and oral presentation. You will be working in groups of two persons and will conduct the research on foot. Your supervisors will be visiting the different teams daily, check how they are doing and help out with any difficulties. On successful completion of the course, participants will be awarded a certificate which gives a breakdown of the training you received and an assessment of your achievements.

Doing research in Africa can be very exciting, but can also confront you with many challenges and therefore demands your flexibility and creativity in order to be successful. The experience you gain during this course may increase your chance of getting into certain graduate programs or increase your chances of obtaining a certain job. Potential universities or employers do take note of students who have practical field experience. Moreover, you are enabled to establish links for future collaboration and create a large international network of like minded people.

Key objectives & benefits of this course are:

Please refer to our downloadable pdf brochure (see top) for a full overview of the course itinerary and the topics covered in lectures and field exercises.