MSc in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology

For good animal welfare and husbandry, an understanding of animal behavior and biology from an applied perspective is important. If you are interested in the well-being of animals and want to preserve biodiversity, this program is for you.

Zoo collaboration

The program is conducted in collaboration with Kolmården Wildlife Park, the largest and most renowned zoo in Scandinavia. Several teaching sessions are held at the zoo, where you acquire first-hand knowledge from experienced staff. You will gain an in-depth understanding of the biology of stress and its role in animal welfare, the effects of domestication on animal behavior, the physiology of behavior, problems associated with keeping animals in captivity, and conservation biology.

Animal behavior, interactions with humans

Courses are closely connected to ongoing research performed by teachers on, for example, how various genes influence animal behavior, well-being and personality, the sensory world of mammals, and human-animal interactions. In addition to classroom lectures and seminars, you participate in several hands-on projects.

Wide choices for the degree project

A key part of the program is a one-year degree project (60 ECTS), which allows you to specialize in a subject based on your interests. If you wish, you may perform your degree project at a zoo, government agency, organization, or company, in Sweden or abroad.

Syllabus

Purpose

The Master’s program in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology aims to provide the students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for a professional in the field or for further postgraduate studies. The program meets both national and international needs from universities, industry, and society in general. The education intends to provide in-depth knowledge in applied ethology with a specialization towards animal welfare and conservation biology.

Students graduating from the Master’s program in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology shall:

• be prepared for advanced scientific communication with different target groups
• be able to contribute to the sustainable development of society
• be well prepared for further postgraduate studies, but also for advanced positions in the national or international labor market.

Aim

Disciplinary knowledge and reasoning

Graduates from the Master's program in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology demonstrate theoretical knowledge and understanding in ethology, including a broad knowledge of the area and considerable in-depth knowledge in certain parts of the area. The graduates are also acquainted with current research in the field.

The program builds upon a Bachelor's education in Biology, where fundamental knowledge in the area has been acquired. Entry requirements include at least 5 ECTS credits in Physiology.

Graduates from the Master's program in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology have acquired advanced knowledge in animal biology, physiology, zoo biology, and primate ethology. A graduate from the Master's program in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology has gained knowledge of:

• theories for the natural behavior of animals and about the biological meaning and consequence of stress.
• the effect of captivity on both behavioral and physiological responses, especially stress.
• problems associated with keeping animals in captivity, including knowledge in conservation biology, in situ, and ex-situ.
• different methods for recording and quantifying behavioral data and measuring physiological responses, as well as the ability to analyze this data using statistical tools.
• methods for animal handling.

The Master's program in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology is conducted in close collaboration with strong research environments, which gives the students insight into current research and development within the areas of animal biology, physiology, zoo biology, and primate ethology. During the Master's thesis work, the student can work for a full year with a research group, a company, or a public authority, getting very well acquainted with research findings within one of the areas. The graduate student is also able to design a scientific study and is skilled in critically reading relevant research literature.

Personal and professional skills and attributes

Students having graduated from the Master's program in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology have achieved the individual and professional skills and attitudes required to be able to critically and systematically integrate knowledge and to analyze and evaluate complex issues even with limited information. The graduates can also take responsibility at work or during post-graduate studies concerning work ethics, reliability, and respect for the expertise of other professionals. Students from the program can make relevant judgments regarding scientific, social, and ethical aspects.

Interpersonal skills: Teamwork and communication

Students having graduated from the Master's program in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology can collaborate with other people. This requires the ability to actively participate in a project with designated roles, tasks, and responsibilities. The graduates can also initiate, plan, lead, and evaluate larger projects. Students who graduated from the program are skilled in written and oral communication. The students can present information, problems, and solutions in a structured way with relevant techniques, in English or in their native language, to different target groups.

Planning, execution, and presentation of research or development projects with respect to scientific and societal needs and requirements

Students having graduated from the Master's program in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology shall have knowledge about the natural scientist and the role of natural science in society, The graduates also understand the social and economic conditions in the field and in the related research area. They can initiate, conduct, and present advanced development projects with established methods.

Research

Biology

From the genes in cells to animals and plants, and to complete ecosystems. Biology research at LiU covers a broad spectrum and encompasses ecology, zoology, and genetics.

AVIAN - Behavioural Genomics and Physiology group

The AVIAN - Behavioural Genomics and Physiology group at Linköping University studies the genetic basis of behavior and physiology.

Ethology

Ethology is the study of animal behavior and its underlying causes. At LiU, influential research is carried out into how various genes influence animal behavior, well-being, and personality.

_Are you curious about what it is like to study at LiU? Join us for a chat about what it is like to live and study on our campuses in Sweden. We offer free webinars and recordings for both prospective and admitted degree students throughout the year. Visit our _ _Meet us online _ _page. _

About Linköping University

Linköping University will never rest on its laurels.

In close collaboration with the business world and society, Linköping University (LiU) conducts world-leading, boundary-crossing research in fields including materials science, IT and hearing. In the same spirit, the university offers many innovative educational programs, many of them with a clear vocational focus, leading to qualification as, for example, doctors, teachers, economists, and engineers.

The university has 32,000 students and 4,000 employees on four campuses. Together we seek answers to the complex questions facing us today. Our students are among the most desirable in the labor market and international rankings consistently place LiU as a leading global university.

LiU achieved university status in 1975 and innovation is our only tradition.

History of Linköping University

In 1975 Sweden’s sixth university was founded in Linköping. Since then Linköping University (LiU) has grown considerably, expanding to Norrköping and Stockholm.

Linköping has been an important center of learning since medieval times when Linköping Cathedral offered a school with extensive international contacts and its own student hall in Paris. In 1627 the Cathedral School became the third upper secondary school in Sweden and in 1843 a college for elementary school teachers began operations. In Norrköping, the Fröbel Institute – Sweden’s first college for training pre-school teachers – was founded in 1902.

From university college to university

What would later become Linköping University began to take shape in the mid-1960s. Higher education in Sweden was expanding and in 1965 the Swedish Parliament decided to establish a branch of Stockholm University, together with a university college of engineering and medicine, in Linköping.

In the autumn of 1967, the branch of Stockholm University moved into premises in central Linköping. There the first students could take courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Two years later the units for engineering and medicine got underway.

In 1970 education and research started moving into the recently built Campus Valla, a short distance from the town center. Buildings A and B were the first to be completed. The same year the various parts were merged to form Linköping University College, including faculties of engineering, medicine and arts, and sciences.

The new university college was the first in Sweden to offer study programs in Industrial Engineering and Management and Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, both starting in 1969. A few years later, in 1975, Linköping University launched Sweden’s first Computer Science and Engineering program.

1975 was also the year when Linköping University College became Linköping University, the sixth university in Sweden. In line with the 1977 reform of the Swedish higher education system, teacher education was also transferred to Linköping University.

Interdisciplinary research and problem-based learning

Linköping University has always worked with innovation in education and research. In 1980 the newly formed Department of Thematic Studies adopted an approach that was new in Sweden. Research was organized in interdisciplinary themes, such as Technology and Social Change or Water and Environmental Studies. Scientists worked across boundaries to solve complex problems. LiU was also first in Sweden to introduce graduate research schools for different themes. The model later spread to other parts of the university and became a national success.

The new Faculty of Health Sciences (Hälsouniversitetet), formed in 1986, combined governmentally and regionally funded education. It introduced a radically changed methodology, being the first in Sweden to use problem-based learning, PBL. Later, LiU became the first university in the world to allow students from different health sciences programs to treat actual patients on a student-managed training ward.

Expansion to Norrköping – and Stockholm

A significant milestone in the history of the University was the opening of Campus Norrköping in 1997. Some programs had previously operated from Norrköping, but the number of students now grew drastically in line with government efforts to expand higher education. Historical factories in the former industrial district were again filled with life, as they were filled with classrooms, laboratories, cafés, a library and of course students.

Linköping University also expanded to Stockholm when the reputable Carl Malmsten School of Furniture sought a collaborative partner from the academic sector. The Malmsten furniture design and handicraft programs became part of LiU in 2000. After almost 60 years at Södermalm in central Stockholm, Malmstens moved to new premises on the island of Lidingö in the autumn of 2009. LiU got its fourth campus.

Buro Millennial / Pexels

LiU in figures

Some important figures for Linköping University.

Education

• 32,000 students (full-time equivalents 17,907)
• 21,400 on Campus Valla
• 5,500 on Campus Norrköping
• 3,900 on University Hospital Campus (US)
• 2,100 distance students and students in other locations, including Campus Lidingö

(Some students take courses on more than one campus.)

• 120 study programs, of which 27 are international programs in English
• 550 single-subject courses
• Exchange agreements with 400 universities in 50 countries
• 2,400 international students
• 2,200 first cycle degrees
• 2,700 second-cycle degrees

Research and scientific training

• 300 professors
• 1,200 PhD students
• 40 licentiate degrees
• 140 doctoral degrees

Staff

• 4,000 employees (full-time equivalents 3,156)