CursusPlanner

Nature, Biodiversity and Health (2026/2027: Semester 2 – Spring)

Cursusdoel

After completing this course successfully, students are able to:

demonstrate a broad knowledge of key (interdisciplinary) concepts of biology, chemistry, earth- and medical sciences in relation to nature, biodiversity and health
elaborate on how their discipline of interest (BIO/CHE/EAR/MED) relates to the nexus of nature, biodiversity and health; and connects to the approaches of other disciplines
collect, organize, and analyse data; and interpret the results
work in collaboration with disciplines other than their own to make a synthesis of their cumulative knowledge and skills, and present it in a coherent manner

Relationship between assessment and learning goals:

Exam: The exam will be made of a mix of multiple choice and open-ended questions that will test your understanding of the content and your ability to apply that knowledge to scientific problems and questions. (Learning objectives 1-2)
Reflection on interdisciplinarity: In the first part of the course, students individually update their reflection/portfolio on their understanding of interdisciplinarity, and reflect on their personal position towards this relatively new paradigm of collaborative research. This is based on what we discuss in the lectures + their readings from independent sources. (Learning objective 2)
Project proposal (in groups): Students will work in disciplinary groups to design their own experiments, observations, and/or data mining projects and after presenting their proposal, they can carry out these plans under supervision. (Learning objective 3)
Final report (in groups): This is where it all comes together. Students will work in interdisciplinary groups to synthesize, summarize, and report on their findings from the projects they designed and implemented. (Learning objective 4)
Academic attitude: This includes all elements explained above, such as attendance, activity in homework quizzes, and contribution to the many in-class discussions, quizzes and other exercises that promote a better understanding, critical thinking, and application of the textbook material.

Vakinhoudelijk

We are living in an era marked by unprecedented environmental challenges and growing concerns on sustainability of earth’s biodiversity. Loss of species, habitat destruction, and a shift in latitude of climatic zones are pushing ecosystems to the brink of collapse. Bankrupting natural resources at such rapid rate inevitably has negative outcomes not only for the biosphere but also human well-being.

Humans depend on nature for physical and psychological health. In an increasingly urbanized and industrialized world the loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction, and a shift in latitude of climatic zones become a threat to our wellbeing. These problems have often multiple facets that can best be understood when approached from multiple disciplines.

Increasing attention to and effort into interdisciplinary research is born from this need to create more collaboration and crosstalk between historically divergent disciplines. However, connecting the knowledge from various disciplines comes with unique challenges and skill sets necessary for effective interdisciplinary work. which will be discussed and developed, respectively, in this course.

Format
Students mainly from four science disciplines/tracks (BIO, CHE, MED, and EAR) will learn about the interconnectedness between health, naturalness and biodiversity. Throughout the course, students will reflect on their own disciplinary grounding, bring their own knowledge, skills and expertise to answer a research question involving human health, nature and biodiversity.

First part of the course is organized around class sessions involving both the subject matter (i.e. nature, biodiversity and health) and initial interdisciplinary skills such as collaboration, disciplinary grounding and perspective taking. This will be achieved through both interactive activities in class and specific assignments students will complete individually or in groups.

In the second part, students in interdisciplinary groups will engage in research to tackle real-life problems involving nature, biodiversity and/or human health. During this research part, students will design and carry out experiments, collect and analyse data, and interpret their findings. Where appropriate, students will also access publicly available data in academic publications and field specific repositories.

Following data collection and analysis, students will work in interdisciplinary groups to synthesize the knowledge gained by each discipline and report in a tangible final product.

Werkvormen

UCU sci 3 course

Toetsing

Academic attitude

Verplicht | Weging 10% | ECTS 0,75

Project proposal

Verplicht | Weging 15% | ECTS 1,13

Reflection on interdisciplinarity

Verplicht | Weging 15% | ECTS 1,13

midterm FEEDBACK

Niet verplicht

Final report

Verplicht | Weging 35% | ECTS 2,63

Exam

Verplicht | Weging 25% | ECTS 1,88

Ingangseisen en voorkennis

Ingangseisen

Er moet voldaan zijn aan minimaal één van de cursussen:

Voorkennis

Er is geen informatie over benodigde voorkennis bekend.

Voertalen

Engels

Competenties

Academisch schrijven
Interdisciplinariteit
Onderzoeksvaardigheden
Samenwerken

Cursusmomenten

Gerelateerde studies

Tentamens

Er is geen tentamenrooster beschikbaar voor deze cursus

Verplicht materiaal

DIVERSE

This course will mostly rely on open access interdisciplinary reports and articles, book chapters, online videos, as well as primary and secondary articles from the different disciplines.

Aanbevolen materiaal

Er is geen informatie over de aanbevolen literatuur bekend

Opmerkingen

Counts towards SCI major; not a track finisher. Alternates with UCINTEVO31.

Coördinator

dr. ing. J. Zandveld

j.zandveld@uu.nl

Docenten