11 September 2026

New topics for Bachelor’s and Master’s theses

Would you like to write your Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis on a current topic in ecological research? We offer exciting projects focusing on biodiversity, ecosystems, and animal communities:

Waterbirds in the Elbe Estuary: Biodiversity, Foraging Activity, and Prey Availability

Methods: Field observations, sampling, and statistical analyses; suitable for both BSc and MSc theses.

• Investigate waterbird diversity along the Elbe Estuary and across different tidal habitats.
• Analyse waterbird abundance, species composition, and foraging activity.
• Examine relationships between waterbirds and prey availability, such as fish or plankton.
• Choose between two possible focuses: community level diversity or selected key species and their diet, potentially using stable isotope analysis and DNA metabarcoding.

Supervisor: Miriam Beck

POTOMA: How Does Deadwood Affect Spider and Arthropod Communities in Forests?
Methods: Identification of spiders to species level and other groups to order level; mixed effects models and variance partitioning.

• No fieldwork required  data have already been collected.
• Suitable for an MSc thesis; a reduced scope is possible for a BSc thesis.
• Start immediately.

Supervisor: Dragan Matevski

IDENT: How Do Spider and Hemipteran Communities Change Over Ten Years?
Methods: Species level identification and analysis of species and community diversity.

• Investigate changes in the abundance, diversity, and species composition of spiders or hemipterans over a ten—year period.
• Examine relationships with tree species diversity and ecosystem functions such as predation and leaf herbivory.
• Data: An existing 10 year dataset (2016–2025) from the IDENT tree diversity experiment in Freiburg.
• Suitable for an MSc thesis; a reduced scope is possible for a BSc thesis.
• No fieldwork required and an immediate start is possible.

Supervisor: Dragan Matevski

BIOTREE: How Do Tree Species Diversity and Individual Tree Species Affect Canopy Arthropods, and Do These Effects Change as Forests Age?
Methods: Species  level identification of arthropods and analysis of species diversity using existing canopy beating samples.

• Investigate the effects of tree species diversity on canopy arthropods, particularly spiders and potentially other groups such as hemipterans.
• Examine the effects of individual tree species, with a particular focus on non—native Douglas fir compared with European beech, sessile oak, and Norway spruce.
• Compare two sampling periods (2012 and 2026) from the BIOTREE experiment in Kaltenborn, Thuringia, to investigate how these effects change as the forest matures.
• Suitable for an MSc thesis; a reduced scope is possible for a BSc thesis.
• No fieldwork required and an immediate start is possible.

Supervisor: Dragan Matevski

Interested?
Get in touch with us to learn more about the projects and find the Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis topic that’s right for you!