Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms (BEOM):
- Title: Integrated taxonomy studies in marine invertebrates
SZN Tutor: Laura Nunez Pons
Department: BEOM
Description:
Research based on the classification of marine invertebrates applying techniques for the morphological description and diagnosis of species identification, and molecular approaches related to DNA barcoding and phylogeny.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Title: Allelopathy and functional symbioses in marine holobionts
SZN Tutor: Laura Nunez Pons
Department: BEOM
Description:
Studies related to symbiotic interactions taking place in marine ecosystems and their role in organismal health, disease, and acclimatization to the environment via metabolic fluxes of nutrients, defensive compounds and allelochemical mediators.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Title: Annotating octopus brain regions: a development of an interactive digital atlas for the cephalopod brain
SZN Tutor: Graziano Fiorito
Department: BEOM
Description:
A brain atlas is a necessary tool for analyzing structure and function of nervous system in fields of neuroscience and behavioral science. Although various annotations are available for 'brains' of several mammalian and few other species including some invertebrates, annotation for 'brains' of cephalopod mollusks is not available. The proposed thesis work is aimed at filling this gap and implementing a pipeline for construction of a flexible annotation atlas (FAA) of the octopus (O. vulgaris) brain. The workplan include analysis of published works and in-house resources (available at the octopus lab, BEOM Dept, Stazione Zoologica), annotation of serial sections of entire adult octopus’ brain, data on brain structure, digital representation of single areas and ROIs. The produced FAA will be then available as Open Data – implementing FAIR Data Principles – and will help improving the consistency of whole brain ROI definition among laboratories internationally by fulfilling various requests from researchers with its flexibility and reproducibility. The same principles utilized for octopus will be subsequently adopted for other cephalopod species.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Integrated Marine Ecology (EMI):
- Title: Integrative taxonomy as a tool to assess the true biodiversity of the marine biota of the Gulf of Naples (Italy, Mediterranean Sea)
SZN Tutor: Fabio Crocetta
Department: EMI
Description:
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots worldwide. However, many local zoological groups have not been subjected to a deep review based on modern methods. The aim of the project will be to explore the biota of the Gulf of Naples through an integrative taxonomy approach – i.e. a comprehensive framework to delimit and describe taxa by integrating information from ecological, molecular, and morphological data. Data obtained will have important implications in conservation issues, refine phylogenetic relationships and species boundaries, and shed a light on evolutionary lines and cryptic diversity.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Title: Obtaining axenic cultures of diatom strains
SZN Tutor: Wiebe Kooistra
Department: EMI
Description:
The candidate is to perform tests to assess the effectiveness of concentrations of four antibiotics in generating bacteria-free cultures of diatoms, also monitoring the responses of the diatoms to the antibiotics. The results are needed to generate bacteria-free diatom strains for genomics research.
Together with Mariella Ferrante.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Title: Spore formation in Chaetoceros cultures as a mode of long-term strain-maintenance and storage.
SZN Tutor: Wiebe Kooistra
Department: EMI
Description:
The candidate exposes monoclonal strains of Chaetoceros species to conditions fostering spore formation, and to determine optimalconditions for survival. If spores are obtained, their ultrastructural details are documented in SEM if this information is not already availablefor the species.
Together with Marina Montresor
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Title: Morphological plasticity of Chaetoceros strains in response to grazing copepods
SZN Tutor: Wiebe Kooistra
Department: EMI
Description:
Strains of several species of the planktonic diatom Chaetoceros are exposed to grazing copepods. In case the copepods enticephenotypic responses in the diatoms, further experiments unravel if mechanical or biochemical triggers cause the response.
Together with Ylenia Carotenuto.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Title: Deep-sea mega-benthos of the central Mediterranean Sea.
SZN Tutor: Frine Cardone
Department: EMI
Description:
The study aims to create an inventory of the Mediterranean deep-sea megabenthos, combining video analysis with morphological/molecular approach of sampled materials.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Title: Monitoring of microcosms life cycles in controlled environment
SZN Tutor: Frine Cardone
Department: EMI
Description:
The research aims to evaluate the aquarium rearing performance of rare species by means medium-term monitoring of morphometric parameters.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Conservation of marine Animals and Public Engagement (CAPE):
- Title: Management and databasing of the scientific collections of Stazione Zoologica
Tutor SZN: Paolo Albano
Department: CAPE
Description
Stazione Zoologica owns an important historical collection of marine organisms, whose enlargement is undergoing due to the contribution of its scientists and acquisitions from third parties. The internship objective is to learn the techniques to handle samples preserved both in liquids or dry, both historical and modern, both in the public exhibits and preserved uniquely for scientific research. Moreover, the intern will learn about the use of specific software for databasing the collection.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (website https://pgalbano.weebly.com/)
- Title: Patterns and drivers of native species richness decline in the Eastern Mediterranean
SZN Tutor: Paolo Albano
Department: CAPE
Description
The Eastern Mediterranean Sea is under the siege of climate warming, biological invasions, and further local stressors. We quantify today's and historical native Mediterranean and non-indigenous species richness with extensive sampling programs and use multidisciplinary approaches at the interface of marine ecology and paleontology to quantify species loss and identify its main drivers. Furthermore, we use functional trait studies and species distribution models to understand and predict the fate of the Mediterranean in future climate scenarios.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (website https://pgalbano.weebly.com/)
- Title: Integrative taxonomy of hyper-diverse marine gastropods
SZN Tutor: Paolo Albano
Department: CAPE
Description:
We study the taxonomy of the gastropod family Triphoridae, one of the "big five" - the most species rich families in the world oceans. Our approach includes morphology, anatomy, genetic approaches and is conducted in cooperation with colleagues in France (Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle) and the Netherlands (Naturalis) in an international effort to contribute to new species descriptions in the tropical Indo-Pacific and Atlanto-Mediterranean provinces.
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (website https://pgalbano.weebly.com/)
Research Infrastructures for marine biological resources (RIMAR):
- Title: Design, construction, and testing of underwater research equipment
SZN Tutor: Simonepietro Canese
Department: RIMAR
Description:
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn is seeking a mechanical, manufacturing, or industrial engineering student for a summer internship in our research infrastructure department. The start date and schedule of the internship is flexible, but we are looking for students who can commit 30 to 40 hours per week for a 10-to-12-week period.
Essential Functions: Design, construction and testing of underwater research equipment;
For further information and availability, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
