Organisation - Who we are
The International Max Planck Research School for Quantitative Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution from lab to field (IMPRS-QBEE) was launched in 2022, as a joint collaboration between the Max-Planck-Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and the Department of Biology at the University of Konstanz (U KN).
Vision statement
The vision of the Max-Planck-Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) shall lay the grounds for the new IMPRS-QBEE in that we shall prepare our IMPRS graduates to understand and predict behavior, ecology and evolution in the natural world. By developing and applying emerging technological and analytical approaches, our mission is to reveal the drivers of behavior, ecology and evolution across temporal, spatial, organizational, and taxonomic scales. To take up this challenge in all its complexity, we bring together a diverse, interdisciplinary IMPRS faculty, as well as multiple collaborative research opportunities, to produce rigorous and reproducible science that is shared openly. In this way, we contribute positively to the global research community and provide scientific training, in our innovative IMPRS structured program, to empower the next generation. We foster a supportive and inclusive work environment, together with our faculty members of the Department of Biology of the University of Konstanz that will further promote intellectual exchange and productive collaboration.
Organisational structure
The IMPRS-QBEE board consists of five parties: the MPI-AB director, a UKN Professor, the spokesperson (from the MPI-AB or UKN), the deputy spokesperson (MPI-AB or U KN), and two doctoral representatives (one vote). The senior part of the IMPRS-QBEE board is elected into office for two years by the faculty members during the faculty retreat and general assembly meeting, and doctoral representatives are elected by the doctoral researchers each year during the annual doctoral student meeting.
What we offer
The IMPRS-QBEE is a structured graduate program for outstanding doctoral students from around the world whose research interests lie within the fields of animal behaviour, ecology, evolution, physiology and neurobiology and are seeking a starting platform with a stimulating and competitive environment to give their careers a boost.
The IMPRS-QBEE represents an integrated theoretical and experimental research program for doctoral students studying different organisms from plants to protozoa to mammals. It will allow doctoral students to investigate fundamental questions such as how can plant species coexist, how do plants, microbes and animals interact, how and why has social behaviour evolved, how ecological changes might drive evolutionary processes, how large ecological systems adapt or not to rapid changes, what are the neural mechanisms underlying simple to complex behaviours, how do large animal societies emerge and function, and what drives animal migration and how is it affected by global developments. Experimental work can be carried out in both the laboratory and the field. It is complemented by highly quantitative approaches and the use of new emerging technologies.
You can apply to the IMPRS-QBEE program after your participation in our annual selection symposium in Konstanz. As soon as the board has accepted your application, you will receive the chance to take part in all of the offered courses but also to apply for funding opportunities.
What you can expect
IMPRS-QBEE intends to equip doctoral students with expertise to excel in both, the lab and in the field – fostering international collaborations and supporting themselves, peers and staff, at the field site. Mentoring by supervisors, by Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) members and interested Post-Doc’s from our research groups is to encourage them to tap into their creativity within existing ethical frameworks, to see their work in the field and within the research school community as giving and receiving. Through this, our doctoral students will benefit from first-class support in networking and career decisions and of course obtain scientific input as well as participate in curricular activities offered by the IMPRS-QBEE program. We will not only provide opportunities for our doctoral students of becoming mentors in their final year(s) to junior fellows, MSc/BSc students but we plan to offer certification to Post-Doc’s that have committed their time to our doctoral students in the form of a certificate of their time and efforts as growing mentors and next generation supervisors.
What you receive
Usually, all IMPRS-QBEE doctoral students are enrolled at the Universität Konstanz. The graduation criteria of the University, as laid down in the doctoral regulations in department of Biology (Promotionsordnung Biologie), are therefore applied to their full extent. However, foreign students may choose whether to graduate at the Universität Konstanz or at their home universities, if they have recently moved to Konstanz with their supervisor, and are planning to join the IMPRS (only possible within their first year of doctorate). It is also the Universität Konstanz who awards the degree title (Dr. rer. nat.) Doctor of Natural Sciences (German doctorate which corresponds to an American PhD) upon successful completion of the doctorate.
Successful completion of the IMPRS-QBEE program will be documented on an official doctoral certificate and supplement.
This competitive doctoral program shall provide its doctoral students with an excellent starting platform for a successful career in the fields of animal behaviour, ecology, evolution, physiology, neurobiology and beyond.