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Date:
From 11 May 2026 until 15 May 2026
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Deadline for Applications:
10 Apr 2026
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Location:
Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande 1749-016 Lisboa
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Duration:
36 hours (contact hours)
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Schedule:
09h00-17h30; Lectures/Computer Lab – 5 days
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Lecturer or Responsible:
Alice Nunes (CE3C-ECOR, CHANGE), Paula Matos (IGOT, ULisboa), Laura Concostrina-Zubiri (CE3C-SystEco), Pedro Pinho (CE3C-urbanE, CHANGE), Margarida Santos-Reis (CE3C-CES), Cristina Branquinho (CE3C-SystEco)
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Department Responsible:
Departamento de Biologia Vegetal e Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa
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Nº (min - max) Students:
10-20
Objectives
Under the general framework of Global Change Ecology, the goal of this course is to provide the participants with the most recent and practical knowledge on the use of Functional Diversity. This includes the selection of functional traits and calculation of Functional Diversity Indexes. Examples of the application of this knowledge will be given regarding Ecological Indicators and Ecosystem Services.
The specific objectives are:
- To give a general overview on global change drivers and point out the needs of current and future studies on Ecology;
- To synthesize the most useful methods and tools for Ecosystem Services assessment, focusing on Ecological Indicators;
- To allow the participants to apply the acquired knowledge on case study data (participants’ data or data provided by the organizers), using R software. Examples of calculation with other software will also be provided (e.g. PC-ORD).
Participants must be present at 85% of the contact hours (meaning they can miss one half-day) and actively participate in all activities.
This course may have a correspondence in terms of credits toward PhD programmes at CIÊNCIAS or programmes jointly offered by CIÊNCIAS and partner institutions, with 6–7 hours of contact time per ECT, depending on specific requirements. For these students, in addition to the exercises completed during the week, submission of a written report two weeks after the course is mandatory. For programmes with fewer contact hours per ECT (6h/ECT), students must complete an additional assignment (a summary report). If necessary, 1 or 2 extra contact hours may be added. These reports are also recommended for other PhD students seeking recognition of the course by their institutions.
Minimum requirements: Bachelor in Biology, Natural Science or related areas.
Directed to: MSc or PhD students in Biology, Environmental Sciences, Ecology or related areas, postdocs and professionals working in related topics.
General plan
Monday
09h00-09h30 Welcome session and program presentation
09h30-12h30 Ecological Indicators: background
Link to Ecosystem Services
12h30-13h30 Lunch
13h30-17h30 Personal project: presentation
Tuesday
09h00-12h30 Functional Diversity Indices: theory and methods
Database management
12h30-13h30 Lunch
13h30-17h30 Computer Lab – personal project
Wednesday
09h00-12h30 Computer Lab – personal project
12h30-13h30 Lunch
13h30-17h30 Computer Lab – personal project
Thursday
09h00-12h30 Case studies from cE3c
12h30-13h30 Lunch
13h30-17h30 Preparation of presentation of personal project
Friday
09h00-12h30 Personal project: results and discussion
12h30-13h30 Lunch
13h30-17h00 Personal project: results and discussion
17h00-17h30 Closure
Fees
Free for 1st year PhD students in Doctoral programmes at CIÊNCIAS (e.g. Biology), Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution (BIODIV ULisboa; UPorto), Biology and Ecology of Global Changes (BEAG ULisboa, UAveiro) and Sustainability Science (ULisboa, several institutions), when the course counts credits for their formation, in which case the delivery of a final report done after the course is mandatory; the course is also free for more advanced PhD students of the BIODIV programme (ULisboa or UPorto); 50 € for more advanced PhD students of CE3C; 80 € for PhD students of the PEERS network (CFE); 125 € for CIÊNCIAS Master students and unemployed; 180 € for BTI, BI and other PhD students; 250 € for professionals and postdocs.
When the maximum number of students is reached, 10 vacancies will be available for non-paying 1st year PhD students mentioned above, being, by order of preference, students from: 1) CE3C; 2) BIODIV (not from CE3C); 3) CIÊNCIAS (not from CE3C); 4) Sustainability Science (not from CE3C or CIÊNCIAS); 5) BEAG (not from CE3C or CIÊNCIAS).
How to Apply
Candidates should complete the APPLICATION FORM, which will be available in this section when the call is open.
This form is strictly confidential, as explained in the introduction, and will be used solely for the application process.
When filling out the form, mind to:
- FILL ALL THE MANDATORY FIELDS;
- UPLOAD CV AND MOTIVATION LETTER, both mandatory; use the names as instructed;
- If you want to resume later, SAVE the form; otherwise, you will need to fill everything out again;
- At the end, SUBMIT the form before exiting.
If you have any questions, please contact the coordinator of the CE3C Advanced Courses, Margarida Matos (mmmatos@fc.ul.pt), and the teacher, Alice Nunes (amanunes@fc.ul.pt).
