This course will explore the diversity of fish species, their adaptations to the environment, and how the ecosystem influences their numbers and vice versa.  Practical training will be offered both in the field and in the laboratory.  The key issues to be examined are:  Classification of fishes;  Morphology, anatomy, and key adaptations to the aquatic environment;  Environmental effects on the distribution and numbers of fish;  Population structure and diversification in fish communities;  Factors controlling the distribution, movements, numbers and age composition of a fish population;  Overview of the key taxa of salt- and freshwater fishes of the northern hemisphere

Introduction to Research Studies and the Scientific Community for M.sc. and Ph.D. students. The scientific community. Ethical, professional and practical information for research students. The research student's rights and responsibilities. Career opportunities. Lab safety and professionalism. Scientific method, conflict of interest and proper scientific conduct. What you can expect and not expect from supervisors. Duties and responsibilities of graduate students. Experimental design and how to write and publish results. Bibliographic software, tables and figure presentation. Techniques for poster and oral presentations. Writing scientific papers. Writing science proposals.

Grant writing and opportunities, cover letters, publishing environment and options. Thesis completion and responsibilities around graduation.

Format. Lectures, practicals, student projects and reviewing. Indvidual and group projects.

The course is run over 11 weeks in the fall.

 Numerical methods are an essential part of biology and are applied to design of experiments and observations, description of result and their analysis. Sudents learn these methods by working on biological data and to interpretate its results. Main method include the maximum likelihood estimation, linear models, regression and analysis of variance and generalized linear models.  Multivariate analysis. Bootstrap and permutation analysis. The analysis will done using R. The students will obtain an extensive exercise in applyin R on various biological datasets. Analysis of own data or an extensive dataset, presented in a report and a lecture.

Assessment: Written examen 50%, assignments, report and lecture (50%).

Fisheries Ecology is a graduate level course focused on several current and practical themes in fisheries ecology.  The course will introduce students to current practices of fisheries science and population bioloy in aquatic ecosystems and will be comprised of lectures to introduce the topic, some assigned readings of the scientific literature, class discussions of assigned papers, and a hands-on data analysis session of real fisheries data. The intent is to expose the students to real-life issues, and then explore practical methods for addressing the issues working with real data.  Topics to be covered include:

• Stomach contents and quantitative analysis of diet
• Estimate growth, maturity, and other life-history parameters in different populations
• Stock identification and mapping of sensitive life history stages
• Quantification of temperature tolerance and sensitivity in fish
• Age determination, validation and longevity estimation
• Methods for the estimation of natural and total mortality rates
• Life table analysis and simple population models
• Design of standardised surveys for stock assessment

Grades will be based on a written assignments, student presentations and student participation.

Current methods in studying aquatic organisms and ecosystems will be introduced, with case studies drawn from active research projects. Topics include: tagging, age and growth derived from otoliths and scales, analyses of morphological features, food web analysis and construction, usage of stable isotopes and fatty acids in food web studies, population genetics, eDNA and metabarcoding, otoliths chemistry in stock identification, population models, temperature reconstruction derived from sediment cores, remote sensing, telemetry, acoustic and sonar use, experimental methods, ecosystem and evolution modelling, behavioural ecology and biodiversity analysis and molecular methods for detecting genetic composition and organismal traits. Each session will include theoretical background of work, detailed description of methodology, their strength and weaknesses, and examples of analyses and results. Some sessions will be arranged to juxtapose either different methodologies used to address the same problems, or how the same methods can be applied to study different organismal groups or distinct ecosystems.

The course will provide an overview of marine and freshwater ecology, with an emphasis on their structure and function. Furthermore, the course will cover oceanography, physical and chemical properties of aquatic environments, characteristics of sub-Arctic environment and organisms, nutrient cycles, food webs, biodiversity, community ecology, and habitat utilization. Case studies will be introduced from utilization of Icelandic marine and freshwater populations. Field and practical sessions will cover marine, freshwater and intertidal habitats. Field work, as well as problem and discussion sessions, will focus on theory and hypothesis driven approaches and analyses. Students will also write an extended literature review paper on a particular topic and present the paper orally to teachers and classmates.

The mesopelagic zone (between 200-1000m depth) is the habitat of the largest fish biomass in the ocean. Mesopelagic fish likely hold a key role in global climate change by participating in the largest migration in the animal kingdom, transporting and storing carbon into the deep sea.

The SUMMER (Sustainable Management of Mesopelagic Resources, 2019-2024) EU project aims to evaluate if and how mesopelagic resources can be sustainably exploited. To share the knowledge of the mesopelagic zone, experts from the SUMMER project have arranged a 5-day summer school course for 2 ECT credits, with the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute and the University of Iceland, in Iceland May 22nd – May 26th 2023. The course will feature lectures from world-leading experts on mesopelagic research, engaging discussions, as well as hands-on laboratory work on mesopelagic fishes – in addition to the dissection of a marine mammal, apex predator of mesopelagic fish.

Graduate students in ecology and evolutionary biology meet each week together with one or more teachers. Post docs and other researchers are welcome to attend. Participants present their research questions or related topics.  Reference material or articles should be announced at least one week in advance, and should be chosen in accordance to a teacher. The lecture topics will be discussed by all participants. Students get training in presenting their research and discussing research articles.

The course is only for graduate students and mandatory for graduate students working on projects in ecology and evolutionary biology.

The course is given both spring and autumn semester and every student can get max 8 ECTS units in total for the course.

This course is important for all graduate students in molecular biology and related fields. It is divided into two main parts: 1) presentation of a research article (journal club) and presentation of the research project (work in progress). For the research article students select a recent research article of interest and give a presentation on the aims and results. The goal is to train reading research articles in a critical way and present to others. The students have also as an assignment to bring up questions when other students present articles. The aim is to enhance critical approaches concerning scientific aims and methods used to reach the aims. In the project presentations students are expected to concentrate on the aims give a backgrounds and details of the methods used, results and the planned continuation. The students are expected to train in getting the message of the project in a clear way. The project presentation can lead to suggestion from other students that are useful for the approach.

This course is in English and has been on both spring and autumn term. The student can take this course four times giving max 8 ECTS.

Attendance is obligatory.

Course Description:

• The topic of the master's thesis must be chosen under the guidance of a supervisor. The thesis is 90 (60 or 30) credits. The thesis work is expected to amount to 3 (2 or 1) semesters of work.
• Master's student has a supervisor from the academic staff at the Faculty and in cases of external supervisors a faculty Coordinator. The MS committee shall have at least one extra member. The MS committee guides the student, regarding choice of course, project designing and completion. In case the supervisor is not affiliated with the University of Iceland, then a faculty coordinator has to be appointed (a permanent member of academic staff in the biology department).
• The choice of topic is the responsibility of the student but decided with the project supervisor(s). The topic of the project should fall within the field of biology and chosen specialisation.
• Final project exam is divided into two parts: an oral examination and an open lecture
• Present at the oral exam are the student, supervisor, external examiner and members of the Master's committee. The student provides a brief introduction to the project. It is important that the objectives and research question(s) are clearly stated, the main findings and conclusions drawn from the project.
• According to the rules of the Master's program, all students who intend to graduate from the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences need to give a public lecture about their final project. There are 3 Master's Days at the School per year (for each graduation) where the students present their projects with an open lecture.
• All students graduating from the University of Iceland shall submit an electronic copy of the final version of their masters thesis to www.skemman.is. Skemman is a digital repository for all Icelandic universities and is maintained by the National and University Library. 
• According to regulations of University of Iceland all MS thesis should be open access after submission to Skemman.

Learning Outcomes:

 Upon completion of an MS thesis and defense then the student should have certain compentences in biology or a specific subdiscipline. Refer to the general learning outcomes of the MS studies. Briefly, the student should be able to:

- Form a research question / hypothesis

- Use an appropriate theoretical framework to shed light on his/her topic

- Use appropriate methodology to answer a specific research question

- Competently discuss the current knowledge within the field and contribute to it with their own research

- Gather, critically analyze and interpret data

- Assess the scope of a research project and plan their work accordingly

- Effectively display results and discuss their meaning within the context of the established literature

- Draw conclusions from incomplete data and explain the limitations of their research

Lectures: Theoretical basis of common molecular-biology techniques and their application in research. Course material provided by teachers. Laboratory practice in molecular biology techniques: Model organisms: E.coli, S. cerevisiae, C. reinhardtii, A. thaliana, C. elegans, D. melanogaster, M. musculus. Laboratory notebooks and standard operating procedures (SOP's), using online tools. Culture and storage of bacteria, yeasts and other eukaryotic organisms and cells. DNA and RNA isolation and quantification (Southern and Northern blotting, PCR, RT-PCR, qRT-PCR), restriction enzymes, DNA sequencing techniques and data analysis. Gene cloning and manipulation in bacteria yeasts and other eukaryotes. Protein expression and analysis. How to raise antibodies and use them. Western blotting, immunostaining, radioactive techniques. Microscopy in molecular biology. Methods used in recent research papers will be discussed. Essay and oral presentation discussing a selected technique. Problem based learning group assignment for graduate students: Experimental design and grant writing exercise with oral presentation of a research project.

The supervising committee and the MS-student meet for one semester on a weekly basis to discuss research articles, review articles, and parts of books selected by the committee for that purpose. The reading material shall be related to the student's field of research, but without overlapping with it, so as to broaden the horizons of the student. The course is completed with a short thesis on the subject and an oral examination.

Lectures: Mendelian genetics, organization of the human genome, structure of chromosomes, chromosomal changes and syndromes, gene mapping via association and whole genome sequencing methods, genetic analysis, genetic screening, genetics of simple and complex traits, genes and environment, cancer genetics, gene therapy, human and primate evolution, ethical issues concerning human genetics, informed consent and private information. Students are expected to have prior knowledge of the principles genetics.

Practical: Analyses of genetic data, study of chromosomal labelling, analyses of genetic associations and transcriptomes.

Land use. Types and utilization of mineral, fuel and water resources, origins and effects of major pollutants. Biodiversity, habitat, fragmentation, species extinctions and effects of introduced species. The application of ecological knowledge to environmental problems. Environmental impact assessment, restoration. The philosophy of nature conservation. International conventions. Major environmental issues in Iceland: fisheries, soil erosion, wetland drainage, impact studies, legislation, organization and administration of environmental affairs. Various excursions, student seminars.

This course will explore the diversity of fish species, their adaptations to the environment, and how the ecosystem influences their numbers and vice versa.  Practical training will be offered both in the field and in the laboratory.  The key issues to be examined are:  Classification of fishes;  Morphology, anatomy, and key adaptations to the aquatic environment;  Environmental effects on the distribution and numbers of fish;  Population structure and diversification in fish communities;  Factors controlling the distribution, movements, numbers and age composition of a fish population;  Overview of the key taxa of salt- and freshwater fishes of the northern hemisphere

The aim of this course is to introduce different applications of microorganisms and to help students develop independent research skills. In the first part of the course, students will visit a geothermal area and subsequently work on a research project where they isolate, identify and study bacterial strains.

The second part will introduce different fields of microbial biotechnology and how they have been shaped by recent progress in microbiology, molecular biology and biochemistry. State of the art will be covered regarding subjects such as microbial diversity as a resource of enzymes and biocompounds; bioprospecting, thermophiles, marine microbes and microalgae, biorefineries (emphasis on seaweed and lignocellulose), enzymes (emphasis on carbohydrate active enzymes), metabolic engineering (genetic engineering, omics), energy-biotechnology, cultivation and fermentation technology. The course will exemplify Icelandic biotechnology where applicable. Cultivation/production technology and yeast will be presented specifically in practical sessions in the brewing of beer.

The third part will cover environmental sampling, microbial communities and biofilms, microbes in aquatic and terrestrial environments, indoor air quality and the impact of molds. Also, water- and food-borne pathogens, risk assessment and surveillance, water treatment, microbial remediation, methane production and global warming. Students will visit waste management and water treatment plants and review and present selected research articles.

Additional teaching one Saturday in end of September or beginning of October.

Student may be granted two credits, with an approval of the department, for lecture or poster that he is the first author of at scientific conference.

It is only possible to get credits for lecture or poster once during Bachelor and Master program.

The first part of the course consists mainly of lectures presented by the students on selected topics relating to molecular biology of viruses and viral infections.

The second part of the course is tought in parallel with LÍF110G, which is intended for students of nursing.  Different groups of pathogens will be addressed, bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and helminths as well as the infections and diseases they cause.  The main human pathogens will be introduced, their natural habitats and transmission routes, infections and syptoms, identification and treatment. 

This seminar course is an important contribution to the education of all continuing students in the field of molecular biology. It is divided into two parts: journal club and work in progress. For the journal club students will present a recent article about an interesting area of research. The aim is to learn to read articles and to be able to present them to others. This should encourage students to be critical and ask questions about the methods used and the general approach of the research described. The work in progress part includes a detailed description of the project the student is working on, including aims, introduction, materials and methods and discussion with future work. The aim of this is to teach the student to present their work in a concise and organized manner. This also often helps to solve problems in the study due to the input of the other students and group leaders present.

The course is taught in english both in the autumn and spring semester. Students can take the course at least four times giving a total of 8 ECTS.

Graduate students in ecology and evolutionary biology meet each week together with one or more teachers. Post docs and other researchers are welcome to attend. Participants present their research questions or related topics.  Reference material or articles should be announced at least one week in advance, and should be chosen in accordance to a teacher. The lecture topics will be discussed by all participants. Students get training in presenting their research and discussing research articles.

The course is only for graduate students and mandatory for graduate students working on projects in ecology and evolutionary biology.

The course is given both spring and autumn semester and every student can get max 8 ECTS units in total for the course.

Course Description:

• The topic of the master's thesis must be chosen under the guidance of a supervisor. The thesis is 90 (60 or 30) credits. The thesis work is expected to amount to 3 (2 or 1) semesters of work.
• Master's student has a supervisor from the academic staff at the Faculty and in cases of external supervisors a faculty Coordinator. The MS committee shall have at least one extra member. The MS committee guides the student, regarding choice of course, project designing and completion. In case the supervisor is not affiliated with the University of Iceland, then a faculty coordinator has to be appointed (a permanent member of academic staff in the biology department).
• The choice of topic is the responsibility of the student but decided with the project supervisor(s). The topic of the project should fall within the field of biology and chosen specialisation.
• Final project exam is divided into two parts: an oral examination and an open lecture
• Present at the oral exam are the student, supervisor, external examiner and members of the Master's committee. The student provides a brief introduction to the project. It is important that the objectives and research question(s) are clearly stated, the main findings and conclusions drawn from the project.
• According to the rules of the Master's program, all students who intend to graduate from the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences need to give a public lecture about their final project. There are 3 Master's Days at the School per year (for each graduation) where the students present their projects with an open lecture.
• All students graduating from the University of Iceland shall submit an electronic copy of the final version of their masters thesis to www.skemman.is. Skemman is a digital repository for all Icelandic universities and is maintained by the National and University Library. 
• According to regulations of University of Iceland all MS thesis should be open access after submission to Skemman.

Learning Outcomes:

 Upon completion of an MS thesis and defense then the student should have certain compentences in biology or a specific subdiscipline. Refer to the general learning outcomes of the MS studies. Briefly, the student should be able to:

- Form a research question / hypothesis

- Use an appropriate theoretical framework to shed light on his/her topic

- Use appropriate methodology to answer a specific research question

- Competently discuss the current knowledge within the field and contribute to it with their own research

- Gather, critically analyze and interpret data

- Assess the scope of a research project and plan their work accordingly

- Effectively display results and discuss their meaning within the context of the established literature

- Draw conclusions from incomplete data and explain the limitations of their research

The supervising committee and the MS-student meet for one semester on a weekly basis to discuss research articles, review articles, and parts of books selected by the committee for that purpose. The reading material shall be related to the student's field of research, but without overlapping with it, so as to broaden the horizons of the student. The course is completed with a short thesis on the subject and an oral examination.

The emphasis is on research articles. Resent research in various field with links to cell biology are included but can vary between years. For each lecture max three research articles are included.

Each student gives a seminar on one research article with details on methods and results. The students write a report (essay) on the article and discusses the results in a critical way.

Examples of topics included in the course: innate immunity, prions, the proteins pontin and reptin, polarized epithelium, development of trachea, data analyses and gene expression, autophagy, the origin of the nucleus.

The vascular flora of Iceland and the arctic flora: origins, composition, ecology. The biogeography of the flora of the North Atlantic. The Pleistocene environment of Iceland and the Holocene vegetation history of Iceland and Europe. Hypotheses on the age and origin of the Icelandic flora and the arctic flora. The soils of Iceland: characteristics and development, desertification. Post-settlement vegetation changes in Iceland. Biodiversity and distribution patterns of the Icelandic vascular flora. Protected and red-list species. after the biogeography of the circumpolar north. Origins and characteristics of the vascular flora of Iceland. Methods for the description and classification of vegetation. Icelandic vegetation: classification, distribution, environment and utilization. 4 day summer field course.

Classification of birds, zoogeography, aspects of ecology and adaptations, including migration, social behaviour, food ecology, population dynamics, management. Field and laboratory work: Survey of the main families with an emphasis on Icelandic species. Field trips in SW-Iceland, partly during the semester and partly in May, after the examination period.

The objectives of the course are to introduce students to important pollutants, their characteristics and distribution, with emphasis on their effects on organisms. The first part of the course deals with the major classes of pollutants (Metals, Organic pollutants, Radioactivity), their origin, behaviour and characteristics. The second part focuses on bioavailability, bioaccumulation and bioconcentration and the effects of the pollutants on organisms. Biomarkers and bioassays will be discussed. The third part of the course deals with pollutants in arctic and subarctic areas, with emphasis on Iceland. Practical classes consist of four large projects.

Lectures: The molecular basis of life (chemical bonds, biological molecules, structure of DNA, RNA and proteins). Genomes and the flow of biological information. Chromosome structure and function, chromatin and nucleosomes. The cell cycle, DNA replication. Chromosome segregaition, Transcription. Regulation of transcription. RNA processing. Translation. Regulation of translation. Regulatory RNAs. Protein modification and targeting. DNA damage, checkpoints and DNA repair mechanisms. Repair of DNA double-strand breaks and homologous recombination. Mobile DNA elements. Tools and techniques in molecular Biology icluding Model organisms.

Seminar: Students present and discuss selected research papers and hand in a short essay.

Laboratory work: Work on molecular genetics project relevant to current research. Basic methods such as gene cloning, gene transfer and expression, PCR, sequencing, DNA isolation and restriction analysis, electrophoresis of DNA and proteins will be used.

Exam: Laboratory 10%, seminar 15%, written final exam 75%.

Genomics and bioinformatics are intertwinned in many ways. Technological advances enabled the sequencing of for instance genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes. Complete genome sequences of thousands of organisms enables study of this flood of information for gaining knowledge and deeper understanding of biological phenomena. Comparative studies, in one way or another, building on Darwininan thought provide the theoretical underpinnings for analyzing this information and it applications. Characters and features conserved among organisms are based in conserved parts of genomes and conversely, new and unique phenotypes are affected by variable parts of genomes. This applies equally to animals, plants and microbes, and cells, enzymatic and developmental systems.

The course centers on the theoretical and practical aspects of comparative analysis, about analyses of genomes, metagenomes and transcriptomes to study biological, medical and applied questions. The lectures cover structure and sequencing of genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes, molecular evolution, different types of bioinformatic data, shell scripts, intro to R and Python scripting and applications. The practicals include, retrieval of data from databases, blast and alignment, assembly and annotation, comparison of genomes, population data analyses. Students will work with databases, such as Flybase, Genebank and ENSEMBL. Data will be retrived with Biomart and Bioconductor, and data quality discussed. Algorithms for search tools and alignments, read counts and comparisons of groups and treatments. Also elements of python scripting, open linux software, installation of linux programs, analyses of data from RNA-seq, RADseq and genome sequencing.

Students are required to turn in a few small and one big group project and present the large project with a lecture. In discussion session primary literature will be presented.

A practical course introducing many commonly used methods in immunology. This will be a hands-on practical course conducted at the laboratory bench. Methods will include: Measurements of humoral immunity: ELISA, ELIspot, complement. Measurements of cellular immune responses: Flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, culture and stimulation of cells, measurements of cytokines (ELIspot, cytokine bead assay, cytokine secretion assay), cytotoxicity, chemotaxis, phagocytosis. Antibodies as research tools: Immunostaining (fluorescent and immunoperoxidase), ELISA. The course will take place mostly at Department of Immunology, Landspitali University Hospital. The course will be taught in English if necessary.

Practical sessions will be taught on saturdays or tuesday, wednesday and thursday between 16-21.

4 day workshop.

Fundamentals of bioinformatics.

Guest lecturer from USA covers foundations and some applied examples.

Command line, basic commands and navigation.

Using computer clusters

R (tidyverse)

Python (conda environments)

Examples are from comparative genomics, analyses of gene families, seleciton (positive, negative) and gain/loss of genes.

This course focuses on animal parasites and the ecology of host-parasite interactions. During the first half of the course (Weeks 1 to 6) students will be introduced to the main groups of parasites with emphasis on the: (1) form and function; (2) development; (3) general life cycles; (4) biodiversity; (5) and phylogenetic relationships and classification. In the second half of the course (Weeks 7 to 14) the focus will be on the ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions, the impacts of parasites on host individuals to ecosystems, and how parasites are adapting to changing environments.

Formal weekly lectures (4 x 40 minutes) will be supplemented by class discussions (2 x 40 minutes) and readings (textbooks and papers). Each week, students will read 5 papers. Each paper will be summarised (3-5 minutes) by a nominated student and a 10 to 15 minute discussion on each paper will ensue.

The laboratory component of the course will focus on methods in parasitology. Students will collect their own parasite material during a weekend long field trip/exercise and using video tutorials, will practice different methods such as mucus, blood and fæcal smears, and staining & mounting. Each student will submit their own collection of slide material with parasite identifications for assessment at the end of semester.

Assignments will be designed to expose students to the parasitological literature on topics selected to supplement those covered in lecture. The essay format aims to develop synthesis and critical thinking skills.

Introduction to the scientific method. Ethics of science and within the university community.
The role of the student, advisors and external examiner. Effective and honest communications.
Conducting a literature review, using bibliographic databases and reference handling. Thesis structure, formulating research questions, writing and argumentation. How scientific writing differs from general purpose writing. Writing a MS study plan and proposal. Practical skills for presenting tables and figures, layout, fonts and colors. Presentation skills. Project management for a thesis, how to divide a large project into smaller tasks, setting a work plan and following a timeline. Life after graduate school and being employable.

This course will explore the diversity of fish species, their adaptations to the environment, and how the ecosystem influences their numbers and vice versa.  Practical training will be offered both in the field and in the laboratory.  The key issues to be examined are:  Classification of fishes;  Morphology, anatomy, and key adaptations to the aquatic environment;  Environmental effects on the distribution and numbers of fish;  Population structure and diversification in fish communities;  Factors controlling the distribution, movements, numbers and age composition of a fish population;  Overview of the key taxa of salt- and freshwater fishes of the northern hemisphere

Introduction to Research Studies and the Scientific Community for M.sc. and Ph.D. students. The scientific community. Ethical, professional and practical information for research students. The research student's rights and responsibilities. Career opportunities. Lab safety and professionalism. Scientific method, conflict of interest and proper scientific conduct. What you can expect and not expect from supervisors. Duties and responsibilities of graduate students. Experimental design and how to write and publish results. Bibliographic software, tables and figure presentation. Techniques for poster and oral presentations. Writing scientific papers. Writing science proposals.

Grant writing and opportunities, cover letters, publishing environment and options. Thesis completion and responsibilities around graduation.

Format. Lectures, practicals, student projects and reviewing. Indvidual and group projects.

The course is run over 11 weeks in the fall.

 Numerical methods are an essential part of biology and are applied to design of experiments and observations, description of result and their analysis. Sudents learn these methods by working on biological data and to interpretate its results. Main method include the maximum likelihood estimation, linear models, regression and analysis of variance and generalized linear models.  Multivariate analysis. Bootstrap and permutation analysis. The analysis will done using R. The students will obtain an extensive exercise in applyin R on various biological datasets. Analysis of own data or an extensive dataset, presented in a report and a lecture.

Assessment: Written examen 50%, assignments, report and lecture (50%).

Fisheries Ecology is a graduate level course focused on several current and practical themes in fisheries ecology.  The course will introduce students to current practices of fisheries science and population bioloy in aquatic ecosystems and will be comprised of lectures to introduce the topic, some assigned readings of the scientific literature, class discussions of assigned papers, and a hands-on data analysis session of real fisheries data. The intent is to expose the students to real-life issues, and then explore practical methods for addressing the issues working with real data.  Topics to be covered include:

• Stomach contents and quantitative analysis of diet
• Estimate growth, maturity, and other life-history parameters in different populations
• Stock identification and mapping of sensitive life history stages
• Quantification of temperature tolerance and sensitivity in fish
• Age determination, validation and longevity estimation
• Methods for the estimation of natural and total mortality rates
• Life table analysis and simple population models
• Design of standardised surveys for stock assessment

Grades will be based on a written assignments, student presentations and student participation.

Current methods in studying aquatic organisms and ecosystems will be introduced, with case studies drawn from active research projects. Topics include: tagging, age and growth derived from otoliths and scales, analyses of morphological features, food web analysis and construction, usage of stable isotopes and fatty acids in food web studies, population genetics, eDNA and metabarcoding, otoliths chemistry in stock identification, population models, temperature reconstruction derived from sediment cores, remote sensing, telemetry, acoustic and sonar use, experimental methods, ecosystem and evolution modelling, behavioural ecology and biodiversity analysis and molecular methods for detecting genetic composition and organismal traits. Each session will include theoretical background of work, detailed description of methodology, their strength and weaknesses, and examples of analyses and results. Some sessions will be arranged to juxtapose either different methodologies used to address the same problems, or how the same methods can be applied to study different organismal groups or distinct ecosystems.

The course will provide an overview of marine and freshwater ecology, with an emphasis on their structure and function. Furthermore, the course will cover oceanography, physical and chemical properties of aquatic environments, characteristics of sub-Arctic environment and organisms, nutrient cycles, food webs, biodiversity, community ecology, and habitat utilization. Case studies will be introduced from utilization of Icelandic marine and freshwater populations. Field and practical sessions will cover marine, freshwater and intertidal habitats. Field work, as well as problem and discussion sessions, will focus on theory and hypothesis driven approaches and analyses. Students will also write an extended literature review paper on a particular topic and present the paper orally to teachers and classmates.

The mesopelagic zone (between 200-1000m depth) is the habitat of the largest fish biomass in the ocean. Mesopelagic fish likely hold a key role in global climate change by participating in the largest migration in the animal kingdom, transporting and storing carbon into the deep sea.

The SUMMER (Sustainable Management of Mesopelagic Resources, 2019-2024) EU project aims to evaluate if and how mesopelagic resources can be sustainably exploited. To share the knowledge of the mesopelagic zone, experts from the SUMMER project have arranged a 5-day summer school course for 2 ECT credits, with the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute and the University of Iceland, in Iceland May 22nd – May 26th 2023. The course will feature lectures from world-leading experts on mesopelagic research, engaging discussions, as well as hands-on laboratory work on mesopelagic fishes – in addition to the dissection of a marine mammal, apex predator of mesopelagic fish.

Graduate students in ecology and evolutionary biology meet each week together with one or more teachers. Post docs and other researchers are welcome to attend. Participants present their research questions or related topics.  Reference material or articles should be announced at least one week in advance, and should be chosen in accordance to a teacher. The lecture topics will be discussed by all participants. Students get training in presenting their research and discussing research articles.

The course is only for graduate students and mandatory for graduate students working on projects in ecology and evolutionary biology.

The course is given both spring and autumn semester and every student can get max 8 ECTS units in total for the course.

This course is important for all graduate students in molecular biology and related fields. It is divided into two main parts: 1) presentation of a research article (journal club) and presentation of the research project (work in progress). For the research article students select a recent research article of interest and give a presentation on the aims and results. The goal is to train reading research articles in a critical way and present to others. The students have also as an assignment to bring up questions when other students present articles. The aim is to enhance critical approaches concerning scientific aims and methods used to reach the aims. In the project presentations students are expected to concentrate on the aims give a backgrounds and details of the methods used, results and the planned continuation. The students are expected to train in getting the message of the project in a clear way. The project presentation can lead to suggestion from other students that are useful for the approach.

This course is in English and has been on both spring and autumn term. The student can take this course four times giving max 8 ECTS.

Attendance is obligatory.

Course Description:

• The topic of the master's thesis must be chosen under the guidance of a supervisor. The thesis is 90 (60 or 30) credits. The thesis work is expected to amount to 3 (2 or 1) semesters of work.
• Master's student has a supervisor from the academic staff at the Faculty and in cases of external supervisors a faculty Coordinator. The MS committee shall have at least one extra member. The MS committee guides the student, regarding choice of course, project designing and completion. In case the supervisor is not affiliated with the University of Iceland, then a faculty coordinator has to be appointed (a permanent member of academic staff in the biology department).
• The choice of topic is the responsibility of the student but decided with the project supervisor(s). The topic of the project should fall within the field of biology and chosen specialisation.
• Final project exam is divided into two parts: an oral examination and an open lecture
• Present at the oral exam are the student, supervisor, external examiner and members of the Master's committee. The student provides a brief introduction to the project. It is important that the objectives and research question(s) are clearly stated, the main findings and conclusions drawn from the project.
• According to the rules of the Master's program, all students who intend to graduate from the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences need to give a public lecture about their final project. There are 3 Master's Days at the School per year (for each graduation) where the students present their projects with an open lecture.
• All students graduating from the University of Iceland shall submit an electronic copy of the final version of their masters thesis to www.skemman.is. Skemman is a digital repository for all Icelandic universities and is maintained by the National and University Library. 
• According to regulations of University of Iceland all MS thesis should be open access after submission to Skemman.

Learning Outcomes:

 Upon completion of an MS thesis and defense then the student should have certain compentences in biology or a specific subdiscipline. Refer to the general learning outcomes of the MS studies. Briefly, the student should be able to:

- Form a research question / hypothesis

- Use an appropriate theoretical framework to shed light on his/her topic

- Use appropriate methodology to answer a specific research question

- Competently discuss the current knowledge within the field and contribute to it with their own research

- Gather, critically analyze and interpret data

- Assess the scope of a research project and plan their work accordingly

- Effectively display results and discuss their meaning within the context of the established literature

- Draw conclusions from incomplete data and explain the limitations of their research

Lectures: Theoretical basis of common molecular-biology techniques and their application in research. Course material provided by teachers. Laboratory practice in molecular biology techniques: Model organisms: E.coli, S. cerevisiae, C. reinhardtii, A. thaliana, C. elegans, D. melanogaster, M. musculus. Laboratory notebooks and standard operating procedures (SOP's), using online tools. Culture and storage of bacteria, yeasts and other eukaryotic organisms and cells. DNA and RNA isolation and quantification (Southern and Northern blotting, PCR, RT-PCR, qRT-PCR), restriction enzymes, DNA sequencing techniques and data analysis. Gene cloning and manipulation in bacteria yeasts and other eukaryotes. Protein expression and analysis. How to raise antibodies and use them. Western blotting, immunostaining, radioactive techniques. Microscopy in molecular biology. Methods used in recent research papers will be discussed. Essay and oral presentation discussing a selected technique. Problem based learning group assignment for graduate students: Experimental design and grant writing exercise with oral presentation of a research project.

The supervising committee and the MS-student meet for one semester on a weekly basis to discuss research articles, review articles, and parts of books selected by the committee for that purpose. The reading material shall be related to the student's field of research, but without overlapping with it, so as to broaden the horizons of the student. The course is completed with a short thesis on the subject and an oral examination.

Lectures: Mendelian genetics, organization of the human genome, structure of chromosomes, chromosomal changes and syndromes, gene mapping via association and whole genome sequencing methods, genetic analysis, genetic screening, genetics of simple and complex traits, genes and environment, cancer genetics, gene therapy, human and primate evolution, ethical issues concerning human genetics, informed consent and private information. Students are expected to have prior knowledge of the principles genetics.

Practical: Analyses of genetic data, study of chromosomal labelling, analyses of genetic associations and transcriptomes.

Land use. Types and utilization of mineral, fuel and water resources, origins and effects of major pollutants. Biodiversity, habitat, fragmentation, species extinctions and effects of introduced species. The application of ecological knowledge to environmental problems. Environmental impact assessment, restoration. The philosophy of nature conservation. International conventions. Major environmental issues in Iceland: fisheries, soil erosion, wetland drainage, impact studies, legislation, organization and administration of environmental affairs. Various excursions, student seminars.

This course will explore the diversity of fish species, their adaptations to the environment, and how the ecosystem influences their numbers and vice versa.  Practical training will be offered both in the field and in the laboratory.  The key issues to be examined are:  Classification of fishes;  Morphology, anatomy, and key adaptations to the aquatic environment;  Environmental effects on the distribution and numbers of fish;  Population structure and diversification in fish communities;  Factors controlling the distribution, movements, numbers and age composition of a fish population;  Overview of the key taxa of salt- and freshwater fishes of the northern hemisphere

The aim of this course is to introduce different applications of microorganisms and to help students develop independent research skills. In the first part of the course, students will visit a geothermal area and subsequently work on a research project where they isolate, identify and study bacterial strains.

The second part will introduce different fields of microbial biotechnology and how they have been shaped by recent progress in microbiology, molecular biology and biochemistry. State of the art will be covered regarding subjects such as microbial diversity as a resource of enzymes and biocompounds; bioprospecting, thermophiles, marine microbes and microalgae, biorefineries (emphasis on seaweed and lignocellulose), enzymes (emphasis on carbohydrate active enzymes), metabolic engineering (genetic engineering, omics), energy-biotechnology, cultivation and fermentation technology. The course will exemplify Icelandic biotechnology where applicable. Cultivation/production technology and yeast will be presented specifically in practical sessions in the brewing of beer.

The third part will cover environmental sampling, microbial communities and biofilms, microbes in aquatic and terrestrial environments, indoor air quality and the impact of molds. Also, water- and food-borne pathogens, risk assessment and surveillance, water treatment, microbial remediation, methane production and global warming. Students will visit waste management and water treatment plants and review and present selected research articles.

Additional teaching one Saturday in end of September or beginning of October.

Student may be granted two credits, with an approval of the department, for lecture or poster that he is the first author of at scientific conference.

It is only possible to get credits for lecture or poster once during Bachelor and Master program.

The first part of the course consists mainly of lectures presented by the students on selected topics relating to molecular biology of viruses and viral infections.

The second part of the course is tought in parallel with LÍF110G, which is intended for students of nursing.  Different groups of pathogens will be addressed, bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and helminths as well as the infections and diseases they cause.  The main human pathogens will be introduced, their natural habitats and transmission routes, infections and syptoms, identification and treatment. 

This seminar course is an important contribution to the education of all continuing students in the field of molecular biology. It is divided into two parts: journal club and work in progress. For the journal club students will present a recent article about an interesting area of research. The aim is to learn to read articles and to be able to present them to others. This should encourage students to be critical and ask questions about the methods used and the general approach of the research described. The work in progress part includes a detailed description of the project the student is working on, including aims, introduction, materials and methods and discussion with future work. The aim of this is to teach the student to present their work in a concise and organized manner. This also often helps to solve problems in the study due to the input of the other students and group leaders present.

The course is taught in english both in the autumn and spring semester. Students can take the course at least four times giving a total of 8 ECTS.

Graduate students in ecology and evolutionary biology meet each week together with one or more teachers. Post docs and other researchers are welcome to attend. Participants present their research questions or related topics.  Reference material or articles should be announced at least one week in advance, and should be chosen in accordance to a teacher. The lecture topics will be discussed by all participants. Students get training in presenting their research and discussing research articles.

The course is only for graduate students and mandatory for graduate students working on projects in ecology and evolutionary biology.

The course is given both spring and autumn semester and every student can get max 8 ECTS units in total for the course.

Course Description:

• The topic of the master's thesis must be chosen under the guidance of a supervisor. The thesis is 90 (60 or 30) credits. The thesis work is expected to amount to 3 (2 or 1) semesters of work.
• Master's student has a supervisor from the academic staff at the Faculty and in cases of external supervisors a faculty Coordinator. The MS committee shall have at least one extra member. The MS committee guides the student, regarding choice of course, project designing and completion. In case the supervisor is not affiliated with the University of Iceland, then a faculty coordinator has to be appointed (a permanent member of academic staff in the biology department).
• The choice of topic is the responsibility of the student but decided with the project supervisor(s). The topic of the project should fall within the field of biology and chosen specialisation.
• Final project exam is divided into two parts: an oral examination and an open lecture
• Present at the oral exam are the student, supervisor, external examiner and members of the Master's committee. The student provides a brief introduction to the project. It is important that the objectives and research question(s) are clearly stated, the main findings and conclusions drawn from the project.
• According to the rules of the Master's program, all students who intend to graduate from the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences need to give a public lecture about their final project. There are 3 Master's Days at the School per year (for each graduation) where the students present their projects with an open lecture.
• All students graduating from the University of Iceland shall submit an electronic copy of the final version of their masters thesis to www.skemman.is. Skemman is a digital repository for all Icelandic universities and is maintained by the National and University Library. 
• According to regulations of University of Iceland all MS thesis should be open access after submission to Skemman.

Learning Outcomes:

 Upon completion of an MS thesis and defense then the student should have certain compentences in biology or a specific subdiscipline. Refer to the general learning outcomes of the MS studies. Briefly, the student should be able to:

- Form a research question / hypothesis

- Use an appropriate theoretical framework to shed light on his/her topic

- Use appropriate methodology to answer a specific research question

- Competently discuss the current knowledge within the field and contribute to it with their own research

- Gather, critically analyze and interpret data

- Assess the scope of a research project and plan their work accordingly

- Effectively display results and discuss their meaning within the context of the established literature

- Draw conclusions from incomplete data and explain the limitations of their research

The supervising committee and the MS-student meet for one semester on a weekly basis to discuss research articles, review articles, and parts of books selected by the committee for that purpose. The reading material shall be related to the student's field of research, but without overlapping with it, so as to broaden the horizons of the student. The course is completed with a short thesis on the subject and an oral examination.

The emphasis is on research articles. Resent research in various field with links to cell biology are included but can vary between years. For each lecture max three research articles are included.

Each student gives a seminar on one research article with details on methods and results. The students write a report (essay) on the article and discusses the results in a critical way.

Examples of topics included in the course: innate immunity, prions, the proteins pontin and reptin, polarized epithelium, development of trachea, data analyses and gene expression, autophagy, the origin of the nucleus.

The vascular flora of Iceland and the arctic flora: origins, composition, ecology. The biogeography of the flora of the North Atlantic. The Pleistocene environment of Iceland and the Holocene vegetation history of Iceland and Europe. Hypotheses on the age and origin of the Icelandic flora and the arctic flora. The soils of Iceland: characteristics and development, desertification. Post-settlement vegetation changes in Iceland. Biodiversity and distribution patterns of the Icelandic vascular flora. Protected and red-list species. after the biogeography of the circumpolar north. Origins and characteristics of the vascular flora of Iceland. Methods for the description and classification of vegetation. Icelandic vegetation: classification, distribution, environment and utilization. 4 day summer field course.

Classification of birds, zoogeography, aspects of ecology and adaptations, including migration, social behaviour, food ecology, population dynamics, management. Field and laboratory work: Survey of the main families with an emphasis on Icelandic species. Field trips in SW-Iceland, partly during the semester and partly in May, after the examination period.

The objectives of the course are to introduce students to important pollutants, their characteristics and distribution, with emphasis on their effects on organisms. The first part of the course deals with the major classes of pollutants (Metals, Organic pollutants, Radioactivity), their origin, behaviour and characteristics. The second part focuses on bioavailability, bioaccumulation and bioconcentration and the effects of the pollutants on organisms. Biomarkers and bioassays will be discussed. The third part of the course deals with pollutants in arctic and subarctic areas, with emphasis on Iceland. Practical classes consist of four large projects.

Lectures: The molecular basis of life (chemical bonds, biological molecules, structure of DNA, RNA and proteins). Genomes and the flow of biological information. Chromosome structure and function, chromatin and nucleosomes. The cell cycle, DNA replication. Chromosome segregaition, Transcription. Regulation of transcription. RNA processing. Translation. Regulation of translation. Regulatory RNAs. Protein modification and targeting. DNA damage, checkpoints and DNA repair mechanisms. Repair of DNA double-strand breaks and homologous recombination. Mobile DNA elements. Tools and techniques in molecular Biology icluding Model organisms.

Seminar: Students present and discuss selected research papers and hand in a short essay.

Laboratory work: Work on molecular genetics project relevant to current research. Basic methods such as gene cloning, gene transfer and expression, PCR, sequencing, DNA isolation and restriction analysis, electrophoresis of DNA and proteins will be used.

Exam: Laboratory 10%, seminar 15%, written final exam 75%.

Genomics and bioinformatics are intertwinned in many ways. Technological advances enabled the sequencing of for instance genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes. Complete genome sequences of thousands of organisms enables study of this flood of information for gaining knowledge and deeper understanding of biological phenomena. Comparative studies, in one way or another, building on Darwininan thought provide the theoretical underpinnings for analyzing this information and it applications. Characters and features conserved among organisms are based in conserved parts of genomes and conversely, new and unique phenotypes are affected by variable parts of genomes. This applies equally to animals, plants and microbes, and cells, enzymatic and developmental systems.

The course centers on the theoretical and practical aspects of comparative analysis, about analyses of genomes, metagenomes and transcriptomes to study biological, medical and applied questions. The lectures cover structure and sequencing of genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes, molecular evolution, different types of bioinformatic data, shell scripts, intro to R and Python scripting and applications. The practicals include, retrieval of data from databases, blast and alignment, assembly and annotation, comparison of genomes, population data analyses. Students will work with databases, such as Flybase, Genebank and ENSEMBL. Data will be retrived with Biomart and Bioconductor, and data quality discussed. Algorithms for search tools and alignments, read counts and comparisons of groups and treatments. Also elements of python scripting, open linux software, installation of linux programs, analyses of data from RNA-seq, RADseq and genome sequencing.

Students are required to turn in a few small and one big group project and present the large project with a lecture. In discussion session primary literature will be presented.

A practical course introducing many commonly used methods in immunology. This will be a hands-on practical course conducted at the laboratory bench. Methods will include: Measurements of humoral immunity: ELISA, ELIspot, complement. Measurements of cellular immune responses: Flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, culture and stimulation of cells, measurements of cytokines (ELIspot, cytokine bead assay, cytokine secretion assay), cytotoxicity, chemotaxis, phagocytosis. Antibodies as research tools: Immunostaining (fluorescent and immunoperoxidase), ELISA. The course will take place mostly at Department of Immunology, Landspitali University Hospital. The course will be taught in English if necessary.

Practical sessions will be taught on saturdays or tuesday, wednesday and thursday between 16-21.

4 day workshop.

Fundamentals of bioinformatics.

Guest lecturer from USA covers foundations and some applied examples.

Command line, basic commands and navigation.

Using computer clusters

R (tidyverse)

Python (conda environments)

Examples are from comparative genomics, analyses of gene families, seleciton (positive, negative) and gain/loss of genes.

This course focuses on animal parasites and the ecology of host-parasite interactions. During the first half of the course (Weeks 1 to 6) students will be introduced to the main groups of parasites with emphasis on the: (1) form and function; (2) development; (3) general life cycles; (4) biodiversity; (5) and phylogenetic relationships and classification. In the second half of the course (Weeks 7 to 14) the focus will be on the ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions, the impacts of parasites on host individuals to ecosystems, and how parasites are adapting to changing environments.

Formal weekly lectures (4 x 40 minutes) will be supplemented by class discussions (2 x 40 minutes) and readings (textbooks and papers). Each week, students will read 5 papers. Each paper will be summarised (3-5 minutes) by a nominated student and a 10 to 15 minute discussion on each paper will ensue.

The laboratory component of the course will focus on methods in parasitology. Students will collect their own parasite material during a weekend long field trip/exercise and using video tutorials, will practice different methods such as mucus, blood and fæcal smears, and staining & mounting. Each student will submit their own collection of slide material with parasite identifications for assessment at the end of semester.

Assignments will be designed to expose students to the parasitological literature on topics selected to supplement those covered in lecture. The essay format aims to develop synthesis and critical thinking skills.

Introduction to the scientific method. Ethics of science and within the university community.
The role of the student, advisors and external examiner. Effective and honest communications.
Conducting a literature review, using bibliographic databases and reference handling. Thesis structure, formulating research questions, writing and argumentation. How scientific writing differs from general purpose writing. Writing a MS study plan and proposal. Practical skills for presenting tables and figures, layout, fonts and colors. Presentation skills. Project management for a thesis, how to divide a large project into smaller tasks, setting a work plan and following a timeline. Life after graduate school and being employable.