Behavioural testing in rodents: there's more than meets the eye
Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen
This course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD Students from NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at a Danish university, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. This also applies to PhD students from NorDoc member faculties. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to applicants on the waiting list.
Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
1. Choose appropriate behavioural assays from literature or design new
2. Explain the intricacies of collecting behavioural data
3. Choose appropriate ways to quantify behaviour
4. Analyse behavioural data
5. Interpret behavioural data
Content
This is a 2-day course that will focus primarily on rodent behaviour (mouse & rat). Through a series of highly interactive lectures, short exercises, and group discussions, participants will learn how to:
- Decide what type of behavioural assay to use,
- Design behavioural experiments
- Be aware of common mistakes when performing behavioural experiments
- Counterbalance experimental conditions and why that is important for the interpretation of results
- Choose the most meaningful way to quantify behaviour
- Interpret their results taking into account experimental limitations and species ethology
- Explain what makes and good and a bad behavioural study
Participants
This course is primarily aimed at PhD students from any graduate program who are interested in designing behavioural experiments to test their model species. No specific previous experience in behavioural testing is required. Students who are planning to conduct behavioural experiments or have behavioural data already are highly encouraged to prepare a short presentation (<5min) discussing their plans or data. Presentations will take place during group discussions and the students will get feedback from their peers and the instructors. Participants from previous year who presented found this section very helpful.
Relevance to graduate programmes
The course is relevant to PhD students from the following graduate programmes at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH:
Neuroscience
In Vivo Pharmacology and Experimental Animals
Molecular Mechanisms of Disease
Language
English
Form
Lectures, group discussions, simple exercises
Course director
Celia Kjærby, Assistant Professor, Center for Translational Neuromedicine, celia.kjaerby@sund.ku.dk
Antonis Asiminas, Assistant Professor, Center for Translational Neuromedicine, a.asiminas@sund.ku.dk
Teachers
Celia Kjærby, Assistant Professor, Center for Translational Neuromedicine
Antonis Asiminas, Assistant Professor, Center for Translational Neuromedicine
Dates
8 - 9 April 2025
Course location
16.6.31 and 16.6.35 (Faculty Club, Panum)
Registration
Please register before 14 March 2025
Seats to PhD students from other Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules. Applications from other participants will be considered after the last day of enrolment.
Note: All applicants are asked to submit invoice details in case of no-show, late cancellation or obligation to pay the course fee (typically non-PhD students). If you are a PhD student, your participation in the course must be in agreement with your principal supervisor.