Scientific Curation of Natural History Collections
PhD School at the Faculty of SCIENCE at University of Copenhagen
This is a toolbox course where 80% of the seats are reserved for PhD students enrolled at the Faculty of SCIENCE at UCPH and 20% of the seats are reserved for PhD students from other Danish Universities/faculties (except CBS). Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at a Danish university (except CBS), you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to applicants on the waiting list.
Aim and Content
The aim is to offer PhD students at the Science Faculty knowledge, skills and an understanding of the role of scientific curators as well as both practical and theoretical competences for performing scientific curation and managing natural history collections.
Natural history collections represent national and international heritage and are actively used for research, education and public engagement. In addition to ensuring access to collections and their metadata for international researchers and society, scientific curators oversee the strategic management and development of the collections in close collaboration with the collection
managers who ensure the practical management. In this course, we open the treasure chest and introduce you to all the different aspects and possibilities of 21st century natural history collections.
The natural history collections of the Natural History Museum Denmark are one of the oldest and largest in the world, with more than 14 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils and rocks, representing over 400 years of global fieldwork and collection history. The Botanical Garden (part of the Museum) holds over 8.000 living plant species from all over the world as well as a conservation seed bank.
Natural history collections serve as repositories documenting the distribution of organisms across time and space, essentially acting as a time capsule. At the same time, collections, both living and preserved, are an immense source of big data for a wide range of research applications from the core discipline of taxonomy to testing evolutionary relationships, drivers of biodiversity, and societal challenges including the current climate and biodiversity crisis.
The course includes the following themes:
• General scientific curation from field expeditions to the management of collections or the garden. From fieldwork planning, ethical considerations, international collaboration and guidelines to preservation, identification, curation, registration and open access for natural history collections.
• Strategic development of collections, including the identification of priority areas for new collecting, exchange with other museums and gardens, and improvement of identifications and metadata.
• Meta-curation of natural history collections across institutions.
• Digitization and imaging of natural history collections.
• Challenges and opportunities in the use of public databases such as GBIF for research and biodiversity inventories.
• Type specimens as the fundamental basis of a species name, species circumscriptions, and formal description of new species.
• Cultural history of natural history collections.
• Collection-based research across time, space and taxa, including studies on changes in phenology, distribution, invasive species and endangered species.
• Use of collections to address societal challenges, including conservation.
• Genomic research using historical collections, including challenges related to ancient DNA.
• Communication of collections through exhibitions, outreach, social media, public engagement and citizen science.
• Fund raising for collections and research projects.
Learning outcomes
Intended learning outcome for the students who complete the course:
Knowledge:
• Basic understanding of scientific curatorial tasks and considerations related to preserving,
managing, developing, promoting awareness of, and communicating natural history collections.
• Basic understanding of the taxonomic hierarchy, species concepts, taxonomical nomenclature, typification and species description.
• Understand and describe the cultural, historical and scientific value of natural history collections and their associated metadata.
• Assess the research, outreach and exhibition potential of the collections.
• Identify key challenges in the scientific organization of natural history collections and apply solution-oriented thinking to address them.
Skills:
• Apply responsible and sustainable handling of natural history collections and their metadata.
• Outline strategies for the development and management of natural history collections.
• Develop research questions based on natural history collections.
Competences:
• Assess the values, strengths, weaknesses and risks of natural history collections and propose strategic priorities for their development.
• Describe collection management needs in general terms
• Outline future research directions and prepare funding proposals.
• Present their own work (in written form) at a level approaching scientific standards.
• Identify opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and communication potential of natural history collections.
• Facilitate synergies between collections, research, education and public engagement.
Target Group
Our main target group is PhD students at NHMD as well as closest departments at the Science Faculty: IGN and BIO. We expect the course will also attract students from all across Science, and we will advertise it internationally as we know there is a huge interest in this course from
our international museum and university partners.
The course is intended as an obligatory introduction to collections curation for PhD students at NHMD as a basis for the PhD School of Science requirement of duty hours.
Recommended Academic Qualifications
Basic knowledge of organismal biology and/or geology, the taxonomic hierarchy, species concepts, phylogeny, and microscopy is recommended.
Research Area
Curation, Taxonomy, Systematics, Botany, Zoology, Geology, Palaeontology and Digital Sciences
Teaching and Learning Methods
The course is based on actively working with the museum’s natural history collections and consists of a mixture of lectures, research presentations from museum staff, hands-on work in the collections, and project work. During the course students work alone or together on selected
projects on a part of the collections. All projects include identifying strategic priority areas, making action plans for improving the value and use of a part of the collection, writing a simple grant application and communication plan, and actively communicating a story or aspect of the
collections to a public audience. A labwork component may be included depending on interest of the course participants.
Type of Assessment
The students will hand in a 5-page assignment as a reflections of their chosen project.
Literature
Will be provided prior to the course.
Course coordinator
Professor Anders P. Tøttrup, aptottrup@snm.ku.dk
Guest Lecturers
Scientific curators from all research sections at the museum and a number of relevant collection management staff will lecture on the course. No external lectures are planned.
Expected frequency
The course will run annually.
Course location
The course will mainly run from the Zoological Museum Building, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Cph. Ø., but teaching will also take place on several other of the museum addresses.
Registration
With registration please send a letter stating taxonomic research area and interest (½-1 page) to contact person signe.lutzau.pedersen@snm.ku.dk with cc: aptottrup@snm.ku.dk
Requirements for signing up
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 deadline for registration.
Course fee
• Participant fee: 0 DKK
• PhD student enrolled at SCIENCE: 0 DKK
• PhD student from Danish PhD school Open market: 0 DKK
• PhD student from Danish PhD school not Open market: DKK 6.000
• PhD student from foreign university: DKK 6.000
• Master's student from Danish university: 0 DKK
• Master's student from foreign university: DKK 6.000
• Non-PhD student employed at a university (e.g., postdocs): DKK 6.000
• Non-PhD student not employed at a university (e.g., from a private company): DKK 16.800
Participants will receive an email with a link and instructions for payment after completing the course.
Cancellation policy
•Cancellations made up to two weeks before the course starts are free of charge.
•Cancellations made less than two weeks before the course starts will be charged a fee of DKK 3.000
•Participants with less than 80% attendance cannot pass the course and will be charged a fee of DKK 5.000
•No-show will result in a fee of DKK 5.000
•Participants who fail to hand in any mandatory exams or assignments cannot pass the course and will be charged a fee of DKK 5.000
Course fee and participant fee
PhD courses offered at the Faculty of SCIENCE have course fees corresponding to different participant types.
In addition to the course fee, there might also be a participant fee.
If the course has a participant fee, this will apply to all participants regardless of participant type - and in addition to the course fee.