The central course objective is to provide trainees a better knowledge for scientific research planning and delivery of standard quality scientific results in coastal biodiversity assessments. Course specific objectives The specific objectives of the course are:
1)to strengthen concepts of scientific method in Marine and Coastal Ecology, such as questioning and formulation of hypotheses, and their adequate testing in appropriately designed sampling or experimental protocols;
2) to introduce basic knowledge on univariate and multivariate statistical procedures for the design and interpretation of assessments of coastal biodiversity;
3) to expand the capacity for standard scientific outputting, such as quality graphs and tables;
4) to apply these concepts in field exercises, increasing also the basic knowledge of the participants on coastal biodiversity in the WIO coastal intertidal habitats and their ecological processes;
5) to support specific research or formative problems of young researchers, such as research plans and protocols, thesis structure and writing, and treatment of existing datasets.
