Want to develop the skills to become an independent scientific researcher, to work effectively in a research team, to present research findings in a public forum, and to write scientific articles and reports?

The Zoology Honours course is a research intensive year that offers the development of generic research skills required to work effectively in a scientific career. The research conducted by students in the Zoology Honours year is at the cutting edge of discovery, with many research projects being published in leading international scientific journals, giving their authors the advantage in obtaining postgraduate scholarships, or research positions in the public sector.

This year you could explore troglobitic diversity in the Pilbara, contributing to knowledge of conservation strategies. You could explore evolutionary conflicts of interest between males and females, uncover the function of complex calls produced by male tree frogs, study the sex ratios of hatchlings at western Australian rookeries of marine turtles, or examine the power of sexual selection to purge populations of deleterious mutations that reduce fitness. Or you could even develop your own research program. Details of all these projects, and more, can be found in the 2009 list of research projects.

Coordinator: Leigh W Simmons

Applications due December 21st

The group project for 2009 will be a study of visual learning behaviour and novelty detection in mice

Within the brain, the organisation of neural pathways (topography) is thought to be related to specific types of behaviour. Theoretical analyses suggest specific functional roles for several forms of topography; however, it remains unclear how these motifs relate to behavioral and cognitive outcomes.

In this project, you will teach mice a behavioral task in which they will discriminate between visual stimuli and perform a delayed match to sample. One group of mice will be normal "wild type" mice and the other group will be genetically modified to lack a gene that controls the development of brain topography (Knockout, or KO mice). If time permits, histological identification of connections within the cortex will identify which aspects of brain topography in KOs differ from those in WT, allowing us to isolate the potential roles of these motifs in terms of behavioural outcomes.
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2009 Deadlines

February 2nd Honours Starts

March 27th Group thesis first draft

March 31st Honours Scholarship applications due

April 3rd Group Project Seminars

April 9th Group Project final submission

May 8th Book Review first draft

May 15th Book review final submission

May 29th Literature Review first draft

June 5th Research Proposal Seminar

June 12th Literature Review final submission

October 23rd Research Paper first draft

October 30th Final Seminar

November 6th Research Paper final submission

December 21st Applications for Honours 2010 close

Book Review 2009

The Making of the Fittest by Sean B. Carroll

Published by Quercus: ISBN 9781847244765

School of Animal Biology UWA: Zoology Honours

Coordinator: Leigh W Simmons

Applications due December 21st

2009 Deadlines

Book Review 2009