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Behavioural testing in rodents: there's more than meets the eye
Provider: Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Activity no.: 3697-27-00-00There are 12 available seats 
Enrollment deadline: 09/04/2027
Date and time13.05.2027, at: 09:00 - 14.05.2027, at: 17:00
Regular seats12
Course fee4,080.00 kr.
LecturersCelia Kjærby
ECTS credits1.60
Contact personAntonios Asiminas    E-mail address: a.asiminas@sund.ku.dk
Enrolment Handling/Course OrganiserPhD administration SUND    E-mail address: phdkursus@sund.ku.dk

Enrolment guidelines
This is a specialised course. This means that 80% of the seats are reserved to PhD students enrolled at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at UCPH and 20% og the seats are reserved to PhD students from other Danish Universities/faculties (except CBS).

The 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. Analyze 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

Molecular Mechanisms of Disease

Preclinical In Vivo Research


Language
English


Form
Lectures, group discussions, exercises


Course director
Celia Kjærby, Associate Professor, Institute of Neuroscience, celia.kjaerby@sund.ku.dk
Antonis Asiminas, Assistant Professor, Center for Translational Neuromedicine, a.asiminas@sund.ku.dk


Teachers
Celia Kjærby, Associate Professor, Institute of Neuroscience
Antonis Asiminas, Assistant Professor, Center for Translational Neuromedicine


Dates
13 - 14 May 2027


Course location
16.6.31 and 16.6.35 (Faculty Club) – Old Panum


Registration
Please register before 9 April 2027


Expected frequency
The course is expected to run again in spring 2028

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.

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