OEKB001351 Project Citizen Science

Type
Project course
Semester hours
6
Lecturer (assistant)
Dörler, Daniel , Heigl, Florian
Organisation
Zoology
Offered in
Wintersemester 2026/27
Languages of instruction
Deutsch
Content

Citizen science – that is, the active involvement of the general public in scientific projects – makes it possible to address complex issues in the field of sustainable development (e.g. in relation to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals). Many projects in the field of ecology focus on the topic of biodiversity. This course offers students a unique opportunity to participate in one of Austria’s best-known citizen science projects, whilst exploring and answering their own research questions. Students can thereby lay the foundations for new analyses within the Roadkill project and potentially contribute to current research themselves.
The framework for this is the Roadkill project (www.roadkill.at), which has been run very successfully by the course leaders for several years now. In the introductory sessions, students gain an insight into the ongoing project and identify potential research questions which they wish to answer using the data collected within the project. Key skills (e.g. literature search and management) are also covered, enabling students to address their self-selected research questions in an academic paper through a series of guided steps in the form of group work.
Previous knowledge expected

completed bachelor's degree, basics of statistics, basics of scientific working
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to …
1. Participants will be able to formulate a testable hypothesis regarding a research question in citizen science. They can formulate a null hypothesis (H0: there is no effect/correlation) and the alternative hypothesis (H1: there is an effect/correlation), and explain which factors are measured and how (operationalisation of variables) in order to test the hypothesis.
2. select suitable data collection and participation methods, justify their suitability for citizen science (e.g. recruitment, protocol, quality assurance) and apply them in a small sub-project under supervision.
3. Research and select appropriate data analysis methods and apply them correctly to a provided dataset (e.g. descriptive statistics, simple tests), including a brief justification for the choice and a check of key assumptions.
4. Create and present the basic structure of an academic work in the form of an academic poster.
5. Identify key challenges in an ongoing citizen science project (e.g. motivation, bias, data protection) and plan at least three potential stumbling blocks for their own project, each with a specific countermeasure.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.