Summer School

Ant Ecology in an Era of Global Change: Ant Ecol – an international summer school, Arolla (Switzerland)

24-28 August 2026

Join us for a five-day summer school in the Swiss Alps to explore how global change impacts ant ecology!

Who should attend?

PhD students, Postdocs, and early career scientists working on ants

Lectures & workshops

Concepts, data analysis tools (R software), and hands-on field work

1) Community Ecology: GIS mapping, statistical analysis of diversity, field sampling methods

2) Functional Ecology: Morphometrics & color analysis (IA-based), trait-based analysis, thermal tolerance measurements

3) Niche Dynamics: Niche modelling, microclimate measurements (loggers, thermocouples), thermal image acquisition (camera and drones)

Instructors

Costs: 350 CHF. The fees cover lodging, food, local transportation around the field station from Sunday 23.8. (arrival) to Saturday 29.8. (departure)

Travel to the field station: Arolla can be reached easily by public transport, there is a bus approx. every two hours. If you want to join directly after the IUSSI conference in Freiburg (Germany), you can do so in about 5h. For connections, you can check the Swiss SBB website: https://www.sbb.ch/en

Scholarships: We offer two scholarships (covering costs of the course and travel to the field station).

Application deadline: 31.3.2026

How to apply? Please send you application to cleo.bertelsmeier@unil.ch including

• CV with publications
• Letter of motivation (incl. what skills you are interested in acquiring and why)
• Statement if you need support of a scholarship (and cannot attend in case you are not selected for the scholarship).

Footnote:

1. there is mistake in this picture. If you find it, mention it in the application letter 😉 If you don’t, apply anyway! ↩︎