The origin of diversity of life on Earth has long fascinated humankind. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection remains the best-known explanation since 1859 when his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, was published. Darwin’s theory, however, is now in the middle of a major transformation due to the tremendous advances in molecular biology, ecology and genetics over the past 30 years. This course will introduce students to recent discoveries in biological sciences and how the famous «survival of the fittest» and other related ideas are understood today. Do you ever wonder if Darwin’s theory is still relevant in the age of genetics and genomics? A range of exciting topics will be explored, including: the origin of life and the “Cambrian explosion,” speciation and the “missing” transitional forms, biogeography, genetic mechanisms underlying evolutionary changes and much more.
- Location: KVADRAT (online)
- Instructor: Prof Arkhat Abzhanov, Imperial College London and Natural History Museum, London, UK
- When: Wednesday (20:00) and Sunday (16:00), time in KZ
- Target Grades: Grades 9-11(12)
Tuition, Fees and Financial Aid
The course tuition cost is $1,300; no application fee is required.
If accepted to the course, the full tuition payment must be completed by October 8, 2024.
Financial aid may be available to a limited number ofcourse attendees.
Eligibility
Participation in the course is open to all interested students in grades 9-11(12), residing in any country. Proficiency in English is required due to the language of instruction.
Registration
To register for the course, please follow the link and complete the application form by September 30, 2024.
Lectures and presentations:
Each lecture will last for about 1 hour followed by question-and-answer session (20 minutes). Lectures will be followed by discussions of 1-2 recent breakthrough papers on modern evolutionary biology suggested in advance. All students are encouraged to actively participate in the discussion. Presentations should include introductory background and major findings of each paper, last 10 minutes and allow 7-10 minutes for discussion. Please sign up for the presentation topics in advance using a list of provided topics and papers. The research papers for each lecture as well as lectures and student presentations will be posted online.
Grading:
Grades will be determined on the evaluation of exams, participation and presentation in discussion sections as follows:
- Midterm exam — 40%
- Final exam — 40%
- Research paper presentation -10%
- Attendance and participation — 10%
| Class | Date | Subject | Comments |
| 1 | 06/10/24 | What is Evolution? Diversity of life on Earth: Introduction. Views of life on Earth before and during Charles Darwin’s lifetime. | |
| 2 | 09/10/24 | Evidence for Evolution: The three theories on the history of life. Can we observe evolution? | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 3 | 13/10/24 | Origin of Life Problem: how ideas about the origin of life changed over time. | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 4 | 16/10/24 | Diversity of Life — Classification and Phylogeny: historical and modern approaches to understanding the relationships among living forms before and after Darwin. | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 5 | 20/10/24 | The Fossil Record: Fossil evidence of previous life forms, major transitions and intermediate lineages, how complete is the fossil record and how comparable to what the genes/molecules studies reveal. | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 6 | 23/10/24 | Natural Selection: What is natural selection (“survival of the fittest”) and how it actually works? | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 7 | 27/10/24 | Speciation process. What is a species and how do we identify and distinguish different species? Species in the molecular age. | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 8 | 30/10/24 | From DNA to Diversity: Genes and genomes, mutations and changes in phenotype, sources of variation. | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 9 | 03/11/24 | Developmental mechanisms for evolution: Sources and kinds of developmental variation: What is/are the ultimate sources of diversity on the genetic level? | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 10 | 06/11/24 | Evolutionary constraints: Is there anything that guides or constraints evolution? | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 11 | 10/11/24 | Midterm examination | |
| 12 | 13/11/24 | Co-evolution: How can two species interact during evolution? Evolutionary competition versus symbiosis. | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 13 | 17/11/24 | Life history strategies: What is a life history strategy? Many different ways how changes in the life history strategy during evolution can be adaptive. | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 14 | 20/11/24 | Role of Biogeography in Evolution. What are the different types of speciation events? Speciation can result both in divergence and convergence. What are the main factors in natural selection? | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 15 | 24/11/24 | Kin Selection/ Life History Evolution | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 16 | 27/11/24 | Phenotypic plasticity/Role of Epigenetics | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 17 | 30/11/24 | Sexual Selection | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 18 | 01/12/24 | Extinctions: How and why species become extinct? | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 19 | 04/12/24 | What About Humans? Part 1: Advances in modern biology and the origin of humans. Are humans still evolving? | Student presentation from HW assignments (list of provided topic-related research papers) |
| 20 | 08/12/24 | Final examination |
Recommended Texts:
Charles Darwin (1859). On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London : John Murray, 1859. Sean Carroll (2007).
Sean Carroll (2009). Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species. Publisher: Mariner Books
Iain McCalman (2010). Darwin’s Armada: Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution W. W. Norton & Company
