Experimental design for the life sciences

Aim

The aim of the course is to provide the student with knowledge of different experimental designs used in the life sciences and provide them with knowledge on how to evaluate and improve a given design’s statistical power.

Having completed the course, the student should be able to:

• select an appropriate experimental design based on the research question asked, explain what factors determine the selected design’s statistical power, and apply methods to evaluate and improve it.

Content

The course focuses on experimental designs commonly used to address hypotheses in various fields of the life sciences such as ethology, physiology, genetics and conservation biology. In addition, it places a strong emphasis on how to handle random variation, avoid pseudoreplication, and conduct power calculations to assess and enhance statistical power. The course also explores the issue of low replicability in science and best practices for minimizing false positive results.