Essays

Understanding, comparing and evaluating scientific results is an important skill in scientific work. It requires to compare facts and opinions with existing literature and then come to an own point of view. The seminar paper is based on a scientific lecture and provides an introduction to the topic.

Hydrobiological seminar in the winter semester

The seminar includes a number of specialist lectures on scientific or practical topics as well as basic seminars that impart methodological tools, e.g. on scientific working methods, holding lectures or preparing reports. According to the module description, participation in a total of 7 "hydrobiological seminars" is compulsory (corresponds to 1 SWS).

The seminar paper should be written about a specialist lecture given by a speaker in the hydrobiological seminar. The work can be written by a single person or a maximum of four people. Seminar papers submitted by more students or submitted several times will not be recognized. You can choose the lecture topic yourself.

Water seminar in the summer semester

The water seminar takes place as a joint event of all institutes of the hydrosciences department. After the seminar day, topics are assigned centrally to students. Unless otherwise agreed, the seminar paper must be written by a single person. Submission modalities and formal requirements may vary depending on the professorship and topic.

Task and formal requirements

At the professorship for limnology, uniform basic rules apply to seminar papers; please refer to the corresponding OPAL courses for any special demands.

Task

In the seminar paper, present the problem and the key messages of the lecture. The most important contribution should then be to compare the core message with other work (results). This should be done as part of a literature research (textbooks, publications).

• Is there any work that supports the core message or comes to completely different conclusions?
• Why do other works come to different conclusions?
• Do the other papers have different results or are the same results interpreted differently?

Finally, write a short paragraph whether you follow the speaker's interpretation or think that there is a better interpretation of the results. The conclusion is the bibliography, in which all sources used (including internet sources) are listed completely and correctly.
Formal requirements

The paper may contain a maximum of 10 pages (line spacing 1.2 lines; font size 11 to 12 pt; margin 2-2.5 cm, maximum 3 images, legible font, e.g. Times New Roman, Calibri or Open Sans). Cover sheet, bibliography and an optional table of contents are not counted.

Additional tips and web links for research and bibliography can be found in the download area of ​​the OPAL course on the hydrobiological seminar.