University
Education
in Biodiversity
and Conservation
To build a more sustainable future, learn how to conserve biodiversity.
University teaching is our main way of transferring scientific knowledge to society. A fundamental part of our work that we take care of and to which we dedicate ourselves with care, knowing its importance.
A maxim in our teaching activity is that each subject is taught by those who have a closer research profile. In this way, we guarantee excellent training, from the hand of researchers involved in the latest advances in each subject.
The bulk of our teaching is taught at the Higher School of Experimental Sciences and Technology (ESCET), on the URJC campus in Móstoles, where we have classrooms prepared for remote teaching and the most modern laboratories and scientific equipment.
We are committed to teaching with a high degree of experimentation in which students have an active role in laboratory practices, in computer classrooms or in the field.
Why choose the formation
of the Biodiversity and Conservation Area of the URJC
COMPLETE FORMATION ITINERARY
We offer you several training itineraries related to biology and environmental sciences. Our bachelor's and master's degrees will allow you to train in biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration, environmental management, biotechnology, biomedicine, etc.
DIRECT TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE: FROM THE LABORATORY AND THE FIELD, TO THE CLASSROOM
We offer you to train with a team committed to university teaching as a way of transferring scientific knowledge to society.
EXCELLENCE
Learn from leading experts in each discipline, from ecology, to the systematics and taxonomy of lichens, plants, nematodes, etc., microbiology, cellular and molecular biology, biotechnology and many other areas of Biology.
A PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
All the subjects we offer you have a practical component that allows you to learn actively and meaningfully.
EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION
We are embarked on all kinds of innovation projects to make the learning experience more attractive and therefore more effective.
HIGH EMPLOYABILITY
In all our degrees, external internships play an important role and this has resulted in the URJC students having the highest employability among the public universities in Madrid.
University Education
BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN BIOLOGY WITH TWO SPECIALISATIONS:
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
If you are passionate about the study of biodiversity, the Bachelor's Degree in Biology at the URJC will provide you with the knowledge you are looking for in a public and young university like you. The teachers in the Biodiversity and Conservation Area are leading scientists in their respective disciplines, which guarantees the direct transfer of knowledge from the laboratory or the field to the classroom. In addition, we have the most modern facilities and state-of-the-art scientific equipment, on a university campus designed for you.
In the first three years you will cover all levels of biological organization and in the fourth you will be able to choose between two specializations, one in Biotechnology and the other in Conservation Biology. Two areas of specialization that will prepare you to practice the profession of Biologist in a world full of challenges in which the knowledge, skills and competencies we provide you will make you a useful professional with high employability.
BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
This degree is a clear example of how the URJC designs degrees to meet the needs of today's society. Water is a key and at the same time scarce resource, a source of life and wealth, but also of risks that can affect our cities, our rivers or our crops. In a Mediterranean country like ours, the exploitation and management of water for different uses can only be approached from a framework of sustainability, circular economy and preservation of water source ecosystems.
In the current context of climate change, we need professionals with advanced and multidisciplinary training to decide and plan everything related to water resources. Coordinated by the Geology area, the curriculum of the Bachelor's Degree in Water Science and Technology includes subjects related to hydrology, hydrogeology, ecology, conservation of bodies of water and aquatic ecosystems, biotechnology, chemical engineering, water treatment and purification technologies and water resources management.
BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
The Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Sciences at the URJC offers you multidisciplinary training in different areas related to the management and conservation of natural resources.
The curriculum, coordinated by the Department of Chemical and Environmental Technology, is based on basic subjects related to the study of the physical environment (geology, hydrology, meteorology and climatology and soil science) and biodiversity (botany, zoology, environmental microbiology and ecology), and then focuses on more applied aspects related to environmental quality and the management of different types of pollution, territorial planning and environmental impact assessment.
From the area of Biodiversity and Conservation we contribute to this degree with very applied subjects related to growing professional niches such as Management and Conservation of Flora and Fauna, Restoration of the Natural Environment and Management of Protected Areas and Wildlife.
BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCES
If you are equally passionate about Biology, Geology, Physics and Chemistry, this degree offers you a solid training in all these disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach will provide you with a multifaceted vision and mastery of a wide range of analytical tools, optimal for addressing complex situations and highly valued in the world of work.
Dare to try this innovative training proposal and discover how far you can go with science..
We participate in other grades
Teaching subjects of Biology, Botany, Zoology, Evolution, Ecology, Applied Microbiology, Biotechnology, etc. in different schools and faculties of the URJC:
HIGHER SCHOOL OF EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING OF FUENLABRADA
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS SCIENCES
MASTER'S DEGREE IN TECHNIQUES FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND ECOLOGY
In this master's degree, your training will be completed with the most cutting-edge tools. Face-to-face, practical and applied training in collaboration with researchers from the National Museum of Natural Sciences and the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid (CSIC).
We offer you a program that will turn you into a specialist in biodiversity conservation and management and that will train you to face current environmental challenges. Whether you want to access the doctorate or if you prefer to join the world of work, this is your master's degree.
MASTER'S DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
This master's degree offers you a journey through the biomedical disciplines in which research and new technologies are making more exciting advances. An inter-faculty program coordinated by the Faculty of Health Sciences of the URJC, in which we propose a comprehensive approach of One Health, in which the health of humanity is inevitably linked to the health of ecosystems.
Discover the challenges in global change and health that our society faces, learn the latest techniques in biomedical research and learn about the latest advances in areas such as cell therapy, tissue engineering, genetic engineering and gene therapy, development of new drugs and many others.
MÁSTER ERASMUS MUNDUS IN GLOBAL CHANGE ECOLOGY AND BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT (GLOBE)
Our international Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Global Change Ecology and Biodiversity Management (GLOBE) is a programme of excellence in global change ecology and offers you the possibility of a unique and international experience.
GLOBE is our most ambitious commitment to the training of biodiversity experts with a global vision. Included in the prestigious Erasmus programme, recognised and funded by the European Union, it offers you an itinerary of 120 ECTs and two academic years, which begins at the URJC and continues at the University of Bangor (Wales, UK) and the University of Lisbon (Portugal), after a summer school at the Autonomous University of Tlaxcala (Mexico). For the fourth semester you choose any of the above universities to develop your master's thesis.
Are you ready to become a global leader in the fight against climate change and biodiversity conservation? Find out.
INTERUNIVERSITY MASTER'S DEGREE IN ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION
A pioneering master's degree in the field of ecological restoration that has been taught uninterruptedly since the 2006-2007 academic year. The master's degree is coordinated from the University of Alcalá with the participation of three other public universities in Madrid: UCM, UPM and URJC
If you like ecology and are concerned about the conservation of biodiversity, specialising in restoration is a safe option to develop professionally, especially now that the European Nature Restoration Law calls on member states to restore at least 20% of their territory by 2030.
INTERUNIVERSITY MASTER'S DEGREE IN ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION
A pioneering master's degree in the field of ecological restoration that has been taught uninterruptedly since the 2006-2007 academic year. The master's degree is coordinated from the University of Alcalá with the participation of three other public universities in Madrid: UCM, UPM and URJC
If you like ecology and are concerned about the conservation of biodiversity, specialising in restoration is a safe option to develop professionally, especially now that the European Nature Restoration Law calls on member states to restore at least 20% of their territory by 2030.
DOCTORAL THESES IN PROGRESS
- Daniel H. Berhe.- «Unveiling traits associated with biodiversity effects in coevolution» Supervisors: Christian Schöb & Natalia González
- Jon Blanco.- «Ecología y gestión de la cotorra argentina (Myopsitta monachus) y la cotorra de Kramer (Psittacula krameri) en Madrid».
Supervisors: Isabel López-Rull & Luis Cayuela - Elvira Caro.- «Dinámica poblacional de lepidópteros diurnos en un contexto de cambio global».
Supervisor: David Gutiérrez - Carlos Celdrán.- «Evaluation of drought adaptation mechanisms in Lupinus angustifolius as an adaptation strategy in the face of global change»
Supervisors: Alfredo García-Fernádez & Carlos Lara Romero - Estrella Conde.- «Efectos del tiempo y del tipo de gestión en la recuperación de la biodiversidad y productividad de las restauraciones forestales»
Supervisors: Adrián Escudero & Ana García-Cervigón - Jorge López.- «Mezclas de cultivares y servicios ecosistémicos en cultivos herbáceos mediterráneos»
Supervisors: Ana M. Sánchez Álvarez, Remedios Alarcón Víllora (IMIDRA) & Eva Hernández Plaza (INIA) - Alba M. Martínez.- «Factores ambientales e históricos que determinan la diversidad de plantas en bosques tropicales montanos».
Supervisors: Luis Cayuela & Manuel J. Macía - Kevin X. Mejía.- «¿Pueden los patrones determinar procesos? Cómo las propiedades de las comunidades vegetales definen procesos de ensamblaje».
Supervisors: Arantzazu L. Luzuriaga & Pablo Ferrandis (UCLM) - Pedro Montes.- «Diversidad taxonómica, funcional y filogenética de Chrysomelidae a lo largo de gradientes altitudinales en bosques tropicales montanos de Ecuador». Supervisors: Luis Cayuela & Jesús Gómez-Zurita
- Antonio M. Montoya.- «Intraspecific trait variability and ecosystem functioning in changing environmental conditions: epiphytic lichens in Mediterranean forests as a study case».
Supervisors: Isabel Martínez & Pilar Hurtado - Sergio Muriel.- «Gypsicolous lichens».
Supervisor: María Prieto - Javier Palomino.- «Evolution of wild relatives of crop plants and ecosystem services provided by agroecosystems».
Supervisors: Natalia González & Emma Barahona - Cristina Poyatos.- «Niche partitioning among species and individuals in species poor Quercus-Pinus forest»
Supervisors: Ana M. Sánchez & Adrián Escudero Alcántara - Eva Ripoll.- «Social brain in ants».
Supervisor: Sara Arganda - Silvia Villegas Navarro.- «Use of wild plants in urban plantations in the mediterranean region».
Supervisors: Ana M. Sánchez
DOCTORAL THESES DEFENDED
- Sergio Muriel Marín. - «Lichen biota from gypsum soils: a comprehensive approach»
Supervisors: María Prieto Álvaro, Isabel Martínez Moreno & Gregorio Aragón Rubio. - Marina Ramos Muñoz.- «Adaptive phenotypic variation in a Mediterranean shrub: causes and consequences under realistic climate change environments»
Supervisor: Silvia Matesanz García, Adrián Escudero Alcántara, Beatriz Pías Couso - Javier Palomino de la Rosa.– «Impacts of plant domestication on litter decomposition: Biodiversity effects and soil communities under the litter layer»
Supervisors: Emma Barahona Martín y Natalia González Benítez
- Noelia Fernández.- «Diversity of lichens and lichenicolous fungi in the Nangaritza river high basin (S Ecuador)»
Supervisors: María Prieto, Gregorio Aragón & Isabel Martínez - Roberto López.- «Effects of increased intensity of droughts on the semiarid mediterranean vegetation»
Supervisor: Ana M. Sánchez & David Sánchez-Pescador - Rocío Chaves.– «Effects of biotic neighborhoods on the assembly of annual plant communities in semi-arid gypsum systems: an approach based on common garden and soil translocation experiments»
Supervisors: Arantzazu L. Luzuriaga & Pablo Ferrandis (UCLM)
- Mario Blanco.- «Phenotypic plasticity and natural selection in gypsum specialist plants: from genotype to phenotype in a context of global change».
Supervisors: Silvia Matesanz & Adrián Escudero - Tamara Burgos.- «Trophic cascades and plant-disperser mutualisms: effect of a top predator on seed dispersal of Mediterranean plants».
Supervisor: Emilio Virgós - Pablo Escribano-Álvarez.- «Ecophysiological, biogeographical and evolutionary patterns in Collembola: from polar to global scales»
Supervisors: Miguel Ángel Olalla-Tárraga & Luis Alberto Rodríguez Pertierra - Sandra Freire.- «Disentangling the biodiversity, coevolutionary patterns and interactions of Basidiomicota living in other fungi».
Supervisors: Ana M. Millanes & Mats Wedin (Natural History Museum, Stockholm) - Alicia Gómez-Fernández.- «Impact of domestication on phenotypic traits and biodiversity effects»
Supervisor: Rubén Milla - Sandra Hernández.- «Latitudinal, regional and local patterns that influence macroalgae size and distribution in a climate change scenario».
Supervisor: Brezo Díaz-Caneja - Oswaldo Á. Jadán.- «Ensamblaje ecológico de plantas leñosas y epífitas vasculares: Composición florística, diversidad y estructura en bosques tropicales montanos». Supervisor: Luis Cayuela
- Ana Morales.- «Explorando las radiaciones evolutivas de las plantas utilizando la disyunción gondwánica América-Nueva Zelanda en Carex (Cyperaceae)».
Supervisors: Tamara Villaverde & Pedro Jiménez-Mejías (UPO). - Laura Ortiz.- «Unravelling global rules of species assembly: an experimental approach based on annual plant communities in semi-arid systems worldwide». Supervisors: Arantzazu L. Luzuriaga & Pablo Ferrandis (UCLM)
- Clara Rodríguez.- «Ecological assembly rules in epiphytic communities of temperate forests: a view from the Southern Hemisphere».
Supervisors: Isabel Martínez, Gregorio Aragón & María Prieto - Sandra Sacristán.- «Assessment of the assisted evolution as a strategy to adapt to climate change».
Supervisors: José M. Iriondo & Alfredo García-Fernández
- Rosa de las Heras.- «Desarrollo de bioensayos y biomarcadores para la evaluación del estrés abiótico y la toxicidad ambiental». «Development of bioassays and biomarkers for the assessment of abiotic stress and environmental toxicity»
Supervisor: Myriam Catalá - Joana Expósito.- «Role of nitric oxide in phycobionts of Ramalina farinacea«
Supervisor: Myriam Catalá - Angela Illuminati.- «Integrating the underground plant component in plant interactions to a unified theory of plant coexistence»
Supervisors: Adrián Escudero & Silvia Matesanz - Mª Luisa Rubio.- «Análisis ecogeográfico como herramienta para la conservación de parientes silvestres de cultivos». «Ecogeographic analysis as a tool in the conservation of cultivated plant relatives»
Supervisor: José M. Iriondo
- Marina Dacal.- «Regulación microbiana de los efectos del cambio climático en los ecosistemas a distintas escalas espaciotemporales». «Microbial regulation of the effects of climate change on ecosystems at different spatiotemporal scales»
Directores/supervisors: Fernando T. Maestre; Pablo García-Palacios[junio/June]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Concepción Cano.- «Cianobacterias edáficas: nuevas perspectivas sobre su ecología, distribución global y respuesta frente al cambio climático». «Soil cyanobacteria: new perspectives on their ecology, global distribution and response to climate change»
Directores/supervisors: Fernando T. Maestre; Manuel Delgado [junio/June]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Juan A. Hernández-Agüero.- «Patrones y mecanismos determinantes de relaciones tritróficas (herbivoría de insectos y depredación por aves) a diferentes escalas espaciales». «Patterns and determinant mechanisms of tritrophic relationships (insect herbivory and avian predation) at different spatial scales»
Directores/supervisors: Luis Cayuela; Ildefonso Ruiz-Tapiador [diciembre/December]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales
- Ana García.- «Procesos implicados en la contracción y expansión de la distribución de macroalgas fundadoras intermareales». «Processes involved in range contraction and expansion of intertidal founder macroalgae»
Directores/supervisors: Rosa M. Viejo & Brezo Martínez [enero/January]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Daniel Fuentes.- «Efectos denso-dependientes en las estrategias reproductivas en aves: aproximación observacional y experimental en el estornino negro». «Density-dependent effects on bird reproductive strategies: an observational and experimental approach in the spotless starling»
Director/supervisor: Vicente Polo [enero/January]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Guillermo Bañares.- «Determinants of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity that explain the distribution of woody plants in tropical Andean montane forests along altitudinal gradients». «Determinantes de la diversidad taxonómica, funcional y filogenética que explican la distribución de las plantas leñosas en bosques tropicales montañosos de los Andes a lo largo de gradientes altitudinales»
Directores/supervisors: Luis Cayuela & Manuel J. Macía (UAM) [febrero/February]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Barbara de Carvalho.- «Variabilidad intraespecífica de rasgos funcionales en Pinus sylvestris a distintas escalas espaciales». «Intraspecific variability in functional traits of Pinus sylvestris at several spatial scales»
Directores/supervisors: Fernando Valladares (CSIC), Adrián Escudero & Raquel Benavides (CSIC) [marzo/March]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Rosa M. García.- «Conservation of plant genetic resources: a spatial and ecogeographical approach». «Conservación de Recursos Naturales genéticos vegetales: una aproximación espacial y ecogeográfica».
Directores/supervisors: Mauricio Parra-Quijano (Universidad de Bogotá) & José M. Iriondo [julio/July]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales
- Greta Carrete.- «Riesgo de invasión biológica en ecosistemas terrestres antárticos». «Risk of biological invasion in terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems»
Directores/supervisors: Miguel A. Olalla-Tárraga & Javier Benayas (UAM) [febrero/February]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Laura Rodríguez.- «Tropical corals under climate change: unravelling ecological insight from varying methodological strategies». «Corales tropicales bajo cambio climático: desentrañando aspectos ecológicos mediante el uso de diversas estrategias metodológicas»
Directores/supervisors: M. Brezo Martínez & Fernando J. Tuya (ULPGC) [marzo/March]
Programa: Ecología, Conservación y Restauración de Ecosistemas - Ángela Lafuente.- «Impactos del cambio global en el intercambio de gases suelo-atmósfera y propiedades microbianas en ecosistemas áridos a distintas escalas espaciales». «Impacts of global change on the soil-athmosphere gas exchange and microbial properties in arid ecosystems at different spatial scales»
Directores/supervisors: Fernando T. Maestre & Jorge Durán (Universidad de Coimbra) [mayo/May]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Pilar Hurtado.- «Incidencia de la fragmentación del hábitat y el clima en los patrones de diversidad taxonómica, funcional y filogenética de las comunidades de líquenes epífitos». «Incidence of habitat fragmentation and climate on the patterns of taxonomic, functional and phylotenetic diversity of epiphytic lichen communities»
Directores/supervisors: Isabel Martínez, María Prieto & Gregorio Aragón [septiembre/September]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Javier Morente.- «Adaptive processes of alpine plants in marginal areas: an integrated approach». «Procesos adaptativos de plantas alpinas en zonas marginales: una aproximación integral»
Directores/supervisors: José M. Iriondo & Carlos Lara [octubre/October]
Programa: Conservación de Recursos Naturales - Elena Castellanos.- «Conservación del nicho ecológico en topillo de Cabrera (Microtus cabrerae) Aproximaciones ecológicas y filogenéticas». «Conservation of the ecological niche in the Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae) Ecological and phylogenetic approaches» [diciembre-December]
Directores/supervisors: Nuria García (UCM) & Emilio Virgós
Continuing education is a training model with the same rigour and excellence as official qualifications in a more flexible framework. This allows us to incorporate professionals from the company, administration or other institutions into teaching.
Explore our Master's courses for lifelong learning, Specialist, Expert and/or University Extension and Microcrendencial Courses and find the complement you need for your professional practice or simply indulge yourself in continuing to learn.
In collaboration with the Carlos III Health Institute:
- Expert in genomic and metagenomic data analysis.
- University Microcredential in Basic Analysis of Genomic Data
- University Microcredential in Metagenomic Data Analysis
Other courses:
- Expert in Design of Experiments and Use of Mixed Models in R with.
Educational innovation
Innovation Groups
Proyectos de Innovación
Investigadores participantes: Javier Sánchez Hernández, José María Iriondo Alegría, Luis Giménez Benavides, José Gómez Sánchez, Fernando Cortés Fossati, Ignasi Arranz Urgell. Cuantía 680 €.
Investigadores participantes: Ana Sánchez Álvarez, Luis Cayuela Delgado, María Isabel Martínez Moreno, Javier Sánchez Hernández, María Prieto Álvaro, José María Iriondo Alegría, Raquel Pino Bodas. Cuantía 400 €.
Financiado por: Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Periodo de ejecución y cuantía: Curso 2022/23, 850€
Publicaciones sobre Innovación
M. (2024). Guía de la biota de la charca del Laboratorio CULTIVE (Centro de Apoyo Tecnológico, URJC).
Recursos docentes
para estudiantes
GUIAS, REGLAS Y NORMATIVAS
- Guía para la elaboración de trabajos en el grado de Biología.
- Cómo buscar bibliografía.
- Reglas para citar las referencias bibliográficas en trabajos e informes.
- Reglas para el uso de tablas y figuras.
- Cómo evitar el plagio al escribir trabajos e informes.
- Normativa sobre Trabajos Fin de Grado en la URJC.
INTRODUCCIÓN AL ANÁLISIS
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