Columns - PhD dissertation review in ornithology (fourth edition)
Letizia Campioni (ed.)Abstract:
This is the forth PhD-thesis
collection in the ornithological research that Avocetta is glad to present to
its readers. Compared to the previous reviews, this time there is a novelty! We
extended our collection by including the theses of Italian ornithologists who
chose to carry out their PhD abroad or in collaboration with foreign
institutions. In fact, over the last decades, the number of Italian students (of
all disciplines) who preferred an international PhD programme has been growing
due to the availability of EU funded scholarships and the explicit recognition,
by the National Research Program, that international mobility and training
experience abroad is fundamental during PhD studies and for professional
development (Tocchioni and Petrucci 2020). This PhD-thesis collection aims to
offer an overview on the diversity of the research lines that exists in
ornithology (both in Italy and Europe) and on the advances that have been made
by young researchers through the completion of their thesis. We collected and
reviewed the theses defended between the 2017/2018 and 2019/2020 academic years
in European and Italian Universities by contacting colleagues, students and by
using the social media to spread the voice. As already stated in the previous
reviews, despite some thesis may have been passed overlooked to this review, it
is evident how a large proportion (50%) of the reviewed ones has been defended
in foreign universities. This figure is encouraging as it shows that Italian
university and the ornithological community are able to stimulate and make
students passionate about ornithological questions. Nevertheless, it highlights
how many of these students choose to move abroad to carry out their PhD. This
trend may suggest that Italian university are not able to adequately respond to
the demand of all students nor to attract foreign students to compensate for
who leave the country. Moreover, the total number of theses we compiled from
2013/2014 up to now (eight academic years) adds up to merely 24. Should we look
at this number as an “alarm bell” for the Italian ornithological community? Likely
we should, because in the long run, ornithologists may see its representation
in academia critically reduced. To maintain the Italian ornithological research
viable, and to adapt to this changing scenario where student mobility through
European programme is highly encourage, it would be important for the Italian
researchers to strength their collaborations with foreign
institutions/researchers. Before presenting the main
ornithological topics covered by the theses, it is worth noting that the
valuable work done by these young ornithologists and the relevance of their
results have already been recognised by the scientific community. Indeed,
around 23 research papers (extracted from the theses) have been already
published on peer reviewed international journals of broad ecological interest
(see the reference list at the end of the review). Finally, we want to
highlight that in the present PhD-student group there is an unbalanced
man:woman sex ratio (5:1) suggesting how ornithology is not exception to the overall
and well-known gender biases that exist in science (Penner 2015). Overall, the thesis reviewed in this
collection cover topics related to different aspects of migration ecology (3
theses), climate change and conservation (2), vocal communication and function
of signalling (1) and behavioural strategies and learning in social groups (1).
The theses present results based on field-collected data (including the use of
remote tracking telemetry) as well as on experiments carried out in aviary. The
theses are presented in order according to the academic year and alphabetic order
of the PhD candidate surname. Last note, the content of the abstracts has not
been reviewed, hence the authors are accountable for it.