An Introduction to Evolutionary Biology

By Prof. Sutirth Dey | IISER Pune

Learners enrolled: 56

ABOUT THE COURSE:

This is an introductory course in evolutionary biology. The aim is to give the students an overview of the process of evolution and how it connects various disciplines of biology. We will also look at how evolutionary thinking informs other domains of human interest like medicine, psychology, antibiotic resistance etc. After taking this course, the students should be able to apply the core concepts in evolution across domains and also appreciate significance of evolutionary theory in biology and society.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Primarily undergraduates enrolled in various biology courses.

PREREQUISITES: Students should have a basic (Class XII level) understanding of concepts in Biology. No other course is required as a prerequisite.

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Biological Sciences & Bioengineering
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	21 Jul 2025
End Date :	10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends :	28 Jul 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	15 Aug 2025
Exam Date :	25 Oct 2025 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Overview of evolution, History of evolutionary thought, Extended Evolutionary Synthesis.

Week 2: Evidence for evolution. Microevolution (selective breeding, direct observation, vestigial organs). Macroevolution (fossil records, transitional forms, evolutionary homology, molecular homology).

Week 3: Mechanism of evolution: Variation. Kinds of variation important for evolution. Randomness of mutations. Non-genetic inheritances and their importance.

Week 4: Mechanism of evolution: Selection (process, pre-requisites, consequences). Examples of selection under laboratory and natural systems.

Week 5: Mechanisms of evolution: Genetic Drift and Inbreeding. Founder effect, bottleneck effect, neutral evolution.

Week 6: Aging: Why do we age? Molecular theories of aging. Evolutionary theories of aging. Antagonistic pleiotropy and Mutation accumulation.

Week 7: Sex and sexual selection: Sexual selection and its various types (male-male competition, female choice), evolution of sex ratios. Why sex?

Week 8: Cooperation and conflict: Evolution of altruism, Kin selection, Intra- and inter-locus conflicts, Parent-offspring conflicts, Eusociality.

Week 9: Macroevolution: Different species concepts, Speciation, Various mechanisms of reproductive isolation, adaptive radiation, introduction to phylogenetic trees.

Week 10: Genome Evolution and Evolutionary Developmental Biology: Birth and death of genes, chromosome evolution, Phenotypic plasticity, canalization and genetic assimilation, constraints on adaptive evolution.

Week 11: Origin of life and human evolution: Various theories about origin of life, closest relatives of humans, other hominin groups, cultural evolution, human evolution in modern times.

Week 12: Evolution and the society: Evolutionary medicine, Evolution of antibiotic resistance, evolutionary psychology.

Books and references

No single book can be prescribed for the entire course. However, the following books will cover a lot of the material:

Futuyma, D. and Kirkpatrick, M. (2022). Evolution. Oxford University Press.
Freeman, S., & Herron, J. C. (2021). Evolutionary Analysis. Pearson Prentice Hall.

Instructor bio

Prof. Sutirth Dey

IISER Pune

Prof. Sutirth Dey obtained his PhD from JNCASR, Bengaluru in 2007, and joined IISER Pune the same year as an Assistant Professor. Currently, he is a Professor of Biology at the same institute. His research interest lies in the field of evolutionary ecology and life history evolution. He is also a passionate teacher and has been teaching a basic course in evolutionary biology at IISER Pune for the last 17 years.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams : October 25, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IISER Pune. It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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