Evolutionary Biology
Evolutionary biology aims to understand the enormous and beautiful diversity of life. At our institute, we study the processes that create this diversity in a wide variety of organisms ranging from microbes to plants and animals, and on different temporal and spatial scales. We are particularly interested in the role of natural and sexual selection in driving adaptation and speciation, the evolutionary origins of organization at both the individual and population level, and in the factors that shape levels of genetic variation, the raw material of evolution. We study these questions using both field and laboratory studies, molecular genetic techniques, and mathematical models. Our research topics range from basic questions to those with direct relevance to conservation.
Research groups
- Population Genomics (Dr. Simon Aeschbacher)
- Human Genetic Diversity across Languages and Cultures (Dr. Chiara Barbieri)
- Invertebrate Behavioral and Evolutionary Ecology (Prof. Dr. Wolf Blanckenhorn)
- Phylogenetic Systematics of Animals (Dr. Oliver Hawlitschek)
- Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics of Natural Populations (Prof. Dr. Lukas Keller)
- Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Reproductive Traits (Prof. Dr. Stefan Lüpold)
- Evolution of Natural Product Biosynthesis (Dr. Aleks Nivina)
- Evolutionary Ecology of Social Interactions (Dr. Tom Ratz)
- Evolutionary and Ecological Genomics (Prof. Dr. Kentaro Shimizu)
- Evolutionary Genetics and Plant Physiology (Dr. Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi)
- Molecular Evolution and Evolutionary Systems Biology (Prof. Dr. Andreas Wagner)
Former research groups
- Evolutionary Genetics and Theoretical Biology (Prof. Dr. Homayoun Bagheri)
- Molecular Phylogeny & Systematics of Invertebrates (Dr. Marco V. Bernasconi)
- Evolutionary and Conservation Genomics (Dr. Christine Grossen)
- Evolutionary Genetics and Eco-Evolutionary Modelling (Prof. Dr. Frédéric Guillaume)
- Eco-evolutionary ‘omics and Host-symbiont Interactions (Dr. Martin Kapun)
- The Evolution of Genetic Control (Dr. Joshua L. Payne)
- Evolution and Genetics of Life, Love and Death (Dr. Erik Postma)
- The Ecology and Evolution of Social Interactions (Dr. Daniel J. Rankin)
- Design Principles of Gene Regulatory Networks (Dr. Yolanda Schaerli)
- Evolutionary Genomics and Ecology of Macro and Micro Evolutionary Transitions (Dr. Peter Szövényi)
- The Evolution of Innovations (Dr. Macarena Toll-Riera)
- Evolutionary Ecology, Ecophysiology and Immunogenetics of Vertebrates (Prof. Dr. Barbara Tschirren)
- Sexual Selection and Speciation (Prof. Dr. Tony Wilson)