Evolution
The research focus on "Evolution" aims to better understand the problems facing humanity, such as dwindling biodiversity, biological invasions, the genesis and epidemiology of numerous diseases, and to provide new solutions for meeting these challenges. The increasing relevance of human influence on biological evolution – including its biomedical implications – makes it necessary to consider the findings of evolutionary research with regard to regulating human intervention in the biosphere. Evolutionary research and instruction, therefore, form a bridge to social reality and contribute to understanding human responsibility and the goal of evolutionary processes at varying scales of time.
Evolutionary research in Münster is the product of a long, successful tradition. Researchers from the faculties of biology, medicine, philosophy, geology and mathematics jointly investigate evolution-relevant issues in trans- and interdisciplinary teams. The establishment of the Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity (IEB) at the start of 2000 and the Münster Graduate School of Evolution (MGSE) have provided new impulses in evolutionary research at the University of Münster and continue to offer junior researchers an excellent education. In 2016 the University acquired funding for the DFG research training group EvoPAD, the first transdisciplinary research training group that interconnects the natural sciences, life sciences and humanities. The current collaborative research centre CRC-TRR 212 on evolution and ecological niches was jointly established with the University of Bielefeld and continues to advance transdisciplinary collaboration.
Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity (IEB)
Münster Graduate School of Evolution (MGSE)
DFG research training group 2220 "Evolutionary Processes in Adaptation and Disease" (EvoPAD)