The Evolutionary Biology discipline investigates the mechanisms and consequences of evolutionary change across a wide range of organisms. Research spans the ecological, genetic, and developmental basis of speciation — studied in Heliconius butterflies — to the evolution of gene regulation and genomic variation in Drosophila, vertebrates, fungi, and microbes. Statistical and stochastic models are developed to infer population genetic processes and demographic histories, while research on mating system evolution in fungi explores the forces shaping sexual asymmetry. Ancient and modern genomics illuminate the history of animal domestication and vertebrate diversification, and phylogenetic systematics addresses the relationships of plants, dinoflagellates, and viruses. The discipline's scope extends to the within-host evolution of pathogens, bacteriophage ecology and antimicrobial resistance, bird behavioural ecology, and lichen symbioses. Together, the groups connect molecular mechanisms to organismal diversity across the tree of life using experimental, computational, and field-based approaches.
Graduate School Life Science Munich (LSM)