Projects

A new Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Project “JurRad”, led by Dr. Elena Cuesta, is focusing on the evolution of major group of theropod dinosaurs: Averostra. more

The DFG Emmy Noether Research Group of Dr Gonzalo Gomez-Saez aims to identify the effects of ocean deoxygenation on DOM sequestration due to interactions with microbial communities and the marine carbon and sulfur cycles. more

AlpSenseRely is a three-year research project focussing on the development of an early warning system for natural hazards in particularly climate-sensitive alpine areas. It makes an important contribution to risk reduction and, due to its preventive character, to cost reduction of climate-related natural hazards. more

The Emmy-Noether research group of Sebastian Höhna works on a wide range of statistical methods, ranging from evolutionary biology, population genetics and phylogenetics to paleo-phylogenetics. Our main goal is to develop statistical methods to study the biological process that produced current-day biodiversity. Therefore, we are taking a phylogenetic approach to describe the relationship among species (both extant and extinct) with a specific focus on the divergence time between species. Finally, we want to study what processes drive historical biodiversity and are responsible for the fluctuations, e.g., major increases and decreases, of biodiversity over geological timescales. more

The phylum Porifera (sponges) consists of about 8,000 described species, with an estimated species number of more than 15,000. The Sponge Barcoding Project (SBP) aims to cover all sponge taxa, from classes Demospongiae, Hexactinellida, and Calcarea, and ranging in habitat from the marine intertidal to the deep-sea, as well as freshwater. Obtaining DNA-signature sequences from 8,000 taxa will provide a platform from which more extensive sampling can be directed. Recently described type specimens curated in associated museums are barcoded first and supplemented with unequivocally identifiable taxa. more