Welcome to the Faculty of Biological Sciences

Botanical Garden

Image: Anne Günther/FSU
Botanical Garden

The Faculty of Biological Sciences represents a broad variety of biological disciplines as well as the nutritional sciences and pharmacy. Famous scholars such as the botanist Matthias Jacob Schleiden (1804-1881) and the zoologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) worked here with their sunny and dark sides.

The Faculty of Biological Sciences cooperates with other faculties of the Friedrich Schiller University and non-university research institutes of the Max Planck Society and the Leibniz Association in several coordinated research projects. These projects are part the Cluster of Excellence "Balance of the Microverse" funded by the German Research Foundation.  

  • Research Cluster Balance of the Microverse

    External link

    The Research Cluster investigates the complex interactions of microorganisms with other organisms and with their environment, which are of great significance for the functioning of ecosystems, our climate and the well-being of plants, animals and humans.

    Exzellence cluster Balance of the Microverse
    Image: Anna Schroll
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Latest News

  2. Oil beetle larvae smell like flowers to manipulate bees

    For the first time, a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and University of Jena has demonstrated that insects can mimic floral scents to manipulate pollinators

    • Life
    The female European oil beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus): These flightless, highly poisonous beetles are hard to miss during spring walks through fields and meadows.
    Image: Danny Kessler

  3. Life on the energy limit

    New framework concept on microbial frugality explains changes in groundwater

    • Life
    Dr Will Overholt (left) and Prof. Dr Kirsten Küsel are collecting samples in the Hainich. Findings from this research have also been incorporated into the framework.
    Image: Beatrix Heinze

  5. How did Hannibal get his elephants across the Alps?

    A new analysis led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and the University of Oxford sheds light on the most likely route.

    • Life
    About thirty-seven African elephants marched with Hannibal across the Alps. The photo was taken on Mount Kenya.
    Image: Saba Douglas-Hamilton
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