Master Evolution, Ecology and Systematics

The Master program Ecology, Evolution and Systematics at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena offers high-level scientific education. It covers the full range from molecules to the biodiversity of communities

Crab spider

Image: Holger Schielzeth

The Master's program Evolution, Ecology and Systematics provides in-depth knowledge of biological systems with a clear focus to current research in organismic and evolutionary biology.

The study is interdisciplinary, so that competencies in ecology, biodiversity (including taxonomic knowledge), evolutionary biology, paleontology, systematics and phylogenetics can be acquired at different organizational levels and for different groups of organisms.

Our mission statement is to provide all students with an individual profiling based on a well-founded basic education. The students complete the five compulsory modules on Basics in Evolutionary Research, Ecology and Diversity, Species Identification, Experimental Design and Analysis of Biological Data, as well as an Excursion. For the required elective modules, we leave a great deal of scope for individual choices from modules of the participating Institutes for Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Ecology and Evolution and Biodiversity.

Our graduates will be able to carry out research-oriented activities at universities, non-university research institutions, museums, public authorities, associations or the private sector.

Imagefilm: The honest professor

Video: University of Jena

Teaching profile

The Master's program Evolution, Ecology and Systematics is aimed at students with a bachelor's degree in biology who are interested in molecular and organismic issues.

The experimentally oriented study is consecutive, research-oriented and leads to the second vocational qualification. The teaching language is English and German, but studying is only possible in English. The beginning of studies takes place in the winter semester.

In addition to lectures, the course program of the Master's program is characterized by a high proportion of independent work in seminars and practical exercises. Various compulsory and elective modules are offered, which enable a broad education in all subjects of organismic and evolutionary biology, but also a focus on a specific topic. Details can be found on the sub-pages to the course program or in the study documents.

In addition to subject-specific scientific skills, our graduates acquire the communicative skills required to present scientific results to the public and can also gain international experience through the possibility of a semester abroad.
In particular, the Master's program qualifies for scientific careers and is the prerequisite for a postgraduate doctoral studies in Zoology, Botany, Systematics, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Microbiology and Functional Biodiversity Research at the FSU Jena as well as in Germany and abroad. The education qualifies for scientific work in all highly topical professional fields of the organismic biology.

Axolotl

Image: Spez. Zoologie

Grasshopper

Image: Ökologie

Students in the lab

Image: Nicole van Dam

Larva-giving female of a fan-flye

Image: Spez. Zoologie

Measurement of microbial activity and metabolism in moorland Schlöppner Brunnen

Image: Aquatische Mikrobilologie

X-ray video recordings reconstructed skeleton of a rat

Image: Spez. Zoologie

Gelbwürfliger Dickkopffalter mit Schnecke

Image: Holger Schielzeth

sampling of volatile components

Image: Nicole van Dam

Brightened head of a tadpole

Image: Spez. Zoologie

Plant in the green house

Image: Nicole van Dam

Common vole (Microtus arvalis)

Image: Stefan Halle

Orchid meadow

Image: Spez. Botanik

The location Jena

Jena, the City of Science 2008, was appropriately described by Goethe as a city “stacked” with knowledge. Nestling in the picturesque Saale valley, the town couldn’t be more convenient in terms of location or size: here, nothing is far.

Jena is a city of diversity: the university offers a wide range of courses and actively promotes contact between students and scientists from different fields. This attention to networking is one of the reasons behind the success of the dynamic and aspiring city over the last 20 years. Business and academia (in the form of the University and the neighbouring Max Planck and Leibnitz Institutes) work hand in hand, and “town and gown” also collaborate successfully to ensure that Jena continues to develop into a student paradise. Free use of public transport, the absence of university fees, attractive recreational facilities, an exemplary social infrastructure - especially for young families, and a cosmopolitan climate attract over 2000 new students to Jena every year.

towers in Jena

City center of Jena

Image: IEE

Nightlife in Jena

Paradies in Jena

Image: IEE

Wagnergasse Jena

Image: IEE

Part of the town wall in Jena

Image: IEE

River Saale

Image: IEE

View from the Jenzig

Image: Markus Bernhardt-Römermann

nspektorenhaus in the botanical garden

Image: IEE

Study room of the zoologist Ernst Haeckel

Greenhouse in the botanical garden

Image: IEE

Phyletic Museum

Institut building Philosphenweg 16

Image: IEE

Jena Experiment

Image: Ökologie

Dornburger Str. 159

Image: Markus Bernhardt-Römermann

Biology has a long tradition in Jena. The city was the workplace of the zoologist Ernst Haeckel, the botanist Matthias Jakob Schleiden and the geneticist and botanist Otto Renner. The infrastructure available to students and scientists in the field of Evolution, Ecology and Systematics is internationally outstanding and includes:

the renowned zoological collection and exhibitions of the Phyletisches MuseumExternal link,
the Botanical Garden de,
the Haussknecht Herbarium de (the largest herbarium in Germany),
the long-term research facility Jena ExperimentExternal link,
the Collaborative Research Centre 1076 AquaDiva
the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-LeipzigExternal link
and, of course, a well-stocked libraryExternal link.

As mentioned earlier, distances are small in Jena. This applies too to that between research and teaching which are so closely integrated that students are able to grow confidently into their subject and to learn in an atmosphere of openness and cooperation between the institutes and tutors involved.

We look forward to receiving your application as a student of the MEES in Jena!

Honours Programme

As in the years before, also in 2023 several excellent students of the Master Ecology and Evolutionary Systematics (MEES) were selected to participate in Honours programme at FSU Jena de.

The programme intends to give excellent students a deeper insight into research and the scientific community, thus preparing them for a scientific career. Next to personal mentoring, the students can attend extra courses and funds for participating in conferences and networking activities.

Welcome of the new Honours students in 2023

Image: Markus Bernhardt-Römermann