Botanical Garden

Welcome to the Faculty of Biological Sciences

Botanical Garden
Image: Anne Günther/FSU

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" External linkfunded by the German Research Foundation.  

Exzellence cluster Balance of the Microverse
Research Cluster Balance of the MicroverseExternal 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.

Latest News

· Life
Prof. Dr Kirsten Küsel elected as a new Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology
Prof. Dr Kirsten Küsel.
Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena)
· Life
Resistant starch supports weight loss
Gianni Panagiotou with a graphic showing the composition of the patient's microbiome in the study.
Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena)
· Life
Extinctions could result as fish change foraging behaviour in response to rising temperatures
Models suggest that the Atlantic Cod may have a high risk of extinction as water temperatures increase.
Image: Wilhelm Thomas Fiege, CC BY-SA via Wikimedia Commons
· Life
A new analysis shows that while many biotic communities are becoming more similar through time, an almost equal number are becoming more distinct
The Louisiana crawfish (Procambarus clarkii), which is native to Mexico and the United States.
Image: B. Meritz, CC BY-SA 2.0
· Life
Researchers from Jena uncover new mechanism for regulating cell division in the bacterial pathogen Klebsiella
K. pneumoniae in the usual form of short rods (l.) and damaged as long, filamentous bacteria (r.).
Image: Eric Ruhland, Ruman Gerst; Bildkomposition: Jens Meyer
· Life
Reconstruction of a 1,300-year-old phage genome shows similarities to a modern virus that infects intestinal bacteria
Piotr Rozwalak has analysed prehistoric stool samples for phage genomes.
Image: Adrian Wykrota