History
Due to a great need for research to facilitate implementation of the National Strategy on Biological Diversity, the DFG developed the idea of having its own collaborative research centre for biodiversity. Finally, an institution in the form of a DFG research centre was decided upon.
In the time leading up to October 2010, 15 universities applied to the DFG for establishment of the research centre. The concepts of the FU Berlin, the University of Göttingen, the University Network Halle-Jena-Leipzig and the University of Oldenburg were preselected in July 2011 by the DFG Senate. The FU Berlin and the University Network Halle-Jena-Leipzig were then shortlisted.
On April 27, 2012, came the decision in favour of the University Network Halle-Jena-Leipzig and for the establishment of the core centre at the Leipzig location. At its meeting in Bonn, the DFG's central committee selected the joint application of the Universities of Halle, Jena and Leipzig on the recommendation of the DFG Senate. The scientific and structural conditions at the three neighbouring locations are excellent, and the fact that they already had a strong reputation and had conducted numerous, in some instances internationally oriented research projects in the field of biodiversity science before the opening of the research centre influenced the DFG in its decision. In addition, eight non-university research institutions are involved in the new centre: the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research and the Leibniz Institute Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz (SMNG).
In autumn 2012, the centre moved to the Biocity at Deutscher Platz 5 in the southeast of the city of Leipzig.
iDiv is planning to move into a new building starting September 2020.
Staff and structure
iDiv has four speakers, which are currently Christian Wirth (representing Leipzig University), Nicole van Dam (representing Friedrich Schiller University Jena), Henrique Miguel Pereira (representing Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg) and Tiffany M. Knight (representing the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ).
To date, nine full professors have been appointed:
• Experimental Interaction Ecology (Nico Eisenhauer)
• Biodiversity Conservation (Henrique Miguel Pereira)
• Ecosystem Services (Aletta Bonn)
• Molecular Interaction Ecology (Nicole van Dam)
• Physiological Diversity (Stanley Harpole)
• Biodiversity Synthesis (Jonathan Chase)
• Theory in Biodiversity Sciences (Ulrich Brose)
• Spatial Interaction Ecology (Tiffany M. Knight)
In addition, there are several other units operating at iDiv: In the sDiv Synthesis Centre, scientists from all over the world come together in so-called working groups in order to gain new insight from existing knowledge and data. The aim of the graduate school, yDiv (Young BioDiversity Research Training Group) is to train a new generation of interdisciplinary biodiversity scientists. Scientific coordination promotes integration among the working groups and iDiv members who are located throughout Central Germany. IT Support, Bioinformatics (BIU) and Biodiversity Informatics (BDU) ensure the storage, provision and analysis of data. The administration team takes care of purchasing, finance, human resources and infrastructure. The Department of Media and Communication promotes dialogue with politics and society.
Jena is a city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a population of about 110,000. Jena is a centre of education and research; the university was founded in 1558 and had 18,000 students in 2017 and the Ernst-Abbe-Fachhochschule Jena counts another 5,000 students. Furthermore, there are many institutes of the leading German research societies.
Leipzig University, in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and his brother William II, Margrave of Meissen, and originally comprised the four scholastic faculties. Since its inception, the university has engaged in teaching and research for over 600 years without interruption.
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the grand challenges of science, society and industry". Scientists at Helmholtz therefore focus research on complex systems which affect human life and the environment. The namesake of the association is the German physiologist and physicist Hermann von Helmholtz.
The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, or Leibniz Prize, is awarded by the German Research Foundation to "exceptional scientists and academics for their outstanding achievements in the field of research". Since 1986, up to ten prizes have been awarded annually to individuals or research groups working at a research institution in Germany or at a German research institution abroad. It is considered the most important research award in Germany.
The Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology is located on Beutenberg Campus in Jena, Germany. It was founded in March 1996 and is one of 80 institutes of the Max Planck Society. Chemical ecology examines the role of chemical signals that mediate the interactions between plants, animals, and their environment, as well as the evolutionary and behavioral consequences of these interactions. The managing director of the institute is Jonathan Gershenzon.
The Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology is a research institute for terrestrial microbiology in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1991 by Rudolf K. Thauer and is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft). Its sister institute is the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, which was founded a year later in 1992 in Bremen.
The work of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ covers both basic research and applied research.
Uwe Cantner is a German economist.
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg, and is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and international (English) courses leading to academic degrees such as BA, BSc, MA, MSc, doctoral degrees, and Habilitation.
The Deutsches Klima-Konsortium e. V. is located in Berlin, Germany, and represents the leading players of German climate and climate impact research encompassing 26 renowned research organisations. The federation is also an important international partner acting as a guidepost, strategic partner, project partner and information broker.
The Beutenberg Campus is a science and research site situated in southern Jena, Germany. The physician Hans Knöll founded the first biomedical research institute at Beutenberg in 1950. From 1970, it was run as the Central Institute of Microbiology and Experimental Therapy of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR. From 1982 institutes focussing on physics were also set up on the site. Following German reunification in 1990, a multidisciplinary science and research centre was created in response to a recommendation by the German Council of Science and Humanities.
Matthias Gross is a German sociologist and science studies scholar. He currently is Full Professor of Environmental Sociology at the University of Jena, and by joint appointment, at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ in Leipzig, Germany.
Beate A. Schücking is a German professor of Health Science and Psychosocial Medicine. She is the author of numerous articles and papers on aspects of scientific research and professional education. From 2011 to 2022, Schücking was the 968th President of Leipzig University as the first woman to become President since its founding in 1409.
Rudolf Amann is a German microbiologist and director at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (MPIMM) in Bremen, and since 2001 Professor of Microbial Ecology at the University of Bremen.
Jacqueline Knörr is a German anthropologist. She is Head of a Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Extraordinary Professor at the Martin Luther University in Halle/Saale, Germany. She also works as (political) advisor, consultant, and expert witness in the fields of asylum procedures, human rights issues and (re-)migration and (re-)integration.
Nico Eisenhauer is a German biologist, soil ecologist and professor for experimental interaction ecology at Leipzig University.
Henrique Miguel Leite de Freitas Pereira is a Portuguese conservation biologist. He is a professor at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, head of the Biodiversity Conservation research group at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), and Chair of the Portugal Infrastructures Biodiversity Chair at CIBIO-InBIO, University of Porto. From 2014 to 2020 he was the Chair of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network GEO BON. He is an avid and vocal supporter of the Sporting Football Club.
The Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry is a non-university, public research institute located in Halle (Saale), Germany. It carries out basic and applied plant research on model, cultivated and wild plants. Research activities at the institute include natural product chemistry, metabolism and protein biochemistry, cell and plant biology, as well as synthetic biology and biotechnology. The institute is a foundation under public law of the State of Saxony-Anhalt and is a member of the Leibniz Association.
Christian Hertweck is a German chemist, deputy director and head of the department of biomolecular chemistry at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Products Research and Infection Biology.
