How species originate and what has driven the evolution of millions of organisms on our planet remain some of the hotly debated questions in science. With recent technological developments in genomics, it is now possible to disentangle the genetic architecture of speciation, the evolution of adaptive traits (phenomes), and how different organisms are related.

The Evolutionary Biology Research Theme combines these genomic approaches with cutting-edge ecology, environmental science and paleobiology to address the following challenges: (a) what are the mechanisms of evolution, including how organisms have evolved to become adapted to their biotic and physical environments, evolutionary development, reconstructing and visualising the tree of life; (b) what underlies global patterns of biodiversity, including modelling and predictions under global change scenarios; (c) how the evolution of species affect our own, including vector and disease evolution, viral evolution, fungal diversity, and microbiomes.

Institutes, centres and initiatives

This Research Theme is associated to the following institutes, centres and initiatives:

Academic staff in this area

Dr Matteo Fumagalli

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Dr Matteo Fumagalli
Visiting Researcher