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The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig is a central facility of the University of Leipzig (UL), Germany, and is jointly hosted by the universities of Halle, Jena and Leipzig, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, and other research institutions. It is a research centre of the German Research Foundation (DFG).
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Function
With thirteen professorships and research groups iDiv is a hub for international biodiversity science in Central Germany. The central mission is to promote theory-driven synthesis and data-driven theory. iDiv concentrates international expertise and connects theoreticians and empiricists of manifold research fields. Furthermore the institution focuses on theory and synthesis and educates scientists in transdisciplinary biodiversity.
Research
The participating researchers in iDiv have backgrounds in biology, chemistry and physics, geosciences, economics, and computer science. They study four key questions:
Answers to these questions will be pursued in the five research areas: biodiversity theory, interactive ecology, evolution and adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and biodiversity synthesis. sDiv, the Synthesis Centre for Biodiversity Sciences, is embedded in the active research environment of iDiv. It holds international academic conferences, offers postdoc positions and a sabbatical program. As an additional think tank it brings together researchers from different projects and disciplines. yDiv is the graduate school and the research training group of young biodiversity researchers. It has been designed to educate young scientists in transdisciplinary biodiversity research.
Background
The DFG’s Joint Committee selected at its meeting on 27 April 2012 the application of the three universities of Leipzig, Jena and Halle-Wittenberg for the now seventh DFG research centre. iDiv is for the time being funded for four years and receives about 33 million euros during this period. Since autumn 2012 the institution is based on the BIO CITY campus in Leipzig. The BIO CITY is one of the most modern centers for biomedicine and biotechnology in Germany.
Structure
iDiv is jointly hosted by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the University of Leipzig and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ. The expertise of these institutes is strengthened within the iDiv consortium by the additional partnership of other non-university institutions: the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI BGC), the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPI CE), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVA), the Leibniz Institute German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ), the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), and the Leibniz Institute Senckenberg Museum of Natural History (SMNG).