iDiv is funded!!!

On 27 April 2012, the University Alliance Halle-Jena-Leipzig was awarded a joint national research centre for biodiversity research to be located in Leipzig.

The four designated directors, Christian Wirth (University Leipzig), Helge Bruelheide (Martin-Luther university Halle), Francois Buscot (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research) and Kirsten Küsel (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) celebrated the positive outcome of the joint effort.

iDiv - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research

Image from http://www.idiv-biodiversity.de/

iDiv, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, is a hub for international biodiversity science with its central mission to promote theory-driven synthesis and data-driven theory. iDiv is based in Leipzig and jointly hosted by the University of Leipzig (UL), the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU), all of which have a strong tradition in biodiversity sciences.

The expertise of the consortium is strongly enhanced by eight non-university institutions – the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), 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 of Plant Biochemistry (IPB), the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), the Leibniz Institute Senckenberg Museum of Natural History (SMNG), and the Leibniz Institute German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ).