German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity research established by DFG to receive funding

After two funding periods, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) established by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) in 2012 will be funded for another three years. This decision was taken by the DFG Joint Committee based on the unanimous vote by an international review panel at the DFG Annual Meeting. The three applicant universities – Leipzig, Jena and Halle-Wittenberg – will therefore receive funding of approximately €34 million plus a programme allowance of 22 percent from October 2021 onwards. As a non-university partner, the Leipzig Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research makes a significant contribution to the consortium, which also involves four Leibniz Institutes based in Braunschweig, Halle, Gatersleben and Görlitz and three Max Planck Institutes based in Jena and Leipzig.

The Leipzig-based iDiv has developed the new research field of integrative biodiversity research in response to global biodiversity change, combining approaches from the molecular to the ecosystem level and using experiments and theory formation as well as drawing on both the natural and social sciences. iDiv is structured into the research fields of biodiversity patterns, biodiversity processes, biodiversity functions and biodiversity and society. Integrated research on the emergence, change and impact of biodiversity from the local to the global scale is to be pursued nationally and internationally and the knowledge gained is to be fed into policy-making and societal processes.

In addition to its own research programme being undertaken by the more than 100 members of iDiv, its Synthesis Centre (sDiv) is an instrument that has developed a particularly wide-ranging appeal. Here, researchers from various projects and disciplines based in Germany and abroad work together on overarching analyses of large data sets and in the field of theory formation.

Since it was not possible to carry out the on-site review on time due to the coronavirus pandemic, the DFG previously approved twelve months of bridging funding for the Centre from 1 October 2020, following a decision by the Joint Committee in March 2020. This will now be counted towards the duration of the funding period applied for, which is why the latter is limited to three years.

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Detailed information on the funding instrument of the DFG Research Centres:
http://www.dfg.de/fzt

Contact at the DFG Head Office:

For subject-specific issues in the area of biodiversity research:

Dr. Meike Teschke, Life Sciences 1, Tel. +49 228 885-2336, meike.teschke@dfg.de

On the funding instrument of the DFG Research Centres:

Dr. Thomas Münker, Collaborative Research Centres, Research Centres, Clusters of Excellence, Tel. +49 228 885-2307, thomas.muenker@dfg.de

Further information is also available from the spokesperson of the DFG Research Centre iDiv:

Prof. Dr. Christian Wirth, University of Leipzig, Faculty of Biosciences, Pharmacy and Psychology, Institute of Biology I, Johannisallee 21-23, 04103 Leipzig, Tel. +49 341 97-38591, cwirth@uni-leipzig.de

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