Research groups
in a row

Naturalis has about 120 full-time scientists, and then another 200 guest researchers. They work together in the following research groups.

Bijenorchis op BioScience Park in Leiden

Evolutionary Ecology

We have a general interest in contemporary evolution and are specifically focused on the adaptation of organisms to ecological changes in their environment. We study how ancient and more recent man-made environments, such as the city biome, create…
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Pollination by bee

NL Biodiversity and Society

Our mission is to generate scientific knowledge and facilitate societal partners to strengthen biodiversity. We do scientific research, develop biodiversity tools, and give advice to partners. We combine science, policy and practice. Our expertise areas…
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Planten en schimmels

Understanding evolution

We study how the interplay of interactions determines evolutionary processes. We integrate a combination of phylogenetic, ecological, genomic, morphological, and anatomical approaches and apply these to several target taxa across the 'Tree of Life'. Our…
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Amazone woud

Tropical botany

The tropics contain the overwhelming majority of Earth’s plant diversity. Describing species, understanding their distributions, evolutionary and ecological relationships, and recognizing their role in human societies – themes in the Tropical Botany…
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researcher at sea

Marine biodiversity

Our seas and oceans are changing rapidly: increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations cause warming, acidification, and deoxyxenation at rates higher than in the previous millions of years. These global challenges interact with regional and local processes…
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Dunkleosteus

Vertebrate evolution, development and ecology

Vertebrate history ranges back in time over 535 million years documenting major changes in biodiversity, evolutionary success and ecological adaptations. Although vertebrates are a relatively small group in the animal kingdom, their skeletons are well…
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Teide Echium wildprettii

Functional Traits

Since plants cannot run away, they have developed a wide array of functional adaptations throughout evolution to survive changing conditions. Our research group focuses on wood formation, one of the most fundamental evolutionary innovations that gave rise…
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plankton

Marine Evolution & Ecology

We study the diversity, distribution, evolution and ecology of marine animals from diverse habitats ranging from the open ocean to coral reefs and marine lakes. We employ a combination of morphological, molecular and experimental approaches to obtain a…
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Our (guest) researchers
and specialists

Departments
at Naturalis

Lab pipetten

Naturalis laboratories

The Naturalis laboratories offer a wide range of opportunities to perform biological or geological scientific analyses. A group of 8 research technicians with specialist knowledge annually support 80 students, 60 internal research projects, 10PhDs, 40…
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ICT

ICT more than just data

For an optimal exchange of digital biodiversity information, our advanced IT infrastructure is linked to worldwide networks and databases. Naturalis provides more than just data. We also develop tools to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and the use of…
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Researchers in the field

Research Coordination Office (RCO)

The Research Coordination Office (RCO) supports the Naturalis Research and Education (R&E) sector with the aim to realise the institute’s ambition to perform excellent and high impact science. We assist in positioning the institute strategically in the…
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Scientific
directors

PhDs, postdocs,
financing & teaching

Please contact the Research Coordination Office with questions about PhDs, postdocs, financing and teaching: rco@naturalis.nl.