Major European subsidy for Leiden evolutionary biology
Paul Brakefield, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the Institute of Biology in Leiden (IBL) has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for his research. He will receive 2.5 million euro to develop his research programme over a period of five years.
Speciation
A hundred and fifty years after the publication ofOn the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, people continue to be fascinated by how new species arise and how they diversify. Darwin put forward the theory that natural selection leads to new species, each of which is adapted to its own ecological environment. This kind of ecological speciation has been well researched invertebrates, such as Darwin's finches, but has hardly been studied at all in lower species of animals.
Tropical butterflies
In this research programme entitled Exploring Morphospaces in Adaptive Radiations to unravel Ecological Speciation, Professor Brakefield's group will study ecological speciation in 250 related tropical butterflies. The group has already carried out research on the Bicyclus anynana or Squinting Bush Brown. This research can now be continued and even expanded. The researchers will investigate the characteristics that are crucial in adaptation and speciation and will then analyse the relational patterns between species to show how ecological speciation took place.
ERC Advanced Grant
De ERC Advanced Grant is een subsidie van de European Research Council. De ERC is de Europese subsidieverstrekker voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Er zijn twee varianten: de ERC Starting Grant voor startende onderzoekers en de ERC Advanced Grant voor ervaren wetenschappers. Beide subsidies zijn bedoeld voor wetenschappers die innovatief en baanbrekend onderzoek doen. Kenmerkend voor de winnende projectvoorstellen is dat ze zeer ambitieus zijn, buiten de gebaande paden gaan en geleid worden door ‘exceptional leaders only’.
ERC Advanced Grant
The ERC Advanced Grant is a subsidy provided by the European Research Council. The ERC is the European provider of subsidies for scientific research. There are two types of grants: the ERC Starting Grant for newly qualified researchers and the ERC Advanced Grant for experienced academics. Both subsidies are intended for scientists who carry out innovative and pionering research. A characteristic of the winning project proposals is that they are very ambitious, they go beyond the familiar paths and are headed by ‘exceptional leaders only’.
Evolutionary Biosciences
The research group headed by Professor Brakefield is part of the ‘Evolutionary Biosciences’ cluster of Leiden's Institute of Biology. In this cluster evolution biologists from diverse backgrounds work together on evolutionary issues relating to speciation and the development of new characteristics. It is one of the two research profile areas of the IBL, that offers opportunities for extensive research in its recently opened new premises. The IBL will be working closely with such organisations as Naturalis.
Links
Earlier articles in the University Newsletter
- Bacteria develop betting behaviour (10 November 2009)
- How genes can be reused (29 September 2009)
- Super-fast evolution (12 May 2009)
- Partner choice and the formation of species (13 May 2008)
- 14 million for innovative Leiden research (27 March 2007)
- A well-developed eye for males (9 May 2006)
- Biology in Leiden internationally competitive and influential (14 March 2006)