Die Universität Witten/Herdecke ist durch das NRW-Wissenschaftsministerium staatlich anerkannt und wird – sowohl als Institution wie auch für ihre einzelnen Studiengänge – regelmäßig akkreditiert durch:
Fakultät für Gesundheit (Department für Humanmedizin)
Institut für Evolutionsbiologie
Institutsleitung
Born in 1957 I studied Veterinary Medicine at the University of Gießen (Germany). For my PhD thesis I changed to the faculty of human medicine, where I did experimental research on the treatment of melanomas. The thesis was finished in 1987. After a half-year research fellowship at the Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio – USA), I became a postdoc at an institute for comparative animal physiology at the University of Gießen. Besides teaching, my research work focused on reticulocytes during red blood cell formation (erythropoiesis).
After writing a review book on human chronobiology, I was offered a position at the University of Witten/Herdecke (Germany) at the end of 1989. There I was involved in a project to prepare research funding in the field of complementary medicine in Germany as a member of a commission of the Federal Ministry of Reseach and Technology. In 1998 I changed to the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at the same University, beginning my studies on the question of autonomy in evolution, based on my experience in comparative physiology. In 2006 I finished my “habilitation” (qualification as a university lecturer in Germany) on this topic. The thesis of my habilitation was published as a book (in German) in 2007. In the same year I was appointed head of the institute.
My research interests are patterns and processes in Macroevolution, Organismic and Systems Biology, and Philosophy of Biology and Medicine. Further I am interested in General Zoology and watching nature (including birding) in field trips and on journeys for example to Northern Europe, Afrika and Malaysia.
Some of my recent publications are:
Die Universität Witten/Herdecke ist durch das NRW-Wissenschaftsministerium staatlich anerkannt und wird – sowohl als Institution wie auch für ihre einzelnen Studiengänge – regelmäßig akkreditiert durch: