Research School Biodiversity

The mission of our school runs parallel to that of the Systematics Agenda-2000International, Global Taxonomy Initiative of the Convention of Biological Diversity:

1. to discover, describe and name biodiversity;
2. to classify this biodiversity in a (genealogical or phylogenetic) system that reflects evolutionary history and to contribute to our understanding of biodiversity by studying historical biogeography, population differentiation and speciation processes;
3. to manage, disseminate and operationalise the vast amount of biodiversity information associated with the large collections maintained by the core institutes of the Research School and in the dispersed literature with modern bio-informatics tools. Derived practical aims are to provide floristic and faunistic inventories, and biodiversity assessments, and any other biodiversity information that is required to underpin the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources in nature. This work has a spinn-off in both theoretical and practical studies, such as nature conservation and biological control of pest species;
4. the professional training of PhD-students.

The research school includes a number of institutes all over the country.

The school is officially acknowledged at 29 May 1995. This acknowledgement is officially renewed by the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences in May2000 and again in June 2005.

The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) of the University of Amsterdam is coordinator of the Research School Biodiversity and host the Bureau of the School.