About Us
Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels (= Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change) (LIB)
The LIB belongs to the group of eight large natural history research museums of the Leibniz Association. It is composed of the former Centrum für Naturkunde (CeNak) of the University of Hamburg and the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig - Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity (Museum Koenig), Bonn, which were merged into the LIB on 01 July 2021 following a decision of the Joint Science Conference (GWK). The CeNak serves as the basis for the construction of a new, innovative research museum of the LIB in Hamburg - the Evolutioneum.
The LIB is dedicated to the study of biodiversity and its change, the results of which are brought to the wider society in an educational way. In order to better understand the current mass extinction of flora and fauna, scientists are searching for correlations and causes of - often - man-made changes. The goal is to develop solutions for the preservation of ecosystems and species in order to maintain the basis of current life.
The LIB comprises more than 15 million collection objects, primarily from the field of zoology, but also from geology-paleontology and mineralogy. With the help of state-of-the-art technologies, researchers study the changes in biodiversity on the basis of this valuable, historical object database in order to answer relevant questions of our society for the future. Through the collection objects, they can describe changes, some of which are man-made, and model future development scenarios. As an integrated research museum, the LIB promotes innovative research. Documentation, indexing and the expansion of the collections are important goals of this research infrastructure.
At the LIB, scientists around the world work in international networks to document and analyze the diversity of species, including endangered species, their evolution and ecology, and underlying genetic processes. In doing so, they look back into the history of the earth, reconstruct the development of species and analyze the current influence of us humans on the environment.
The LIB carries fundamental and constantly newly acquired knowledge into society. In exhibitions, events, scientific conferences, publications and other educational and communication formats, it gets to the bottom of essential questions. Cooperation with schools, universities and other institutions in the fields of education, politics, conservation and culture is an important part of its tasks. The LIB provides access to various service facilities such as libraries and gene databases. As an international institution, the LIB promotes the study of its collections by external researchers.
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