As a member of Dahlem Research School, the Graduate Program Biodiversity, Evolution & Ecology at Freie Universität Berlin provides a structured program for doctoral candidates in the various subjects of biodiversity sciences. The program includes 14 research groups at Freie Universität Berlin and is embedded in the Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research comprising four universities (FU, HU, UP, TU) and five Leibniz institutions (IGB, IZW, MfN, PIK, ZALF).

The purpose of the Graduate Program "Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology" is to educate the next generation of biodiversity researchers and imbue them with a broad understanding of biodiversity science, an unprecedented toolbox of quantitative skills and a spirit of cooperation and networking. PhD students enrolled in the graduate program could benefit from the close connections between the BBIB institutions, resulting in an exciting and interesting research environment with a huge diversity in theoretical and methodological competencies.

Themes of the research groups are: Animal Ecology, Aquatic Ecology, Aquatic Evolutionary Ecology, Ecological Modelling, Ecological Novelty, Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Ecology, Geomicrobiology, Host Parasite Evolution and Ecology, Molecular Ecology of Animals, Plant and Mycorrhizal Ecology, Structural and Functional Plant Diversity, Systematic Botany and Plant Geography, Wildlife Diseases.

An important goal of the biodiversity program is to broaden the interdisciplinary competence of young researchers. PhD projects within the graduate program should meet the BBIBs bridging concept: Traditional separated disciplines, scales and systems in the different fields of biodiversity research will be connected to get new insights and knowledge in the fascinating world of biodiversity.