Ernst Mayr Lecture
The Ernst Mayr Lecture is devoted to the life sciences and was created in 1997 by the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin in tandem with the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW). The lecture series was named after the honorary member of the BBAW, evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr (1904-2005), who inaugurated the eponymous series in the fall of 1997. Consistent with the title of its namesake’s chief work – "The Growth of Biological Thought" – the Ernst Mayr Lecture is designed to transmit current biological views.
- 2024/25
Margaret McFall-Ngai (Microbiology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena)
Coevolving with our Microbial Partners - Lessons from the Hawaiian Archipelago
- 2022/2023
Hopi Hoekstra (Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University)
NATURE’S PALETTE: How and why colors vary in the wild?
- 2020/2021 (cancelled)
- 2018/2019
Steven A. Pinker (Psychology, Harvard University)
The Psychology, Biology and History of Violence
- 2016/2017
Tobias Bonhoeffer (Neurobiologie, Max-Planck-Institut für Neurobiologie, Martinsried)
Wie wir lernen. Neue Einblicke ins Gehirn
- 2015/2016
Naomi E. Pierce (Biologie, Harvard University)
Ant Symbioses: From Parasitism to Mutualism
- 2014/2015
Onur Güntürkün (Biopsychologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
Die vielfache Evolution des Denkens
- 2012/2013
Michael Tomasello (Psychologie, MPI für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Leipzig)
Two Key Steps in the Evolution of Human Cooperation
- 2010/2011
Linda Partridge (Evolutionary Biology, University College London, MPI for Biology of Ageing, Cologne)
The New Biology of Ageing
- 2009/2010
Robert Page (Life Sciences, Arizona State University)
The "Spirit of the Hive" and how Honeybee Societies Evolve
- 2008/09
Robert L. Trivers (Evolutionary Biology, Rutgers University)
Internal Genetic Conflict in Other Species and Ourselves
Introduction (Paul Schmid-Hempel)
- 2007
Svante Pääbo (Genetik, MPI für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Leipzig)
Von Affen, Neandertalern und Modernen Menschen
- 2006
Axel Meyer (Evolutionsbiologie, Universität Konstanz)
Die Entstehung der Arten – Darwins Geheimnis der Geheimnisse
- 2005
Christoph P. E. Zollikofer (Zoologie, Anthropologie, Universität Zürich),
Marcia S. Ponce de León (Anthropologie, Universität Zürich)
Wer sind wir? Woher kommen wir?
Introduction (Rüdiger Wehner)
- 2004
B. Rosemary Grant (Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University),
Peter R. Grant (Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University)
Evolution of Darwin’s Finches
Introduction (Rüdiger Wehner)
- 2003
Robert D. Martin (Evolutionary Biology, The Field Museum Chicago)
New Light on Primate Evolution
Introduction (Rüdiger Wehner)
- 2002
Robert M. May (Zoology, Oxford University / The Royal Society London)
The Future of Biological Diversity in a Crowded World
Introduction (Rüdiger Wehner) - 2001
Lewis Wolpert (Biology, University College London)
Biology of Belief
Introduction (Rüdiger Wehner)
- 2000
Charles Weissmann (Molekularbiologie, Universität Zürich)
Krebs – Evolution des Bösen
- 1999
Michael F. Land (Neurobiology, University of Sussex)
The Evolution of Eyes
- 1998
Jared Diamond (Evolutionary Biology, Physiology, Geography, UC Los Angeles)
Arm und Reich
- 1997
Ernst Mayr (Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University)
Philosophie der Biologie
The lectures are published in the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities's yearbook "Berichte und Abhandlungen".