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.
The selection committee is composed of two members of the Academy and two representatives from the Wissenschaftskolleg. The current members of the committee are: Julia Fischer (Cognitive Ethology, German Primate Centre, Göttingen), Hanna Kokko (Zoology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz), Onur Güntürkün (Biopsychology, Ruhr University Bochum) and Giovanni Galizia (Zoology, Neurobiology, University of Konstanz).
- 2026/2027
Pablo A. Marquet (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile/The Santa Fe Institute)
Wonderful Life. Understanding the Diversity of Life on Earth
- 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".