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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".

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