Welcome to the Faculty of Biology
Faculty of Biology
has three main areas of research: medical biology, water and environmental research
and empirical teaching and learning research.
The faculty in numbers
> 1600 students
7,5M€ grants
7,85 M€ budget
54 non scientific staff
130 scientific staff
22 professors
The website of the Faculty of Biology is currently under construction!
Our research focuses
from molecular biology issues, through the level of organs and organisms to complex ecosystems
Research focus Medical Biology
Biomedical research at the Faculty aims to identify disease mechanisms at the molecular level and to develop biotechnological methods that can be used to influence these processes in order to develop more precise diagnostics and novel active substances.
Research focus Water and environmental research
The focus of the working groups on "Water Research" is on questions relating to the development, changes and restoration of aquatic biodiversity from the level of genes and species communities to ecosystems and their function. In addition to basic research, the focus is on interdisciplinary, application-oriented research projects.
Research focus Empirical teaching and learning research
The research focus on subject-related empirical teaching and learning research investigates questions relating to the learning and teaching of biology at school, at university or at extracurricular learning venues. In cooperation with other working groups in subject didactics and teaching-learning research, they also investigate interdisciplinary questions. They are integrated into the Interdisciplinary Center for Educational Research (IZfB) and the Center for Teacher Education (ZLB).
Latest news from the Faculty of Biology
Autumn 2025
Graduation ceremony 2025
Autumn 2025
The Faculty of Biology is delighted to present the certificate of appointment to Professor Dr Jens Kallmeyer today.
Prof. Dr Kallemeyer, from the Helmholtz Centre for Geo Research in Potsdam (GFZ), has been appointed Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Biology for the subject area ‘Biogeochemistry’. We are very pleased about this enrichment of our faculty, which has many interfaces with chemistry and geology. In his inaugural lecture entitled ‘Carbon makes the world go round’, Prof Kallmeyer presented his diverse research on the turnover of carbon in aquatic ecosystems from the deep sea to tropical seas, from the polar regions to urban waters in the Ruhr region. You are very welcome.
Autumn 2025
First Global Evaluation
How Stressors Shape Life in Rivers
- von Birte Vierjahn
- 11.11.2025
Freshwater ecosystems are losing species faster than any other ecosystem under the influence of many simultaneous stress factors. A research team led by biologists at the University of Duisburg-Essen has now conducted the first comparative analysis concerning the impact of various stressor types on five groups of river organisms worldwide. The results, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, provide a basis for future predictions.
Agriculture, wastewater, dams, the runoff of fine sediments from croplands and, last but not least, climate change with its rising temperatures are changing the quality and structure of freshwater ecosystems, especially rivers. However, until now there has been no clear picture of how strongly individual man-made stressors are associated to different species groups.
Autumn 2025
Autumn 2025
Heat check for freshwater organisms
Global Atlas of Thermal Tolerance
- von Janina Balzer
- 07.10.2025
Climate change not only causes temperatures on land and in the sea to rise, but also leads to warming rivers, lakes, and streams – with serious consequences for the animals living within them. A research team at the University of Duisburg-Essen has published the largest openly accessible collection of data on the thermal tolerance of freshwater organisms to date. This data helps water management and government authorities to enact preventive measures to protect animals living in and around water.
Autumn 2025
Research project on leukaemia in children
A new, twofold approach
- von Birte Vierjahn
- 13.10.2025
Scientists at the University of Duisburg-Essen are researching new therapies for aggressive forms of childhood leukaemia. For the first time, their approach tries to distinguish between two subtypes using so-called nanobody PROTACs. These attack diseased tissue while sparing healthy cells. The José Carreras Leukaemia Foundation is supporting the project, led by Prof. Dr. Shirley Knauer and Dr. Mike Blueggel from the Faculty of Biology, with 143,740 euros for two years.