Detail of a herbarium specimen

SIP - Senckenberg Institute for Plant Form and Function

Senckenberg and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena are establishing a novel institute linking traditional natural-history collections with cutting-edge approaches in biodiversity and data science
Detail of a herbarium specimen
Image: Kristin Victor (FSU Jena)

Tearing down the walls between natural history, collections, data science and biodiversity research

  • Working with herbarium specimens
    Image: Sergey Pfaff (FSU Jena)
    NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE With >3.5 million specimens and a dedicated library, the Herbarium Haussknecht is ideally placed to study regional biodiversity change, including mosses. We will unlock this preasure chest by developing new research avenues to understand Anthropocene Biodiversity Change.
  • Storage of herbarium specimens
    Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena)
    A UNIQUE HERBARIUM IN A NEW ENVIRONMENT Herbarium curation, lab work and most of all people need an adequate home. Furthermore, we believe that collections and researchers should be in direct physical contact. Starting already in 2021, the herbarium is moving to new housing that meets current standards in curation and research.
  • The new herbarium at Carl-Pulffrich Str. Jena
    Image: Anja Scholl
    A NEW HOME FOR SIP The university has refurbished large tracts of a former industrial complex in the centre of Jena, and detailed planning for the remaining parts of the building is in progress. The strong commitment of both the federal state of Thuringia and the university has made this possible.
  • Herbarium specimen of Papaver rhoeas
    Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)
    RESEARCH Biodiversity change is a key challenge of our time; we urgently need a better understanding of all its facets. Due to their wide taxonomical, spatial and temporal coverage, natural-history collections allow for comprehensive research to tackle that need. Revolutions in analytical technologies and digitization allow fuller use of the diversity of information retained in specimens.
  • Annotated herbarium specimen
    Image: Claus Weiland (SGN, Frankfurt a. M.)
    DATA INTEGRATION IN THE DIGITAL ERA IT-supported data retrieval, AI-aided analysis and rapidly growing
    data interoperability not only allow vastly improved data exchange but also give unprecedented options for integrative research. With its Collectomics approach, Senckenberg seeks to develop collections into locally, regionally and internationally integrated virtual research platforms that support answering a wide range of questions in biodiversity science and beyond.

Our Mission

  • Our mission is to unite traditional natural history with modern, data-driven biodiversity science. We can advance this with new appointments and collaborations.
  • Locally: Four professorships plus associated staff from biological science and informatics will utilise the collection as a foundation of novel, interdisciplinary research.
  • Regionally: In addition to Jena University, the regions has a strong expertise in biological, computer and earth-system sciences, including the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, several Max-Planck Institutes (MPI -BGC, -CE, -), a Leibniz Institute (HKI) and the Institute of Data Science of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).
SIP Concept

SIP Concept

Illustration: Stefan Meyer (University of Göttingen)