Self Assessment Report 2006-2010 Self Assessment Report 2006-2010 Faculty of Biology Faculty of Biology December 2010 Content 1 1 FACULTY OF BIOLOGY .................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Indroduction ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Presentation of the faculty ...................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Staff ....................................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Financial resources ................................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Research ................................................................................................................................ 9 1.6 Teaching and outreach ........................................................................................................ 10 1.7 SWOT analysis – Perspectives for future developments ........................................................ 12 2 INSTITUTE OF BOTANY ................................................................................................ 15 1.1 Mission statement ................................................................................................................ 15 2.2 Presentation of the institute ............................................................................................... 15 2.3 Financial resources .............................................................................................................. 17 2.4 Research .............................................................................................................................. 17 2.5. Teaching and outreach ......................................................................................................... 21 2.6 SWOT analysis – Perspectives for future developments ........................................................ 22 3 INSTITUTE OF ECOLOGY ............................................................................................. 25 3.1 Mission statement ................................................................................................................ 25 3.2 Presentation of the institute ................................................................................................ 27 3.3 Financial resources .............................................................................................................. 27 3.4 Research .............................................................................................................................. 27 3.5. Teaching and outreach ......................................................................................................... 32 3.6 SWOT analysis – Perspectives for future developments ........................................................ 33 4 INSTITUTE OF MICROBIOLOGY ................................................................................. 35 4.1 Mission statement ................................................................................................................ 35 4.2 Presentation of the institute ................................................................................................. 35 4.3 Financial resources ............................................................................................................... 37 4.4 Research............................................................................................................................... 37 4.5. Teaching and outreach ......................................................................................................... 42 4.6 SWOT analysis – Perspectives for future developments ........................................................ 42 5 INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY .................................................................... 45 5.1 Mission statement ................................................................................................................ 45 5.2 Presentation of the institute ............................................................................................... 45 5.3 Financial resources .............................................................................................................. 46 5.4 Research .............................................................................................................................. 46 5.5. Teaching and outreach ......................................................................................................... 48 5.6 SWOT analysis – Perspectives for future developments ........................................................ 49 2 Content 6 INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY ............................................................................................ 51 6.1 Mission statement ................................................................................................................ 51 6.2 Presentation of the institute ............................................................................................... 52 6.3 Financial resources .............................................................................................................. 53 6.4 Research .............................................................................................................................. 53 6.5. Teaching and outreach ......................................................................................................... 58 6.6 SWOT analysis – Perspectives for future developments ........................................................ 58 APPENDIX – Publications, research projects, fellowships INSTITUTE OF BOTANY ..................................................................................................................... 61 Physiology and cell physiology of alpine plants .................................................................... 62 Systematics, palynology and geobotany ................................................................................ 71 INSTITUTE OF ECOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 85 INSTITUTE OF MICROBIOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 119 INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY .............................................................................................. 139 INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 143 ABBREViations AND acronyms .................................................................................. 155 1 Faculty of Biology 3 1.1 Introduction Since its last evaluation in 2002, the Faculty of Biology has undergone a number of changes. The most visible ones were the foundation of the Institute of Molecular Biology and the Institute of Ecology in 2006 (Fig. 1.1). The Institute of Ecology was formed from two sections of the former Institute of Zoology and Limnology and one section of the Institute of Botany while the Institute of Molecular Ecology was a new construction. In compliance with the recommendations of the reviewers, we have been seeking new appointments with a focus on molecular sciences and we installed new research directions. As a consequence of the University Law 2002, the new Faculty of Biology (which was part of the former Faculty of Science) was founded and we implemented new study programs, such as bachelor, master, and PhD, and tried to cope with an ever increasing number of students. Today, the Faculty of Biology consists of five institutes, hosts around 90 researchers (40 of them employed by extramural funds), ~ 40 technicians and administrators, and ~1500 students. 2006 2002 1972 1868 1860 1669 Fig. 1.1 Short history of the Institutes of the Faculty of Biology Evaluation period and due dates The evaluation period encompasses the years from 2006 to 2010, but not all data, for instance regarding inscriptions and graduations, were available by 30th November 2010. The list of publications includes all papers that appeared until 30th November 2010. Staff lists and organi grams of the faculty and the institutes are as of 1st October. Figure 1.2 gives an impression of the changes in personnel between 2006 and 2010 and shows that only six professors have served during the whole evaluation period. 4 Name 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Alexander Cernusca Christian Schlötterer Sigmar Bortenschlager Cornelius Lütz Kurt Haselwandter Franz Schinner Bernd Pelster Roland Psenner Ulrike Tappeiner Dirk Meyer Birgit Schlick-Steiner Bert Hobmayer Peter Schönswetter Fig. 1.2 Appointment of full professors 2006-2010. Data source All data has been provided by the university. The entries in the Research Performance Documentation (FLD) have been verified by the central administration and may be searched under http://www.uibk. ac.at/fakten/leitung/forschung/aufgabenbereiche/fld/. To ease reading, we report here basic figures; more results (papers, projects) can be found in the APPENDIX. In the staff list of the institutes, we have used, beside the sum of impact factors of journals published from 2006 to 2010 and the num- ber of citations during the evaluation period, also the h-index (http://www.harzing.com) to provide short-term and long-term