Profile
Research
The research profile of the biology unit at Osnabrück University encompasses a wide range of biological disciplines, focusing on the biochemical properties of individual molecules as well as the physiology and behavior of whole organisms and their interactions in ecosystems. An interdisciplinary, thematic focus is on cellular and molecular biological issues and has been continuously funded by successive DFG Collaborative Research Centres since 1984. In this context, the interdisciplinary center for cellular nanoanalytics CellNanOs was established, which provides state-of-the-art instrumental equipment in the fields of bioimaging, mass spectrometry, and flow cytometry. In addition, the research activities of the biology unit are characterized by collaborative projects and cooperations with researchers from other scientific disciplines, especially chemistry, physics, mathematics, psychology, and cognitive sciences.
Education
As one of the first departments in Germany, the biology unit at Osnabrück University introduced consecutive Bachelor's and Master's degree programs in 2000, which have been continuously developed since then. The range of courses includes both research-oriented and teaching-oriented courses, in which basic principles from the entire spectrum of biology are taught. The basic training in the first two semesters is based on the "Campbell", one of the most widely used German-language biology textbooks. This has been regularly revised for the German-speaking world by lecturers from the biology unit at Osnabrück University since 2009.
History
Osnabrück University was founded in 1974 as a department of the University of Education of Lower Saxony. Initially, the field of biology was represented only as didactics of biology and together with applied mathematics, theoretical physics and chemistry formed the natural science/mathematics department.
Research-oriented biology at Osnabrück University was established in 1976. In the following years, research groups from different disciplines were formed and additionally research-oriented courses of study were established. This gave rise to the Department of Biology/Chemistry, which moved to its present location on the Westerberg campus in 1983. At about the same time, the Botanical Garden opened there on the site of a former quarry. Since then, it has played an important role in the study and protection of biological diversity as well as in teaching at Osnabrück University.
