Welcome to the homepage of the Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology

The Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology is named after the famous anatomist and anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach from Göttingen (1752-1840)


Research topics

The departments of the institute work together with partners of the Göttingen Campus within several inter-faculty centers on these main research topics:


  • Neurobiological foundations of behavior and cognition.
  • Evolution, diversity and ecology of the animals and nature conservation.
  • Functional genetics of insects and their applications in pest control.
  • Historical Anthropology


Our partners at the Göttingen campus

The institute works in research and has a close teaching relationship with the German Primate Center (DPZ). Several departments of the DPZ are set up as bridge professorships with the institute.

Further, we collaborate in teaching and science with the University Medical Center and extra-university institutions like the Max-Planck-Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, the Max-PIanck-Institute of Experimental Medicine, the Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization and the European Neuroscience Institute.

Blumenbach lecture

We regularly invite lectures from the outstanding scientist Blumenbach-Lecture on our institute site.