Prof. Dr. Alex Widmer

Prof. Dr.  Alex Widmer

Prof. Dr. Alex Widmer

Full Professor at the Department of Environmental Systems Science

ETH Zürich

Institut für Integrative Biologie

CHN G 21.1

Universitätstrasse 16

8092 Zürich

Switzerland

Additional information

Research area

 

I am interested in evolutionary processes in plants. Current research projects focus on the genetic basis of adaptation, the evolution of reproductive isolation and ecological speciation, as well as the evolution of separate sexes and sex chromosomes in plants.

 

Developing a better understanding of the genetic basis of adaptation is of fundamental interest in evolutionary plant biology but is also of central interest in the light of global environmental change. The process of adaptation links ecological with evolutionary processes in the context of ecological speciation. Most of our projects combine population genomic or transcriptomic analyses with field or greenhouse experiments.

 

In an effort to contribute to the conservation of biological diversity we aim to develop molecular tools to help identification and tracing of tropical timber species. Current projects focus on rosewoods in the genus Dalbergia (Fabaceae).

 

 

Alex Widmer is Full Professor of Plant Ecological Genetics at the Institute of Integrative Biology within the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich.

 

Alex Widmer was born in Basel, Switzerland, on March 9, 1969. He completed his studies in Biology at ETH Zurich in 1992 and received his PhD from ETH Zurich in 1996. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Geobotanical Institute at ETH Zurich, at Indiana University in Bloomington, USA, and Université Paris-Sud, France. In 2003 he returned to Switzerland as group leader at the Geobotanical Institute. In 2005 he was appointed as Associate Professor and since 2009 he is Full Professor of Plant Ecological Genetics at ETH Zurich.

 

Course Catalogue

Autumn Semester 2024

Number Unit
551-0001-AAL General Biology I
551-0001-00L General Biology I
551-0003-AAL General Biology I+II
701-1413-01L Ecological Genetics
701-1460-00L Ecology and Evolution: Term Paper
701-2413-00L Evolutionary Genetics
701-5001-00L Ethics and Scientific Integrity for Doctoral Students

 

Publications