Gert Wörheide elected to the Leibniz Society

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The Leibniz Society of Sciences in Berlin, to which marine geobiologist and paleontologist Professor Gert Wörheide was elected in May, is one of the oldest learned societies in the world. Professor Wörheide holds the Chair of Paleontology and Geobiology at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at LMU and is the spokesperson for its GeoBio Center. He is also the director of the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology and the Paleontological Museum in Munich. His research focuses on the biodiversity and evolution of marine organisms, especially sponges (Porifera). He investigates these using modern molecular biology methods.

The Leibniz Society of Sciences in Berlin follows in the tradition of the Electoral Brandenburg Society of Sciences, founded by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1700. Today, it operates as an interdisciplinary association of scientists and aims to promote the humane application of science. Its goal is to bring together the natural sciences, technology, social sciences, and humanities and to combine theory and practice. The non-partisan association currently has more than 300 members.