The Systematics and Evolutionary Botany lab at Ghent University focuses on large-scale questions in the evolution of tropical plant diversity, concentrating on the following research lines:

- documenting plant diversity and inferring phylogenetic relationships;

- investigating the origin of geographic patterns in plants, as well as the future in the light of climate change;

- understanding the adaptational value and evolutionary history of selected plant traits (e.g. storage roots, flower scent).

Our multidisciplinary team uses an integrative approach, combining phylogenomics, reproductive biology, and chemical profiling. Current projects address the topics above, using the tropical plant families Annonaceae, Convolvulaceae and Fabacae in South America in Africa and as model groups.

We apply for basic research funding for:

- research costs for five current PhD students working on the abovementioned topics

- co-funding for a new PhD project on tree diversity and conservation in Kenya.