Natural environments differ in many biotic and abiotic aspects, and the way animals and plants adapt to these different environments is one of the fundamental questions of ecology and evolutionary biology.

In recent years, new genetic and genomic methods have been developed, making it possible to discover the genes involved in such adaptations. This has allowed many new exciting insights, for instance into

• the functional mechanisms of adaptation,
• the molecular evolution of the adaptive genes,
• the genetic architecture of evolving traits,
• the convergent evolution of similar phenotypic traits by distinct mutations,
• the ecology of speciation.

A symposium was organised bringing together six invited speakers, including top empirical and theoretical evolutionary biologists, and a number of younger researchers to discuss recent developments in this fast developing field.

Meeting website