Research institutes
Bavarian State Collection for Zoology
With almost 22 million zoological objects, the Bavarian State Collection for Zoology (ZSM) is one of the largest natural history research collections in the world. ZSM is part of the Bavarian State Collection of Natural History (SNSB). Since its foundation over 200 years ago, its researchers have been collecting, conserving and preserving zoological objects as scientific evidence. With more than 12 million individual specimens, Munich is home to the largest butterfly collection in the world.
The focus of scientific research is on the description of new animal species (integrative taxonomy) and research into their natural relationships (phylogeny), distribution (faunistics and zoogeography) and way of life (ecology). In addition, the ZSM has been compiling comprehensive DNA barcode libraries of the European fauna (and far beyond) for many years, which have been and are being generated as part of various third-party funded projects such as Barcoding Fauna Bavarica (2009-2018), German Barcode of Life (2012-2024) or Biodiversity Genomics Europe (2022-2026).
Another focus of the ZSM is the extensive specialised zoological library, which is also open to the public. From valuable works from the 16th century to current new publications, it houses more than 90,000 volumes and around 1,500 current journals. The Munich State Collection of Zoology publishes the scientific journal Spixiana and is closely associated with several specialist societies.
The research results of the ZSM are made accessible not only to experts but also to the general public through scientific publications, web portals, citizen science projects and popular science lectures and exhibitions. These activities are summarised in the SNSB’s annual reports and annual journals.
Bavarian State Collection for Zoology Researchers
Dr. Michael Raupach
Michael Raupach studied at the Ruhr University Bochum and received his doctorate from the Chair of Special Zoology in 2004 on the topic of "Molecular genetic analysis of biogeography, speciation and biodiversity of the Asellota (Crustacea: Isopoda) of the Antarctic deep sea". Since 2019 he has been the curator of the Hemiptera section at the Zoological State Collection Munich. For many years he has been working on the creation of DNA barcoding libraries for various insect groups, especially for ground beetles. Current research focuses are the systematics and phylogeny of water striders and water bugs.
Prof. Dr. Michael Matschiner
Michael Matschiner is Director of the Munich State Zoological Collection (ZSM) - one of the Bavarian State Natural Science Collections (SNSB) - and Professor of Systematic Zoology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Michael Matschiner completed his doctorate in 2011 at the University of Basel (Switzerland) on the evolution of Antarctic fishes, followed by postdoctoral stays at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), the University of Oslo (Norway), and the Universities of Basel and Zurich (Switzerland). Before joining the ZSM in December 2024, Michael Matschiner was Associate Professor at the Natural History Museum Oslo, where he curated the ichthyology collection. His research investigates the evolution of biodiversity through adaptive radiations, such as those of cichlids in Lake Tanganyika in Africa and Antarctic fishes in the Southern Ocean.
