RTG 2530 short portraitsWelcome to the team, Jochen Fründ!

6 August 2025, by RTG 2530

Photo: UHH/Röttger

We are delighted that Jochen Fründ has joined the RTG 2530 team as a new ‘Principal Investigator’. To introduce him briefly, we asked him three questions.

1. What is the main focus of your research, and what are the overarching topics, questions or objectives?

In my research, I focus on animal biodiversity, especially insects and spiders, and their interactions with other species. I am particularly interested in how species communities and their interactions change over time, and what implications this has for the survival of the involved species and ecosystem functioning. Together with my research group and collaboration partners, I analyse networks of interactions between species, both in the field and through models, to understand how these natural systems adapt to environmental changes such as climate change.

2. What made you decide in favour of this field of research? What fascinates you about it, and what do you see as the biggest challenge?

The diversity of species has fascinated me since childhood, especially that of small animals, but also of plants. Understanding the networks of their interactions is both exciting and challenging because you can (and should) combine direct observations with other methods. Making sense of this great complexity — in a way that accurately represents biological relationships and produces robust conclusions — remains a major challenge, and that's precisely why I find it so fascinating.

3. What are your expectations of the collaboration in the Research Training Group 2530, and is there anything you are particularly looking forward to?

I'm really looking forward to thinking outside the box with many new colleagues and learning a lot of new things. So far, my research has been rather "dry" (in the sense of focusing on terrestrial organisms), and I'm looking forward to it becoming a bit "wetter" through the RTG! In addition, our synthesis project will certainly give us many new perspectives on what different biologists actually mean when they talk about "interactions between species".