Claus Nielsen – curriculum vitae

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, 28 March 1938.

Working address: Zoologisk Museum, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; phone: (+45) 3532 1066; e-mail: [email protected]

home page: www.snm.ku.dk/people/cnielsen

Private address: Nivåvænge 225, DK-2990 Nivå, Denmark; phone: +45 4914 7764; mobile: +45 2398 7764

Education

Mag. scient. (Ph.D., zoology and marine biology), University of Copenhagen, 1964

Dr. phil. (D.Sc.), University of Copenhagen, 1972

Employment

Marine Biological Laboratory, Helsingør: lecturer 1965-1983

Zoological Museum, Copenhagen: lecturer (associate professor) 1983-1989, “lecturer with special qualifications” 1989 -2005, professor of evolutionary invertebrate embryology 2005-2008.

Awards

Gold medal of the University of Copenhagen for a paper on Danish entoprocts 1963.

The book “Claus Nielsen (1995). Animal Evolution: Interrelationships of the Living Phyla. Oxford Univ. Press” was selected for the list “Outstanding Academic Books 1996” by the journal “Choice” (published by the Association of College and Research Libraries, USA).

The Alexander Kowalevsky Medal (St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists) 2001.

Honorary Member, St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists 2001.

Foreign [Honorary] Member, The Linnean Society of London 2006.

Honorary International Associate of the Editorial Board, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology 2007-2010.

Research evaluation etc. 2000-

2000: National Environmental Research Council 

2001: National Science Foundation (Integrative Biology and Neuroscience) x2. The  Leverhulme Trust. C4-professorship at Freie Universität, Berlin.  Junior professorship at Humboldt University, Berlin.

2002: Promotion to full professor at Univ. Oregon. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Genes & Developmental Biology Committee). Lecturer at Institute of Zoology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

2003: National Science Foundation: Tree of Life project. Extension of assistant professorship, Harvard Univ. Candidate for membership of the Australian Academy of Science. C4-professorship at University of Osnabrück, Germany. Associate professorship, Zoological Museum, Copenhagen (chairman). Assistant professorship at the Zoological Museum, Zürich.

2004: Evaluation of Netherlands Research School Biodiversity. Tenure and promotion to associate professor at Harvard University. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Schwerpunktprogram): Deep Metazoan Phylogeny. National Science Foundation: Tree of Life project (Mollusca).

2005: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: review panel for projects under the Schwerpunktprogram  Deep Metazoan Phylogeny. National Science Foundation: Assembling the Protostome Tree of Life. Professorship at Swedish Museum of Natural History

2006: Promotion to Reader at University College London, Promotion to full professor at

Auburn University, USA.  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Schwerpunktprogram): Evaluation of individual project. Promotion to associate professor at Harvard University. Full professorship at Harvard University

2007: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: review panel for projects under the Schwerpunktprogram Deep Metazoan Phylogeny. Promotion to tenured associate professor at Boston University. Promotion to full professor at Auburn University. Promotion to tenure, University of Alberta. Member of College of Reviewers for the Canada Research Chairs Program. Associate professor at University of Bergen.

2008: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: review of proposal (x2). Nominator for the 2009 Kyoto Prize for Basic Sciences (Inamori Foundation).

2009: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: review panel for projects under the Schwerpunktprogram Deep Metazoan Phylogeny. Applications for Bergen Research Foundation. Application to the Leverhulme Trust, London. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: review of proposal. Professor at the University College London.

2010: National Science Foundation: review of proposal for a project under the AToL program. Promotion to full professor, University of Alberta

2011: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, review of proposal.

2012: European Research Council, review of proposal

2014: Evaluation for full Curator/Professor and Director of Comparative Biology Initiative, American Museum of Natural History, New York

Member of evaluation committee for SYSRESOURCE (London) 2002 and 2003.

Evaluation of the research of the Department of Zoological Systematics, Univ. Lund (Sweden), and of their collections 1998 and 2000, respectively

Official opponent at doctoral/ph.d. dissertations/habilitations at University of Copenhagen,  University of Oslo

2001: University of Copenhagen

2002: University of Amsterdam

2003: University of Copenhagen

2007: Freie Universität, Berlin. University of Bergen

2014: Universität Wien

Member of the International Committee for the International Congress of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology 1999-2002

Member of the Award Committee for the Alexander Kowalevsky Medal (St Petersburg Society of Naturalists) 2002-.

Member of the Prize Selection Committee for the “International Prize for Biology”@ (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) 2004

Invited lectures 2000-

2000: The 8^th International Symposium on Tardigrada, Copenhagen, Denmark: Plenary lecture: “Panarthropods - articulates or ecdysozoans?”

2001: Annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Chicago: Symposium on lesser-known protostome taxa: Evolution, development and ecology: Invited lecture “The phylogenetic position of entoprocts, ectoprocts, phoronids and brachiopods”.

Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden: seminar  “The Articulata-Ecdysozoa controversy”

Seminar series, Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt University, Berlin: “The Articulata-Ecdysozoa controversy”.

2002: Workshop on Aplacophora, Kristineberg, Sweden: lecture: “Early development of the caudofoveate Chaetoderma”.

Symposium at the occasion of the retirement of Professor Wilfried Westheide, Osnabrück, Germany: Morphology and Molecules, Evolution and Phylogeny in Polychaeta and related taxa: “Polychaete trochophora larvae”

Fifth Larval Biology Meeting, Vigo, Spain: member of the organizing committee and introductory lecture: “The origin of larvae”

4^th Larwood Symposium, Copenhagen: Invited lecture: “The phylogenetic position of the Bryozoa - year 2002”

2003: Annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Toronto, Canada: Aleksander Kowalevsky Symposium. Invited lecture: “Trochophora larvae and animal phylogeny”.

Department of Biology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA. Invited lecture:  “Trochophora larvae and animal phylogeny”.

Museum of Zoology, University of Cambridge. Invited lecture: “Trochophora larvae and animal phylogeny”

Annual meeting of Society of Nematologists, Cornell Univ. Invited lecture: “Morphological synapomorphies of the ‘Ecdysozoa’ ”?

2004: Uppsala University, invited lectures: “Animal phylogeny” and “Trochophora larval, cell-lineage and animal phylogeny”.

XIXth International Congress of Zoology, Beijing: Symposium “Towards a new systematics for bilaterian metazoans”: Invited lecture “Animal evolution: cleavage patterns, cell-lineage and larval ciliary bands” (symposium cancelled).

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Banbury Symposium: “Origins and Evolution of the Nervous System”, invited participation and co-chairman of final discussion.

2006: National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan: 52nd Conference “Reproductive   Strategies”: invited lecture “Life cycles in colonial animals”.

Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft, Göttingen, workshop: “Orthologous genes – homologous structures? ”.

EMBO course “Molecular Approaches to Development and Evolution”, Napoli: lectures on animal diversity and evolution of spiralian nervous systems.

2007: Zoological Institute, University of St. Petersburg, Conference in memory of the 100th anniversary of academician A.V. Ivanov: opening lecture “Ontogeny of the spiralian brain”. 

University of Bergen: Invited lecture

2008: Brazilian Society of Zoologists, annual meeting: Opening lecture (cancelled)

50. Phylogenetisches Symposium, Hamburg: Invited lecture  

 International Congress of Zoology, Paris: Plenary lecture: “Animal systematics/phylogeny at the beginning of the 21st century”

Phylogenetisches Symposium, Hamburg: Invited lecture:

Symposium on “Nonbilaterian Animal Model Organisms 2008”, Jena, Germany: Introductory lecture (symposium postponed)

2009: International Symposium “From The Origin of Species to Deep Metazoan Phylogeny”,          Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany: Invited participation; lecture “Early metazoan  evolution: morphology and molecules”, member of discussion panel

University of Mainz: invited lecture: “Early metazoan evolution: morphology and molecules”            

Willi Hennig Symposium, Stuttgart: Invited lecture: The “new phylogeny” – what is so new about it?

2011: Second International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology, Boston, MA: Keynote   lecture: “How to make a protostome”

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: Deep Metazoan Phylogeny 2011, München: invited participation

2012: First International Symposium on Evolutionary Biology, João Pessoa, Brasil: plenary lecture: “Origin of the Protostomia”  

2013: Unione Zoologica Italiana Spring School, Venice: invited lecture: “Life cycle evolution: continuity and adaptation”

2014: Evolution of the first nervous systems, Whitney Labs, Florida: invited lecture: “Larval nervous systems”

Administration (only major commitments, all positions by election, all at the University of Copenhagen):

Marine Biological Laboratory: director 1970-75

Zoological Museum: director 1992-96

Faculty of Science: member 1971-83; dean 1978-80

Member of the senate 1977-80; chairman of library committee 2 (science and medicine) 1993-1998

Member of the Award Committee for the “Alexander Kowalevsky Medal” (St Petersburg Society of Naturalists) 2002-2007.

Member of the Prize Selection Committee for the “International Prize for Biology” (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) 2004

Current editorial work: