Matjaž Kuntner
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Matjaž Kuntner | |
|---|---|
 Kuntner in 2021 | |
| Born | 21 October 1971 |
| Alma mater | University of Ljubljana, George Washington University |
| Known for | Research on spiders, evolution, and biodiversity |
| Awards | National Institute of Biology Award for Outstanding Achievements (2015), ZRC SAZU Golden Award (2021) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Evolutionary biology, systematics, arachnology, phylogenetics, biogeography |
| Institutions | National Institute of Biology, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts |
Matjaž Kuntner (born 21 October 1971) is a Slovenian biologist. He is evolutionary biologist and arachnologist whose scientific work covers the fields of evolutionary systematics and taxonomy, biogeography, sexual selection, behavioral biology, the evolution of biological materials, and climate change.
Kuntner is considered one of Slovenia’s leading researchers in the biological sciences. His primary interest lies in advancing the science of biodiversity and its conservation. His research focuses mainly on spiders, covering a wide range of topics including the discovery of new species, definition of higher taxa, phylogenetic analyses, and studies involving morphological, behavioral, and genomic data. His work also includes evolutionary and coevolutionary analyses of biological traits, as well as biogeographic studies. He has also investigated the evolution of spider silk, known as the strongest biological material in nature.
He earned his undergraduate degree in 1998 at the Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana and received his Ph.D. in 2005 at the George Washington University, United States. In 2006, he joined the Jovan Hadži Institute of Biology at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), where he remains partially employed. From 2008 to 2017 he served as head of the institute, and from 2008 to 2019 he led its research program.[1] In 2018, he became director of the National Institute of Biology, a position he held until 2020.[2]
