The 'shopkeepers' function as middlemen. They try to find biologists who are willing to adopt a research problem that has been proposed at the ' Wetenschapswinkel '. The Faculty of Biology evolved from the former Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, which can be traced back to the founding year of the university. Nowadays, Utrecht features the largest and most comprehensive Faculty of Biology in The Netherlands. As such, it offers students and researchers almost the entire spectrum of biological studies, ranging from biomolecules, cells, and organisms to populations and ecosystems.
Little research is conducted in the fields of animal ecology and marine biology.
The conditions for interdisciplinary and in-depth research in natural and life sciences on the Utrecht campus are boosted by the presence of large faculties of Medicine Veterinary Medicine Pharmacy Chemistry Physics Earth Sciences .