I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology
The I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine () is the leading institution in Ukraine doing research in zoology. At present, this is the leading regional center of zoological research and expertise in the Eastern Europe. The Institute of Zoology was initially founded as The Committee for studies of the fauna of Ukraine in 1919 and started its activities in its current form on August 1, 1930. The evolutionary biologist Ivan Schmalhausen was the first director of the Institute. Among the scientists of Institute were Aleksandr Markevich, Mykola Szczerbak, Vladislav  Monchenko, Boris Balinsky, Sergey Paramonov, Leo Sheljuzhko and many others. The research is focused on: fauna of Ukraine, evolution and taxonomy of animals; development of policies in conservation and management of wildlife, its monitoring with regard to human activities; zoological background for plant and animal protection. The Institute of Zoology is the leading Ukrainian center in studies of biodiversity, providing the expertise for implementation of the CBD, the Bonn Convention, the EUROBATS Agreement, evaluation for CITES documents, maintaining the Ukrainian Cadaster of Fauna, contributing to the national programs for establishing new protected areas and mapping the fauna of Ukraine. It  permanently contributes into national reporting on the status of animal wildlife in Ukraine. The Institute houses the CITES Coordinating Centre. The Institute functions as a museum-type, collection housing institution. The collections include more than six million specimens sorted in 267 collection units. The type materials include 18,225 specimens. Also, the Institute houses anatomical preparations (more than 10,000 specimens), histological and paleontological preparations and samples, among them the collection of amber inclusions (more than 20,000 specimens). The collections of the Institute of Zoology are recognized as a part of the national heritage and included into the Ukrainian National Register of  Research Objects of National Heritage, which offers the special status of state protection and support. The Institute of Zoology includes the departments of Invertebrate Fauna and Systematics, Entomology and Collection Management (including the Collections), Applied Entomology, Acarology, Parasitology, Evolutionary and Genetic Systematics, Fauna and Taxonomy of Vertebrates, Evolutionary Morphology and Wildlife Monitoring and Conservation (including the Lab of Population Ecology). There are labs focused on microscopy and molecular genetics, as well as the Ukrainian Bird Tagging Center and Ukrainian Tissue Sample Bank, being established in the Institute. Publications External links. r