The Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences is a research institute within the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The institute is a merger of two former institutes allowing RUG-GELIFES to bridge the gap in research and education between the mechanistic, ecological and evolutionary studies of biological processes, with a special focus on the adaptive potential of life. The institute coordinates the local Research School of Ecology and Evolution, participates in the interfaculty Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences and is (joint) coordinator of five master programmes, including the Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Evolutionary Biology.