The Grants’ legendary explorations of the group of 18 bird species known as Darwin’s finches that populate the Galápagos island of Daphne Major — which is in an entirely natural state unaffected by humans — over four decades have produced an array of dazzling insights into evolutionary theory.

Researchers identify a common underlying genetic basis for social behavior in dogs and humans. Co-lead authors Bridgett vonHoldt, assistant professor in EEB, and Emily Shuldiner, a 2016 Princeton alumna, worked together to pinpoint the commonalities in the genetic architecture of Williams-Beuren syndrome and canine tameness.

A number of innovative research projects ranging from the sciences to the arts and engineering have been granted funding through Princeton’s Office of the Dean for Research.

Each year, the Dean for Research Innovation Fund gives support for exploratory…

Be it the Mima mounds of Washington state or the famous “fairy circles” of Namibia in southwestern Africa, people are captivated by the regular patterns of plant growth that blanket desert and grassland landscapes, often with mesmerizing consistency.

Scientists have long debated how these phenomena originate and persist. Now, a new…

Scientists from Princeton University and Uppsala University in Sweden have identified a specific gene that within a year helped spur a permanent physical change in a finch species in response to a drought-induced food shortage. The findings provide a genetic basis for natural selection that, when combined with observational data, could serve as…