Peter Oswald Staub – PhD Student
In my PhD I explore the diversity of medicinal plants described in ancient European herbals with a focus on the links between their organoleptic features (i.e. taste and smell), therapeutic uses and phylogenetic position. Thereby I aim to identify hidden or unknown principles and concepts in European materia medica and shed light on the processes that influence the development of (ethno-)pharmacopoeias. Potentially interesting and hitherto understudied medicinal plants will be examined pharmacologically and phytochemically.