80 years of Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of Ural Branch Russian Academy of Sciences: the way of the Ural Institute of biology to modern ecology

The article presents the main events in the history of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2024. The main attention is paid to the changes in the research topics. In the 40’s and 50’s it was closely associated with the tasks assigned to the institute in relation to the requirements of the post-war national economy. Since 1955, in connection with the direction of the Institute by S.S. Schwartz and the renewal of the staff, a period of reorganisation of the subjects began, which led to the transformation of the Institute of Biology into the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology. In the same year, research into radiobiology and population studies began. A new period of history began after V.N. Bolshakov became the director of the Institute in 1976. Several branches of the Institute were established, the number of staff increased and the scope of research broadened. Recent decades have been characterised by the mass arrival of young staff, the organisation of new laboratories and the increase in the number of publications in the most prestigious international journals.