Mihaela Pavličev is Full Professor at the University of Vienna, where she is the Deputy Head of the Department of Evolutionary Biology, and Head of the Unit for Theoretical Biology.

Her primary research interest is in the organismal features that enable evolvability of complex organisms. She believes that inorder to understand phenotypic evolution, one needs to understand what patterns of heritable phenotypic variation the developmental/physiological systems are able to produce, what are the consequences of specific patterns of variation over short terms (population genetic scale) and long terms (species divergence observed in comparative biology) under selection and drift, and how the patterns of variation themselves evolve. One recurring evolutionary phenomenon is the decoupling of variation between traits, and subsequent individuation of parts and the origin of new biological units. In this context, Prof. Pavličev's work pertains to the role of pleiotropy and interactions in this process. She pursues these questions of evolvability and individuation in theory as well as in empirical work on the evolution of limbs and of the mammalian female reproductive system.