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Micropaleontology is the study of calcareous (e.g. foraminifera, coccoliths, ostracods), siliceous (e.g. diatoms, radiolarians) and organic (e.g. pollen, spores) microfossils with size generally < 2mm requiring the use of a microscope for their investigation.

Several disciplines rely on micropaleontology, which provides efficient dating tools (biostratigraphy), proxies for palaeoceanographic/paleoenvironmental reconstructions, biomonitoring and is currently employed also in geoarcheology, archeometry as well as art and forensic sciences.

At the University of Fribourg the research group in micropaleontology works on several topics and locations around the world, (e.g., The Maldives, Mediterranean, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans) and investigates microfossiles from deep to recent times.