diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 22bee194a9c..8e93774bad5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -107,7 +107,8 @@
     "enable-autologin": "sed -i -e 's/enableDevAutoLogin = false/enableDevAutoLogin = true/g' ./conf/application.conf",
     "disable-autologin": "sed -i -e 's/enableDevAutoLogin = true/enableDevAutoLogin = false/g' ./conf/application.conf",
     "coverage": "nyc report --reporter=text-lcov | coveralls",
-    "postcheckout": "echo 'Deleting auto-generated flow files...' && rm -f app/assets/javascripts/test/snapshots/flow-check/*.js"
+    "postcheckout": "echo 'Deleting auto-generated flow files...' && rm -f app/assets/javascripts/test/snapshots/flow-check/*.js",
+    "apply-evolutions": "tools/postgres/apply_evolutions.sh"
   },
   "lint-staged": {
     "*.js": [
diff --git a/tools/postgres/apply_evolutions.sh b/tools/postgres/apply_evolutions.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..b26a3daca4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/postgres/apply_evolutions.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/bin/bash          
+set -Eeuo pipefail
+
+scriptdir="$(dirname "$0")"
+
+# find schema version
+schema_version=`psql -A  -U postgres -h localhost --dbname="webknossos" -t -c "SELECT * FROM webknossos.releaseinformation"`
+echo "Schema version: ${schema_version}"
+
+# assert that the found schema version is a number
+re='^[0-9]+$'
+if ! [[ $schema_version =~ $re ]] ; then
+   echo "Error: Schema version is not a number" >&2; exit 1
+fi
+
+# get list of evolutions to apply 
+files=""
+for entry in "${scriptdir}/../../conf/evolutions"/*.sql
+do
+	tmp_number=`grep -oP "[0-9]{3}" <<< $entry`
+	evolution_number=$((10#$tmp_number)) # force the number to be decimal
+  	if (( evolution_number > schema_version )); then
+  		files="$files -f $entry"
+  	fi;
+done
+
+# apply evolutions
+if [ -n "$files" ]; then
+	echo "Applying following evolutions: $files"
+	`PGPASSWORD=postgres psql -U postgres -h localhost --dbname="webknossos" -v ON_ERROR_STOP=ON -q $files`
+	echo "Successfully applied the evolutions after $schema_version"
+else
+	echo "There are no evolutions that can be applied."
+fi;
+