LATEST NEWS » Awards & Grants

The Society for the Study of Evolution is pleased to announce the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award for evolutionary biologists. The award recognizes individuals who have made substantial contributions to the study of evolution, who have demonstrated outstanding mentorship of trainees, and/or who have provided noteworthy service to the evolution community. The awardee will be chosen this summer and will be presented at the 2022 Evolution meeting in Cleveland, OH.

Complete the form below with your name and the nominee’s name. Nominators are asked to provide a short (250 words or less) statement in support of the nominee. You will also be asked if you would be willing to provide a longer and more detailed nomination letter at a later date. SSE values the contributions of diverse researchers and encourages nominators to consider all potential mentors and colleagues. Self-nominations are welcome. Please submit your nomination by April 26, 2021.

The Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) Education Committee is pleased to announce the 2021 T.H. Huxley Award, named in honor of Darwin's very public supporter, which recognizes and promotes the development of high quality evolution education resources. If you have an interesting project or educational activity to share, consider applying for this award. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to apply. 

This award provides funding for an SSE member to present evolution education resources at the National Association of Biology Teachers (http://nabt.org/) annual conference. This year’s NABT conference will be held November 11 - 14, 2021 in Atlanta, GA.

Applications are due April 4. Learn more and apply here. 

We are pleased to announce the recipient of the second annual SSE Lifetime Achievement Award, Dr. Richard E. Lenski. The Lifetime Achievement Award was created to recognize individuals who have made substantial contributions to the study of evolution, who have demonstrated outstanding mentorship of trainees, and/or who have provided noteworthy service to the evolution community. Dr. Lenski is the John Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University (MSU). For more than 30 years, he has directed one of the most significant experiments in evolutionary biology, the E. coli Long Term Evolution Experiment (LTEE). He is one of the founding members of the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action at MSU, and today serves on its executive committee. Dr. Lenski has previously received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship, and has been elected to the American Academy of Microbiology, the European Molecular Biology Organization, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to his outstanding research contributions, he is known for being an exceptional mentor and role model. He also served the community as President of SSE in 2013. Congratulations, Dr. Lenski!

The SSE Dobzhansky Prize recognizes the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding young evolutionary biologist. PhD recipients who were awarded their degree between January 1, 2017 and January 1, 2021 are eligible. The committee will consider circumstances that may extend eligibility (e.g., parental leave) and encourages nominations of biologists from historically under-represented groups. Potential applicants should contact committee chair Sarah Schaack at secretary@evolutionsociety.org with any questions about eligibility. Deadline extended to February 14.

 
Congratulations to our 13 recipients of the Graduate Research Excellence Grants (GREG) Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards! These awards are to assist students in the later stages of their Ph.D. programs by providing funding to enhance the scope of dissertation research, such as to conduct additional experiments or field work. Thank you to all our applicants. We received many excellent applications. Two awards were funded through donations to the George Gilchrist Student Support Fund. Thank you to all who donated!

Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards in memory of George Gilchrist:*

Jessica Aguilar, University of California Berkeley. Advisor: Noah Whiteman
Brandie Quarles, Duke University. Advisor: Kathleen Donohue
 
 Rosemary Grant Advanced Award Recipients:

Upama Aich, Australian National University. Advisor: Michael Jennions
Giorgia Auteri, University of Michigan. Advisor: L. Lacey Knowles
Henry Ertl, University of Michigan. Advisor: Patricia Wittkopp
Alice Gadau, The Rockefeller University. Advisor: Li Zhao
Benjamin Gerstner, University of New Mexico. Advisor: Ken Whitney
Yuki Haba, Princeton University. Advisor: Carolyn McBride
Michaël Nicolaï, Universiteit Gent. Advisor: Matthew Shawkey
Arjuna Rajakumar, McGill University. Advisor: Ehab Abouheif
Alexus Roberts, University of California, Davis. Advisor: Peter Wainwright
Pamela Santana, Universidade De Sao Paulo. Advisor: Paulo Guimarães Jr.
Xueling Yi, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Advisor: Emily Latch

*These awards were funded by donations to the George Gilchrist Student Support Fund.

We are pleased to announce a call for proposals for local and regional educational outreach activities to take place during 2021. It is our hope that these projects will lead to ongoing outreach collaboration in future years. Preference will be given to new collaborations, but extensions of previous projects that have evidence of success are allowed. Applicants must be members of SSE. We expect to award up to $1000 USD to 5 to 10 projects Proposals will be accepted until February 20, 2021.

The deadline for the ASN/SSE/SSB Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Award has been extended to February 1, 2021. This award recognizes a person or group at any career stage who has strengthened the ecology and evolutionary biology community by promoting inclusiveness and diversity in our fields. The award includes a $1000 USD honorarium. Learn more and submit your nomination here.

The Society for the Study of Evolution is pleased to announce the 2021 R. C. Lewontin Early Award competition. These grants are part of the Graduate Research Excellence Grants award program and are for students in the 1st or 2nd year of their PhD program. Awards will range from $1,500 to $2,500. Proposals will be due March 15. Learn more here.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2021 SSE Presidents’ Award for Outstanding Dissertation Paper in Evolution. To be eligible for consideration, a manuscript must be based on graduate work of the primary author. The manuscript must have been published in an issue of the journal Evolution in 2020 (Volume 74). 

Deadline: January 31, 2021

Learn more about how to apply here.

Nominations are now open for the 2021 Dobzhansky Prize, which recognizes the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding young evolutionary biologist. To be eligible, the date you were or will be officially awarded your Ph.D. must be between January 1, 2017 and January 1, 2021. This award is not limited to any particular area of evolutionary biology. We value diversity, and are seeking a broad and diverse applicant pool from all axes and components of diversity in the evolutionary biology community. 

Deadline: January 31, 2021

Learn more and apply on the Dobzhansky Prize page.

The American Society of Naturalists, the Society for the Study of Evolution, and the Society of Systematic Biologists announce the call for nominations for the 2nd annual ASN/SSE/SSB Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Award. The IDEA Award will be given to a person at any career stage who has strengthened the ecology and evolutionary biology community by promoting inclusiveness and diversity in our fields. The award can also be presented to a group. The recipient(s) will each receive a plaque at the annual meeting of ASN/SSB/SSE and a $1000 honorarium (shared among recipients if more than one).

Deadline: January 15, 2021

Click here to learn more and submit a nomination.

As previously announced, the award for an exceptional Ph.D. dissertation paper published in the journal Evolution, formerly called the R. A. Fisher Prize, has been renamed. A statement about the history of the name and the reason for its change can now be found on the award webpage. SSE Council continues to work on broader issues concerning diversity and representation in our membership, our grant and prize awardees, and leadership. Learn more on the page for our Diversity Committee, which guides these initiatives.

Applications are now open for the 2020 Graduate Research Excellence Grants - Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards. These awards are to assist students in the later stages of their Ph.D. programs. Awards will range from US$2,000 - $3,500 and approximately ten awards will be made. Funds can be used to enhance the scope of dissertation research, such as to conduct additional experiments or field work. Proposals are due September 15. Learn more here.

The Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) is pleased to announce the 2020 Graduate Research Excellence Grant (GREG) – Rosemary Grant Advanced Award competition. These awards are to assist students in the later stages of their Ph.D. programs. These grants are part of the Graduate Research Excellence Grants award program. Applications are not yet open; the link to log in to access the application will be posted on the Rosemary Grant Advanced Award page when it is available. Applications will be due September 15, 2020. Learn more on the Rosemary Grant Advanced Award page.

Congratulations to the 2020 GREG - R.C. Lewontin Early Award recipients! These awards are to assist students in the early stages of their Ph.D. programs. These grants are part of the Graduate Research Excellence Grants award program. 

R.C. Lewontin Award in memory of George Gilchrist:* 
Makenzie Whitener, University of Georgia. Advisor: Andrea Sweigart

McCall Calvert, University of Pittsburgh. Advisor: Corlett Wood
Regan Cross, Queen's University. Advisor: Christopher Eckert
Victor de Brito, Western Michigan Univeristy. Advisor: Devin Bloom
Jenna DeCurzio, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Advisor: Christina Burch
Matthew Farnitano, University of Georgia. Advisor: Andrea Sweigart
Samantha Goldman, Cornell University. Advisor: Andrew Moeller
Diler Haji, University of California, Berkeley. Advisor: Noah Whiteman
Kelsie Hunnicutt, University of Denver. Advisor: Erica Larson
Will Jarvis, University of Ottawa. Advisor: Howard Rundle
Sungsik Kong, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Laura Kubatko
Emily Lau, University of California Santa Barbara. Advisor: Todd Oakley
Michelle McCauley, Emory University. Advisor: Levi Morran
Theresa Miorin, University of Georgia. Advisor: Kelly Dyer
Benjamin Moran, Stanford University. Advisor: Molly Schumer
Emily Nonnamaker, The University of Notre Dame. Advisor: Elizabeth Archie
Klara Norden, Princeton University. Advisor: Mary C. Stoddard
Kennedy Omufwoko, Princeton University. Advisor: Sarah Kocher
Ian Rines, Illinois State University. Advisor: Ben Sadd
Srijan Seal, Ashoka University. Advisor: Imroze Khan
Ruben Tovar, The University of Texas at Austin. Advisor: David Hillis
Adrian Troya, Universidade Federal do Parana. Advisor: John Lattke
Mackenzie Urquhart-Cronish, University of British Columbia. Advisor: Amy Angert

*This award was funded by donations to the George Gilchrist Student Support Fund.

This year, SSE requested voluntary demographic information from award applicants in an effort to address bias and promote equity in awarding across multiple axes of diversity. Visit the R.C. Lewontin Early Award page to learn more. 

The SSE Education and Outreach Committee is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 T. H. Huxley Award, Dr. Erin L. McCullough and Ms. Lauren Verdeflor and colleagues Alaina Weinsztok, Jason R. Wiles, and Steve Dorus for their activity, "Exploratory activities for understanding evolutionary relationships depicted by phylogenetic trees: united but diverse." In the activity, students use complementary phenotypic and molecular data to explore how to build phylogenetic trees and interpret the evolutionary relationships that they represent. Read more here.

The SSE Council is in the process of renaming what has previously been called the R. A. Fisher Prize. We sincerely thank the many members of our community who have made their thoughts known on this issue. This award was originally named to highlight Fisher’s foundational contributions to evolutionary biology. However, we realize that we cannot, in recognizing and honoring these contributions, isolate them from his racist views and promotion of eugenics--which were relentless, harmful, and unsupported by scientific evidence. We further recognize and deeply regret that graduate students, who could have been recipients of this award, may have hesitated to apply given the connotations. For this, we are truly sorry.

The idea of changing the name has been discussed amongst SSE Councils in the past. After hearing from many in our community and further discussion among SSE leadership, the Council has voted to change this name. A new name will be announced once it is determined, and a fuller explanation and history of this award will be posted on this page.

In the meantime, we are continuing to work on broader issues concerning diversity and representation in our membership, our grant and prize awardees, and leadership. Learn more on the page for our Diversity Committee, which provides strong guidance on these initiatives, and in a 2019 blog post by Diversity Committee representatives. 

Only 10 days left to apply for SSE funding for your international symposium, workshop, or short course! This year the International Committee awards can be used for virtual events too. Submit your application by June 1! 

Congratulations to the 2020 Dobzhansky Prize Winner, Dr. Jacqueline Sztepanacz! Dr. Sztepanacz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto and an Invited Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. The Dobzhansky Prize recognizes the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding young evolutionary biologist. The prize is accompanied by a check for U.S. $5000, and the recipient is invited to speak at the annual Evolution meeting.

The 2021 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) is planned for June 25–29, 2021 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in NM USA. The SSE Council invites proposals for one sponsored symposium at the meeting. Sub-fields or taxonomic groups that have been underrepresented in past symposia will be considered preferentially. Previous sponsored symposia are listed on the SSE website along with detailed instructions for preparing proposals.

In addition to novelty, we seek a symposium topic that will help SSE celebrate its 75^th birthday in 2021!

Congratulations to Dr. Dorota Paczesniak, recipient of the 2020 Fisher Prize for her paper, “Parasite resistance predicts fitness better than fecundity in a natural population of the freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum.” The R. A. Fisher Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution for an outstanding Ph.D. dissertation paper published in an issue of the journal Evolution during a given calendar year. The award comes with a $1000 honorarium.

In light of the uncertainties around event planning for the next few months, the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) International Committee has extended the deadline for two of their grants:

Co-sponsorship of symposia organized by non-US evolution societies
The goal of this award is to foster communication between scientists from different countries by stimulating scientific dialogue through co-sponsored symposia. Evolution societies with limited financial resources will have the opportunity to invite speakers who are SSE members to their meeting. This will provide growth opportunities for both societies, since it will not only benefit the hosting society but also create opportunities for new collaborations for the invited speakers.

NEW DEADLINE: JUNE 1, 2020

Evolution International Events Award
These events are aimed at furthering the purpose of SSE by fostering international collaborations amongst evolution oriented societies and scientists. Eligible events would include specialized symposia, workshops and short courses in any aspect of evolutionary biology. The events could be hosted either in the US or abroad and preference should be given to events that specifically include participants from countries other than the USA.

NEW DEADLINE: JUNE 1, 2020

The deadline to submit a nomination for the SSE Lifetime Achievement Award has been extended to April 26. SSE values the contributions of diverse researchers and encourages nominators to consider all potential mentors and colleagues. Self-nominations are welcome. 

The Society for the Study of Evolution is pleased to announce the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award for evolutionary biologists. The award recognizes individuals who have made substantial contributions to the study of evolution, who have demonstrated outstanding mentorship of trainees, and/or who have provided noteworthy service to the evolution community.  The awardee will be chosen this summer and will be presented at the 2021 Evolution meeting in Albuquerque, NM. Nominations are due April 1, 2020. 

SSE, the American Society of Naturalists (ASN), and the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) are pleased to announce the recipients of the inaugural Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Award, Dr. Scott Edwards and Dr. Richard Kliman. Dr. Edwards and Dr. Kliman were selected for their steadfast commitment to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion of underrepresented minorities in evolutionary biology. In 2001, they started the Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution (UDE) program, which still provides funding and mentorship for students to attend the annual Evolution meeting. Since its inception, nearly 250 US and international undergraduates have had the opportunity to participate. Thank you to Dr. Edwards and Dr. Kliman for your commitment and contributions to the community!