Biennial Awards and Distinguished Fellows

At each meeting since 2022, a Biennial Award is given and a Distinguished Fellowship.

Biennial Awards

2024 Scott Gilbert

Scott Gilbert is Howard A. Schneiderman ’48 Professor Emeritus in Biology and Finland Distinguished Professor, emeritus, at the University of Helsinki.

From the nominations: “Scott Gilbert has authored several textbooks in developmental biology, evolutionary developmental biology and ecological (evolutionary) developmental biology and just because of that, he has already widely contributed to the spread of our discipline across generations of scholars … In the nineties he has contributed to the conceptual formation of a new and more robust evolutionary synthesis which includes embryology. … More recently, he has argued that the holobiont is an important unit of evolutionary selection, which raises doubts on still common views on the role of the genotype and genetic control in individuation … Particularly appreciated are also his efforts to point out the importance of considering the science of development and embryology in general discussions in society”.

2022 Robert Černý

Robert Černý heads the Laboratory for the study of craniofacial evolution & development at Charles University in Prague.

From the nominations: “… he extended a combination of … approaches into complex comparative studies on the earliest stages of cranial development (incl. pharyngeal structures, jaws and teeth) in several model taxa (lamprey, zebra fish, Xenopus etc.) with particular attention to the clades close to the root of the gnathostome tree – first of all bichir, gar and sturgeon (for brief account of resulting discoveries see Appendix). … In 2006 he organized together with F.Galis and I.Horacek the First and Founding Meeting of European EVO-DEVO society in Prague, participated by more than 300 experts, and since then he has regularly acted in organization efforts of the EED society. … He grew an outstanding personality, deeply educated and instantly capable of synthesizing a broad spectrum of conceptual issues and methodological approaches into an integrative view of vertebrate evolution and developmental processes underlying the evolutionary divergences”.