The John C Marsden Medal

£1000 and a medal awarded for the best doctoral thesis in biology.

Dr John C Marsden was the Executive Secretary of the Society from 1989 to 2004 and was elected as a Fellow honoris causa in 2005 in recognition of his services to the Society. The medal is awarded annually in Dr John C Marsden's memory for the best doctoral thesis in biology. It is open to any candidate whose research has been carried out whilst registered at any UK institution. Theses on the full range of biology are eligible. Nominations are received from the Head of Department or the supervisor of the candidate.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Open to PhD candidates whose doctorate has been awarded during the previous eighteen months (from closing date of nomination).
• PhD candidate can be any nationality, but research to have been carried out whilst registered at a UK institution
• The thesis must be of outstanding quality and be on any aspect of biology
• Nominations to be made by the Head of Department or supervisor of the candidate
• Up to two candidates may be nominated per department
• Nominee cannot, at the time of nomination, be a member of Council
• Nominee does not need to be a Fellow of the Society
• We do not accept self-nominations
  

Evaluation criteria will include (scores in parentheses):

1. Writing and organisation (0-10)
2. Presentation (format, illustrations) (0-10)
3. Intrinsic interest of question (0-20)
4. Contextualization of problem (0-10)
5. Quantity of data collected (0-10)
6. Quality of data collected (0-10)
7. Data analysis (0-20)
8. Discussion depth and breadth (0-10)
9. Published papers (0-10)

Nominations should be submitted by completing the downloadable form and sending to nominations@linnean.org by 30 November.

Dr Patrick Kennedy, University of Bristol, John S Marsden Medal 2020

Thesis titled 'Uncertainty and the evolution of altruism: Theory and fieldwork in the paper wasps of Central and South America'

Patrick's thesis considers two major topics of broad biological relevance: how unpredictability in environmental conditions can impact the evolution of altruism (costly helping of others), and why some individuals in social wasp populations drift between nests (helping other colonies). He tackled the first using complex analytical modelling and evolutionary simulations, while the second involved arduous fieldwork, experimental manipulations and sophisticated statistics. Patrick's work shows exceptional width of approaches and expertise. All hypotheses are introduced lucidly with wide-ranging referencing of not just biological literature but also economic, biochemistry and medicine. In fact, there is enough material for not one but two theses.

The thesis includes several original ideas. He drove a theoretical reworking of Hamilton’s rule; possibly the most-famous, widely applicable and influential equation in behavioural ecology, since it relates to inclusive fitness and altruism. The paper is already generating considerable follow-up theoretical attention and empirical testing in various taxa. Another submission to Nature is imminent, combining analytical modelling of three proposed hypotheses for drifting behaviour, Markov-chain modelling of ¼ million field data points to test the most plausible (the non-linear returns hypothesis), and evolutionary simulations to assess the likely selection pressures. At least six more primary research and review/opinion papers are planned from the thesis. Patrick has been active in outreach to schools internationally, as well as an invited speaker at meetings in UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Brazil and Panama.