The Darwin–Wallace Medal

Awarded to a person or group who have made major advances in evolutionary science.

Previously awarded to commemorate the 50th,100th and 150th anniversaries of the reading of the joint paper by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace 'On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection', which was read on 1 July 1858, and published by the Linnean Society. In recognition of the continuing importance of research on evolutionary biology, the Council of the Society announced in 2008 that the medal would be awarded annually from 2010.

The next round of nominations for this award will open in May 2025.

• Open to any scientist of any nationality, in the field of the understanding of evolution
• For their major advances in evolutionary science and contribution to the wider natural history community, e.g. editorial and/or committee/policy work/public engagement
• 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

Professor Trudy Mackay FRS

‘I was surprised and delighted to learn that I am the recipient of the 2025 Darwin–Wallace Medal. It is a great honour to join the ranks of the celebrated evolutionary biologists who are recent and past recipients of this prestigious award.’

Widely recognised as one of the world’s leading quantitative geneticists, Professor Trudy Mackay FRS has made essential and groundbreaking contributions to the analysis of quantitative traits. Working primarily with the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, she has transformed our understanding of the genetic basis of quantitative traits from complex statistics to complex genetics. Trudy generated the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP), a population of inbred wild-derived fly lines with sequenced genomes which she made available as a community resource. The DGRP represents the most extensive eukaryotic genetic reference population available to date, is used by laboratories worldwide, and has significantly impacted evolutionary genetics research both domestically and internationally.