Evolutionary Biologist Wins Prestigious Research Prize

Professor Guillaume Chomicki from our Department of Biosciences has been awarded a prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize for his internationally recognised research in evolutionary biology.

The prizes, awarded by the Leverhulme Trust, recognise outstanding researchers whose work has already gained international recognition and whose future careers show exceptional promise.

Guillaume conducts world-leading research into how partnerships between species evolve, persist and break down.

He is particularly interested in why different species - such as insects and plants - form partnerships and what causes these relationships to change or break down.

Much of Guillaume's work focuses on the Hydnophytinae, a group of around 100 plants that grow on the branches of rainforest trees across Australasia.

They form swollen, hollow stems divided into chambers where ant colonies live.

In return, the ants feed the plant with their waste and with the debris they carry home.