Indian researcher Tarunkishwor Yumnam, from the Institute of Science Education and Research in Thiruvananthapuram, has won this year’s AllGenetics–EMPSEB Award.
We are proud to announce that Indian researcher Tarunkishwor Yumnam, from the Institute of Science Education and Research in Thiruvananthapuram, has won the AllGenetics–EMPSEB Award 2025. His talk was selected by the EMPSEB committee as the top presentation of the meeting.
Tarunkishwor’s research explores the diversity and evolution of false head traits in butterflies, an intriguing form of predator deflection seen across the insect world. In his talk, Tarunkishwor talked about the correlated evolution of multiple traits that ended up becoming what we know as “false head” using a phylogenetic framework with 944 Lycaenid species. A very colorful presentation that has earned this year’s award at the EMPSEB (European Meeting of PhD Students on Evolutionary Biology).
This year’s EMPSEB took place during the first week of June in Milovy (Czech Republic) organised by a committee of PhD students from different countries. The EMPSEB meetings began in 1995 and are now considered a classic annual gathering for doctoral students from around the world.
AllGenetics has proudly sponsored this event since 2012, offering the AllGenetics-EMPSEB Award for the best oral presentation at the meeting.
The AllGenetics-EMPSEB Award has recognised many outstanding researchers over the years. The previous winners are:
- Mareike Wurdack (Universität Freiburg) in 2012.
- Pepijn Kamminga (Universiteit Leiden) in 2013.
- Margo Maex (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) in 2014.
- John Bruce (University of Oxford) in 2015.
- Amy Eacock (University of Liverpool) in 2016.
- Sebastiano de Bona (Jyväskylän Yliopisto) in 2017.
- Unni Pulliainen (Helsingin Yliopisto) in 2018.
- Lucy Rebecca Davies (Aarhus Universitet) in 2019.
- Chloe Fouilloux (Jyväskylän Yliopisto) in 2021.
- Jana Riederer (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) in 2022.
- Samantha López Clinton (Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet and Stockholms Universitet) in 2023.
- Jaime Morín Lagos (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) in 2024.