Picture in the middle: (C) Times of India

Congratulations to Professor Raghavendra Gadagkar on being awarded the Cross of Order of the Merit, Germany’s highest civilian honour. The award was presented to him by the Consul-General of Germany, Mr. Joern Rohde in Bengaluru on 7th August 2015. The award was bestowed upon him in recognition of his important scientific contributions in the field of behavioural ecology and sociobiology and his efforts at strengthening Indo-German research collaboration and intellectual exchange.

Prof. Gadagkar is a nationally and internationally acclaimed scientist based at the Centre for Ecological Sciences. He is a leading expert in the field of sociobiology and is well known for his work on the evolution of eusociality in insects. He has explored this theme over the past 35 years using the primitively eusocial wasp species Ropalidia marginata as a model system. He has published over 200 research papers and two books: his first book ‘Survival Strategies’ is an immensely popular introduction to the field of behavioural ecology read by students all over India and also translated into Chinese and Korean. His second book ‘The Social Biology of Ropalidia marginata’ summarises his research into the evolution of eusociality.

Prof. Gadagkar is a member of the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) and a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. He is also currently President of the Indian National Science Academy. His deepest connections in Germany are however with the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Berlin Institute of Advanced Studies), an institution he has been associated with over the past 15 years and of which he is a Non-Resident Permanent Fellow.