Merian Award

In 2001 the GTOE established the Merian Awards for the best contributions given by young scientists during the European Conference of Tropical Ecology meeting. Six Merian Awards are handed out annually, three for the best oral contributions and three for the best posters. The prizes for the Merian Awards in 2025 are sponsored by the journal “Plants People Planet” an open access journal of the New Phytologist Foundation. The New Phytologist Foundation will also be providing opportunities for scientists attending the meeting to publish within their journal.

To find out more about Plant People Plant visit: https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/25722611

To find out more about the New Phytologist Foundation visit: https://www.newphytologist.org/

The GTOE has selected Maria Sibylla Merian as the patron of the Merian Prize to commemorate her unique work as an outstanding artist and as the first female tropical naturalist who actually travelled to the tropics in order to study their fascinating diversity, in particular insects. Maria Sibylla Merian was born in 1647 in Frankfurt/Main as the daughter of the engraver, etcher, and book dealer Matthäus Merian. She died in 1717 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Sibylla Merian's most remarkable contributions included a book on the fauna and flora of Surinam: "Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium", which brought her international fame even during her lifetime. She was the first scientist who recognized, and documented in her artistic work, that insects go through various developmental stages. This is particularly remarkable as the general public in her time still believed that, for instance, mosquitoes and caterpillars were generated in mud by the devil.

Who is eligible and how to apply

Eligible candidates are students and PhDs who are members of the GTOE and finished their dissertation less than three years ago.

Please subscribe for participation using the online registration/submission form.

The award ceremony takes place during the closing ceremony Thursday 27 February 2025.

Pensoft Publishing

Thanks to Pensoft Publishing there will be an additional prize for the highest ranked oral presentation in the Merian Awards based in a low-middle income country (as defined by the DAC list). This prize will be a free open access publication in any of their journals (worth up to EURO 1100).