Uppsala University to Award 2024 Rudbeck and Linnaeus Medals in October

Uppsala University’s Linnaeus Medal was first awarded on the tercentenary of the birth of Carl Linnaeus on 23 May 2007. The gold medal is conferred “for truly outstanding scientific achievement, especially in the Linnaean subject areas or fields associated with the legacy of Linnaeus”.

The 2024 Linnaeus Medal is awarded to Gesa Wehenmeyer, Professor of Aquatic Biogeochemistry at the Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University. The award citation:

Gesa Weyhenmeyer is receiving the medal for her research on changes in the amount and quality of dissolved organic carbon in inland waters, affecting everything from drinking water quality, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions to global biogeochemical cycles. She is also particularly interested in the dynamics of sea ice and its effects on ecosystem services. The research is based on global, regional and local databases, including Sweden’a unique long-term physical, chemical and biological freshwater data series, as well as field and laboratory experiments. Through her involvement in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Wehenmeyer also translates research findings into policy.

Three researchers awarded Rudbeck Medal

Uppsala University’s Rudbeck Medal was first awarded in 2003. The medal was instituted previous year on the occasion of the tercentenary of the death of Olof Rudbeck, Sr. It is awarded “for extraordinarily prominent achievements in science, to be conferred primarily for such accomplishments or findings attained at Uppsala University.”

The Rudbeck Medal will be awarded in 2024 to Professors Joakim Palme, Dan I. Andersson and Siv Andersson. The award citation was as follows:

Joakim Palme is a Professor of Political Science. His research assesses the design and effects of the welfare state from a comparative perspective. In addition to his solid theoretical contributions, he has also had a major impact on empirical research in the field by initiating and leading the collection of new and more comprehensive data on the development of welfare systems. As a professor at Uppsala since 2009, Palme has helped develop and strengthen research at the Department of Government on issues related to welfare, the labour market and migration. He has also made important contributions to increasing interdisciplinary collaboration at the University. Another characteristic of Palme’s research is that throughout his career, in various roles, he has successfully worked to promote the dissemination and use of significant research results in politics and administration with the aim of contributing to a better society.

Dan I. Andersson is a Professor of Medical Bacteriology. He has focused on studying the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and has made significant advances in his research. His focus is on the dynamics and mechanisms that govern genome variability and stability and how this can lead to resistance development in bacterial populations. Among other things, the results have led to increased knowledge of how favourable gene functions lead to copy number variation, as well as how selective pressures drive compensatory gene changes and even the development of new genes. In studying these evolutionary processes, Anderson has also studied horizontal gene transfer and the occurrence and mechanisms of the phenomenon of heteroresistance. At the same time, Andersson’s research has shown that once resistance is established, the chances of it disappearing by reducing antibiotic use can be very limited.

Siv Andersson is a Professor of Molecular Evolution at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, where she leads the research programme in molecular evolution. Her research examines the interaction between bacteria and their host organisms and aims to understand how intracellular bacteria and organelles evolve. A long-term goal is to design new bacterial genomes with beneficial functions using synthetic biology. Her notable early work includes sequencing the genome of a bacterium.