Académie des Sciences François Sommer Scientific Grand Prize

Prize to reward the work of an experienced researcher/research team under the supervision of a French research organisation, regardless of its location, in the field of terrestrial wildlife in France, Europe or Africa.

France’s Académie des Sciences (Academy of Sciences) is an independent scholarly society created in 1666. It is one of the five academies within the Institut de France and is dedicated to developing science and advising government on scientific topics.

The Academy’s François Sommer Grand Scientific Prize is awarded for research on terrestrial wildlife in France, Europe or Africa. For the purposes of the Prize, wildlife refers to terrestrial fauna (vertebrates, insects and arachnids). However, research programmes of a more ecosystemic nature that include these invertebrates are eligible. 

The Prize will reward the research work and/or the excellence of a research career of an experienced researcher or a research team. Research should contribute to a new or better understanding of the living conditions of wildlife and its habitats, making major contributions to the understanding of current and future ecological issues. Scientific disciplines, fields of application and key concepts include:

• Ecophysiology of individuals, population and community ecology.
• Ecology (landscape, biogeographical, functional, behavioural, restoration, evolutionary), ethology, population genetics, population dynamics, conservation biology and ecology.
• Ethnobiology, environmental sociology, environmental philosophy, environmental economics.
• Adaptation to changing environments, community structure, community succession, interactions and food webs, wildlife health, biodiversity conservation.
• Social anthropology, humanities and social sciences.
• Wildlife health and zoonoses with a focus on ‘One Health’.
• Sciences related to animal population management, the study of the environmental and societal impacts of wildlife exploitation, interactions and cohabitation between wildlife and human populations etc.