Mendel Medal of the Leopoldina

The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina bestows the Mendel Medal upon Detlef Weigel

The Leopoldina honors his outstanding achievements in the fields of developmental and evolutionary genetics. Weigel has received the Mendel Medal on September 18, 2015, at the ceremonial opening of the Leopoldina’s Annual Assembly, which is also attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.The Mendel Medal commemorates Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), the founder of genetics. It was established on occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first public presentation of Mendel’s seminal findings in 1865. With this award, the Leopoldina honors pioneering achievements in the field of general and molecular genetics. Previous winners include the Nobel laureates Max Delbrück and Sydney Brenner, both pioneers of modern genetics, the evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr, and the microbiologist Regine Kahmann.