Eörs Szathmáry

Eörs Szathmáry (* 1959 in Hungary ) is a Hungarian biochemist. He is Professor of Biology with a focus on Theoretical Biology and Head of the Department of Plant Taxonomy and Ecology at the Eötvös Loránd University , Budapest . He is co-author of The Major Transitions in Evolution with John Maynard Smith .

Life

After graduating from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest in 1984, he spent time studying in England in the late 1980s, where he worked with John Maynard Smith. Other stations in his career were the National Institute for Medical Research in London, the Zurich Zoological Institute and the Collège de France . Today he is Professor of Biology at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and a Permanent Fellow at the Collegium Budapest / Institute for Advanced Study.

Research areas

• Theoretical evolutionary biology, mathematical description of evolution, general principles of evolution
• genetic code, optimal size of the genetic alphabet, evolution and classification of replicators
• Cell formation
• Creation of animal societies
• Origin of human language
• Astrobiology

Memberships and honors

• 1996: New Europe Prize from "Some Institutes for Advanced Study" (SIAS)
• 1996–2002: President of the "International Organization for Systematic and Evolutionary Biology" (IOSEB)
• 1999: Academy Prize of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Board at the "Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research", Altenberg, Austria
• Member of the Advisory Board of the "Society in Science: The Branco Weiss Fellowship", ETH Zurich
• 2001: Member of the Academia Europaea
• 2020: Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization

Works

• with John Maynard Smith: The Major Transitions in Evolution. Oxford University Press, New York 1995, ISBN 0-19-850294-X .
• with John Maynard Smith: Evolution: Processes, Mechanisms, Models. Spectrum, 1996, ISBN 3-8274-0022-8 .
• with John Maynard Smith: The Origins of Life: From the Birth of Life to the Origin of Language. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2000, ISBN 0-19-286209-X .

• Contributions to the journals Journal of Theoretical Biology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, Evolutionary Ecology and Evolution of Communication, Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA and Journal of Theoretical Biology

Web links

• Literature by and about Eörs Szathmáry in the catalog of the German National Library
• Eörs Szathmáry's website at the "Collegium Budapest"