Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser FRS, Group Leader at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU), Regius Professor of Botany in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, and Chief Executive Officer of UK Research and Innovation, has been awarded the Royal Society’s 2023 Croonian Medal and Lecture.
Presented for ‘playing a central role in two of the most important discoveries regarding the nature and perception of plant hormones, and for her contributions to gender equality in science’, the award involves delivering the prestigious Croonian Lecture - the Royal Society’s premier lecture in the biological sciences - and the receipt of a medal of silver gilt.
Professor Leyser is a leader in research on plant growth hormones, especially auxin and the control of shoot branching in Arabidopsis. Her work aims to elucidate the regulatory systems underlying plant growth and development, combining computational modelling with molecular genetics and cell biological approaches. In parallel, she has a long-term interest in inclusiveness and engagement in science and has driven many initiatives to support an open and collaborative research culture that delivers high quality research that is both valuable and valued. Prior to her role at UKRI, she was Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.
Professor Leyser said “This is a huge honour and a wonderful surprise. I am deeply grateful for the opportunities I have had, living through one of the most exciting times in the biological sciences, and for all the inspirational and dedicated people with whom I have had the privilege to work over the years. And I am also very grateful for the opportunities this award creates.”
Professor Leyser’s Croonian Lecture is scheduled for spring 2023.
Professor Ottoline Leyser was elected Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge in 2020. She was previously Professor of Plant Development at the Sainsbury Laboratory, where she served as Director until June 2020 when, she was appointed as CEO of UK Research and Innovation for a five year term. Her work at the University aims to elucidate the regulatory systems underlying plant growth and development, combining computational modelling with molecular, genetic and cell biological approaches.
She has a long-term interest in inclusiveness and engagement in science and has driven many initiatives to support an open and collaborative research culture that delivers high quality research that is both valuable and valued. This includes ongoing work to improve research culture, which started with a project she chaired for the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Professor Leyser has been actively engaged in science policy for many years. She chaired the Royal Society's Science Policy Expert Advisory Committee from 2014-2020 and as served on the Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology since 2017. In 2017, Professor Leyser was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to plant science, science in society and equality and diversity in science.
Professor Leyser’s research has resulted in major advances in our knowledge of plant development and includes pioneering work in studying hormonal control of shoot branching through interdisciplinary approaches. Among her honours are the Society of Experimental Biology's President's Medal (2000), the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award (2007), the International Plant Growth Substance Association's Silver Medal (2010), the UK Genetics Society Medal (2016), the EMBO Women in Science Award (2017) and the British Society for Developmental Biology's Waddington Medal (2020). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society, an honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, an International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences, a Member of the Academia Europaea, the European Molecular Biology Organisation and the Leopoldina. She is a Fellow of Clare College.
The Croonian Medal and Lecture
The Croonian Medal and Lecture was conceived by William Croone FRS (PDF), one of the original Fellows of the Royal Society, in papers left on his death in 1684. The lecture series began in 1738.