2025 IS-MPMI Awards Announced
Congratulations, to our 2025 Awardees who will be celebrated and recognized at the 2025 IS-MPMI Congress in Cologne, Germany.
Professor Sebastian Eves-van den Akker
Sebastian Eves-van den Akker received his B. Sc. in Biology (2007-2010) from the University of Leeds, and his Ph. D. in Plant-Pathology (2010-2014) from the University of Leeds (with Prof. Peter Urwin) and the James Hutton Institute (with Prof John Jones). In late 2014, Sebastian was awarded an Anniversary Future Leaders Fellowship from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and moved to the University of Dundee (with Prof. Paul Birch) and the John Innes Centre (with Prof. Mark Banfield). In 2018, he moved to the University of Cambridge to establish the Plant-Parasite Interactions group in the Department of Plant Sciences, and was made a Fellow of King’s College Cambridge. In 2024 he was made Professor of Biotic Interactions.
From undergraduate to Professor, Sebastian has worked on one problem: plant-parasitic nematodes. Today, the lab tends to look at questions from a genetic perspective, investigating the genes that control the dialogue between the two kingdoms. The sustaining interest has been that the outcome of this communication dictates plant organ development, animal sex determination, and ultimately human food insecurity.
Purpose
Recognizes an outstanding investigator who is known internationally as an emerging research leader in the area of molecular plant-microbe interactions.
Honor Bestowed
$1000 honorarium and inscribed plaque
Complimentary meeting registration to the 2025 IS-MPMI Congress in Cologne, Germany.
Featured awardee presentation
Eligibility
Active IS-MPMI membership is required both at time of nomination and receipt of award. Students and Postdoctoral Scholars are not eligible.
Nominees who have been in an independent, full-time research position for no more than seven years as of the date of the 2025 IS-MPMI Congress. Typical nominees will be within 12 years of receiving their PhD. Note that time taken off for child-rearing does not count in this limit and other special circumstances may be evaluated at the discretion of the review committee.
Nomination Requirements
Nominations for the 2025 award are closed. The award announcement will be included in the Q1 issue of Interactions.
Nomination letter (not to exceed 2 pages) describing the individual's contributions to research, including a clear statement describing the impact that they have in the field of IS-MPMI. The research forming the basis of the nomination must have occurred during the independent research phase of the nominee's career, typically within the last 6 years. The letter may be written by a single individual or group of individuals.
Current curriculum vitae
List of Publications to include the most significant publications of the nominee while in their independent research position.
Letter of support (2 page maximum) that provide additional insight of the nominee's research contributions outlined in the nomination letter are welcome though not required.
Save all required materials into one PDF file and submit via the online form.
Nomination Deadline
Nominations for the 2027 award will open in fall 2026.
Previous Awardees
