Professor Dr Paul Schmid-Hempel

Paul Schmid-Hempel has a distinguished record through his many important contributions on the evolutionary ecology of host-parasite interactions, of which many have originated at ETH Zürich where he leads the section on Experimental Ecology for nearly twenty years and where he has built up the study area of Evolutionary Ecology. In particular, he has studied the significance of parasites and diseases for social animals, such as social insects, and stimulated this research area more generally. Furthermore, he was instrumental in developing the new theme of Ecological Immunology, an area where he has published several pioneering studies. He also has made important contributions to the problem of the maintenance of genetic diversity in host populations under the effect of selection by parasites.