UCL scientist recognised for molecular evolution research
University College London scientist Professor Ziheng Yang has been awarded one of the 2026 Balzan Prizes for his contributions to molecular evolution and the development of methods for understanding patterns of genomic change.
Yang shares the 750,000 Swiss francs prize with Professor Rasmus Nielsen of the University of California, Berkeley and, as with all Balzan awards, half the money must be allocated to research projects carried out by young researchers.
The pair received the Balzan Prize for their work Molecular Evolution: Decoding Patterns of Genomic Change. The International Balzan Foundation recognised their pioneering and complementary contributions combining statistical theory, computational methods and genomic analysis to investigate how natural selection shapes genes and populations.
Their work has also led to the development of widely used tools for studying evolutionary adaptation.
The award highlights the role of computational and genomic approaches in investigating how genes and populations change over time, and how patterns within genomic data can reveal the effects of natural selection.
Balzan Prizes 2026 recognise four areas of research and scholarship. Alongside molecular evolution, awards were made for the social science of digital technology, Jewish studies, and biodegradable polymers from renewable sources. The Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Fraternity Among Peoples was awarded separately to Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms for its humanitarian work.
Balzan Foundation awards four prizes each year to scholars, artists and scientists who have distinguished themselves internationally, with the subject areas changed annually. This year's awards ceremony will take place in Rome on 19 November in the presence of Italy's President, Sergio Mattarella.
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