News

Cambridge Neuroscientist recognised for her International Contributions in the field of Comparative and Evolutionary Neuroscience

We have the great pleasure to announce that Professor Nicola Clayton has been jointly awarded the the 2010 Jean-Marie Delwart Foundation award in comparative and evolutionary neuroscience.

Nicky Clayton (pictured right enjoying her hobby dancing), FRS is Professor of Comparative Cognition at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge. Her research has pioneered new procedures for the experimental study of memory, planning and social cognition in animals, all attributes that have been claimed to be uniquely human, and this work has been a tour de force in expanding our appreciation of animal intelligence and its relationship to human memory and cognition.

Her research has resulted in a re-evaluation of the cognitive capacities of animals, particularly birds, which led her to develop a theory that intelligence evolved independently in the apes and the corvids and has not only been a major influence in shaping the contemporary study of comparative cognition but has also had an important impact in two other fields, the neurobiology of memory and the study of cognitive development.

It is this groundbreaking work that has resulted in Nicky being jointly Awarded the Jean-Marie Delwart Foundation Award, 2010, with Dr. Larry Young from Emory University, USA.

Nicky commented on receiving news of this Award:

I am thrilled to bits! One of the many benefits of Cambridge is that the University actively fosters intellectual curiosity and creativity, "thinking outside the box" so to speak. I feel very privileged to have worked in such a productive setting for the past ten years".

Posted on 07/12/2010