Stuart West is a scientist, working in the field of social evolution

Social evolution

Social evolution is a subdiscipline of evolutionary biology that is concerned with social behaviors that have fitness consequences for individuals other than the actor...

, as a Professor of Zoology at the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

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His primary research interests are in the area of social evolution

Social evolution

Social evolution is a subdiscipline of evolutionary biology that is concerned with social behaviors that have fitness consequences for individuals other than the actor...

, sex allocation

Sex allocation

Sex allocation is the allocation of resources to male versus female reproduction in sexual species . Sex allocation depends upon the breeding system of a species, as well as how reproduction is carried out within each breeding system. Breeding systems can be categorised as dioecious, in which...

 theory and microbial evolution. His research has attracted much media attention, and has been published in high profile journals such as Nature

Nature

Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...

, Science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, PNAS and Current Biology

Current Biology

Current Biology is a scientific journal that covers all areas of biology, especially molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, neurobiology, ecology and evolutionary biology. The journal is published twice a month and includes peer-reviewed research articles, various types of review articles, as...

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He was a Distinguished Junior Scholar in Residence at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies

Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies

Founded in 1991, the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies is the senior research institute at the University of British Columbia. It supports basic research through collaborative, interdisciplinary initiatives...

, University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

, Canada in 1999 and he has won the Philip Leverhulme Prize

Philip Leverhulme Prize

The Philip Leverhulme Prize, awarded by the Leverhulme Trust, is to recognise outstanding young scholars who have made a substantial and recognised contribution to their particular field of study, recognised at an international level, and where the expectation is that their greatest achievement is...

 for Zoology (2006), the Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London

Zoological Society of London

The Zoological Society of London is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats...

 (2006) and the rising star award from the Duke of Edinburgh

Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...

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From early 2009, he will join the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford as Professor of Evolutionary Biology.