Germany Confers Its Highest Civilian Honour On A Bengaluru Professor!

Indian sociobiologist Raghavendra Gadagkar was awarded Germany's highest civilian honour - the Cross of Order of the Merit, on Friday. He was bestowed with the honour for contribution in the field of behavioural ecology and sociobiology, and also for works in strengthening research corporation between India and Germany.

A resident of Bengaluru and professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), he was awarded at the German Consulate in Bengaluru.

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Prof Gadagkar, is one of the leading experts in the field of insect sociobiology. He is also the president of the Indian National Science Academy and has published more than 270 research papers and two books. His first book, Survival Strategies, has been translated into Chinese and Korean.

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Why do these insects live collectively? What evolutionary benefits do they gain? Why does group living give an advantage over solitary life? Where some of the main topics of the studies. Much of the work focused on how a hierarchy is established in a nest and how a queen emerges from a population of wasps. According to Prof. Gadagkar the wasps hold a mirror to us and allow us to reflect on our own society.

"It's a moment of great pride," said Prof Gadagkar on receiving the award. "When I was doing my research, insects were my passion but study on insect became my profession, I needed a new hobby. So I decided to bring science and humanities together. It was part of my attempt to find best talents in both disciplines, and my relationship with Germany strengthened," he said.

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It was this which made him founder chair of the Centre for Contemporary Studies, established at IISc in 2004. At this institute he brings together people from the IISc campus especially graduate students from different disciplines in humanities, including literature, art and music.

"The ignorance that humanities and sciences had towards each other has now become a mutual disrespect. But the fact is science and humanities can't operate in isolation. So at this institute, science students are exposed to idea like how poets communicate, how to bring out a newspaper, how history can solve current problems etc. The idea is to have scientists who can communicate like poets," he said.

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Joern Rohde, Consul General of Germany, said that Prof Gadagkar has been associated with Germany for more than 25 years now and he has contributed to academic and research cooperation, which is a major area of partnership between the two countries. "It is a great honour to award him the Cross of Order of the Merit," he said.