Linn B. Norbom from the research group on Neurocognitive Development and Espen Moen Eilertsen from the Neighborhood Genetics research group are the two winners of the Promenta Publication Prize for 2021.
According to the committee appointed by the Centre, "two of the papers stood out with an exceptional potential for influencing further research in the following years. These are two very different papers that will affect different areas of psychological research. As these two papers address very different research questions and will have impact on science in very different ways, it was not possible to compare them against each other, and they will therefore share Promenta publication prize this year"
Linn Norboms paper New insights into the dynamic development of the cerebral cortex in childhood and adolescence: Integrating macro- and microstructural MRI findings "represents an impressive piece of work regarding putting things straight regarding normal brain development. This knowledge is of paramount importance to enable further researchers to study deviations from normal brain development. The paper will thus affect this area of research for many years from now."
The paper Direct and Indirect Effects of Maternal, Paternal, and Offspring Genotypes: Trio-GCTA by Espen Moen Eilertsen "presents a novel approach to studying environmental and genetic contributions to human complex traits. This is very much needed, as most of our current knowledge on this stems from twin research. Findings from such studies have often been interpreted to mean that the family has very little effect on human development, while others have questioned such interpretations. It is therefore extremely important to develop novel approaches to examine genetic and environmental effects on human development, to shed new light on previous knowledge and contribute to developing our knowledge on how children develop. Hence, this paper may have important effects on psychological knowledge and research in several areas for many years."
We congratulate our two very worthy winners and we already look forward to the submissions for 2022.