AAAS and the Allen Institute For Brain Science announce 2014 fellows

Christof Koch, Chief Scientific Officer at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

This year 401 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, 14 February from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, Calif.

"I am honored to be chosen by my highly distinguished peers as an AAAS fellow," says Koch. "My cohort of fellows represents a group of diverse and talented scientists and engineers. I am grateful to be included among them."

This year's AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on 28 November 2014.

As part of the section on neuroscience, Dr. Koch was elected as an AAAS Fellow for distinguished theoretical and empirical contributions to understanding visual perception, selective visual attention, and the neuronal basis of consciousness in the human and animal brain.

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the steering groups of the Association's 24 sections, or by any three Fellows who are current AAAS members (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee's institution), or by the AAAS chief executive officer. Fellows must have been continuous members of AAAS for four years by the end of the calendar year in which they are elected.

Each steering group reviews the nominations of individuals within its respective section and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list.

The Council is the policymaking body of the Association, chaired by the AAAS president, and consisting of the members of the board of directors, the retiring section chairs, delegates from each electorate and each regional division, and two delegates from the National Association of Academies of Science.

Provided by Allen Institute for Brain Science