Nichola Raihani

Nichola Raihani was made a patron of Humanists UK for her contribution to the better understanding of the human condition.

Evolutionary biologist

Photo of Nichola Raihani

Nichola Raihani is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Professor in Evolution and Behaviour at University College London. Her group’s research focuses on the evolution of social behaviour in humans and non-human species. She has been widely published in scientific journals, won the 2018 Philip Leverhulme Prize in Psychology for her research achievements, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology that same year. She is also the author of The Social Instinct: How Cooperation Shaped the World and has appeared on several podcasts and radio shows, including BBC Radio 4’s Hacking the Unconscious, and Thought Cages and RSA’s Bridges to the Future.

Nichola was awarded the 2021 Humanists UK’s Voltaire Medal, delivering a lecture on the role of cooperation in the human story.