In 2001, the year of the re-establishment of Kowalevsky medal, the award was simultaneously given to several outstanding researchers of the XX century, whose works significantly developed evolutionary comparative morphology and embryology. The award procedure requires a broad international nomination, for which an International Committee was elected, consisting of renowned scientists from the USA, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Canada and Russia.
In 2001 the Kowalevsky medal was awarded to Donald T. Anderson, Australia, the world-recognized expert in comparative anatomy and embryology; Gary Freeman, USA, one of the leaders in research of embryological basics of animal evolution; Brian Hall, Canada, who made a great contribution to the modern synthesis of embryology and evolution; Olga Mikhailovna Ivanova-Kazas, Professor of St. Petersburg State University, Russia, a distinguished representative of the St. Petersburg embryological school, the author of well-known monographs and manuals on comparative and developmental embryology; Claus Nielsen, Denmark, who made an outstanding contribution to the development of comparative morphology and phylogeny of multi-celled organisms; Rudolf Raff, USA, the author of several books on embryology and evolution, combining modern molecular biology approaches with comparative anatomy and phylogeny; Rupert Riedl, Austria, Honorary Professor of the University of Vienna, known not only for his research in marine zoology, but for his great contribution to the theoretical development of comparative morphology; Klaus Sander, Germany, Honorary Professor of the University of Freiburg, known for his brilliant works in descriptive and experimental embryology of insects.
Since 2002, only one medal has been awarded annually. It should be stressed that the re-establishment of the international award of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists - the A.O. Kovalevsky Medal - was warmly received by the scientific community. In January 2003, the Alexander Kowalevsky Medal winners’ Symposium was held in Toronto as part of the annual congress of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.
The Kowalevsky Medal has been awarded every year since then (except 2022), and the international scientific community has continued to actively support the Society. In 2024, the Medal was awarded to Professor Alessandro Minelli, Italy, Professor of the University of Padua, for his contributions to the conceptual foundations of developmental biology.