The
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application.
It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...
awards numerous prizes to acknowledge contributions to physics research, education and applications. It also offers smaller specific subject-group prizes, such as for
PhD thesis
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
submissions.
Bilateral awards
* The
Max Born Medal and Prize
The Max Born Medal and Prize is a scientific prize awarded yearly by the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, German Physical Society (DPG) and the British Institute of Physics (IOP) in memory of the German physicist Max Born, who was a German-J ...
is awarded yearly by the
German Physical Society
The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference () and multiple ...
and the Institute of Physics in memory of the German physicist
Max Born
Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a n ...
. The prize recognizes "outstanding contributions to physics" and is awarded to physicists based in Germany and in the UK or Ireland in alternate years.
* The
Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize
The Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize is a major European prize for Physics awarded jointly every year by the British Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Société Française de Physique (SFP). It is one of the four Grand Prix of the SFP and one of ...
is awarded jointly by the French and British Physical Societies for distinguished work in any aspect of physics that is ongoing or has been carried out within the 10 years preceding the award.
* The
Harrie Massey
Sir Harrie Stewart Wilson Massey (16 May 1908 – 27 November 1983) was an Australian mathematical physicist who worked primarily in the fields of atomic and atmospheric physics.
A graduate of the University of Melbourne and Cambridge Univer ...
Medal and Prize is awarded biennially jointly by the Institute of Physics and by The
Australian Institute of Physics
The Australian Institute of Physics was established in 1963, when it replaced the Australian Branch of the British Institute of Physics based in London. .
* The
Giuseppe Occhialini
Giuseppe Paolo Stanislao "Beppo" Occhialini ForMemRS (; 5 December 1907 – 30 December 1993) was an Italian physicist who contributed to the discovery of the pion or pi-meson decay in 1947 with César Lattes and Cecil Frank Powell, the latter ...
Medal and Prize is awarded to physicists in alternating years who work in Italy (even dated years) or the UK or Ireland (odd dated years).
Business awards
* The
Katharine Burr Blodgett Medal and Prize
The Katharine Burr Blodgett Medal and Prize is a gold medal awarded annually by the Institute of Physics to "recognise contributions to the organisation or application of physics in an industrial or commercial context." The medal is accompanied b ...
is a gold medal awarded annually for outstanding contributions to the organisation or applications of physics to a physicist in an industrial or commercial context in any sector.
* The
Dennis Gabor Medal and Prize
The Dennis Gabor Medal and Prize (previously the Duddell Medal and Prize until 2008) is a prize awarded biannually by the Institute of Physics for distinguished contributions to the application of physics in an industrial, commercial or business ...
is a prize awarded for distinguished contributions to the application of physics in an industrial, commercial or business context.
* The
Clifford Paterson Medal and Prize
The Clifford Paterson Medal and Prize is awarded by the Institute of Physics. It was established in 1981 and named after Clifford Copland Paterson. The prize is awarded each year for exceptional early career contributions to the application of ...
is awarded for exceptional early career contributions to the application of physics.
* The Lee Lucas Award
* The Business Innovation Award
* The Business Start-Up Award
* The Apprentice Award
* The Apprenticeship Employer Award
Education awards
* The
Lawrence Bragg
Sir William Lawrence Bragg, (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallography, X-ray crystallographer, discoverer (1912) of Bragg's law, Bragg's law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for t ...
Medal and Prize, first awarded in 1967, is a gold medal for outstanding and sustained contributions to physics education. Previous winners are:
**1967 Donald McGill (posthumously)
**1969 John Logan Lewis
**1971 George Robert Noakes
**1973
Jon Michael Ogborn and
Paul Joseph Black
**1975
William Albert Coates
**1977 Edward John Wenham
**1979 Margaret Maureen Hurst
**1981 Geoffrey Edward Foxcroft
**1983
Charles Alfred Taylor
**1985
Eric Malcolm Rogers
**1986 Wilfred Llowarch
**1987 James Turnbull Jardine
**1988
Anthony P French
**1989 J Goronwy Jones
**1990 John Marden Osborne
**1991
Kevin William Keohane
**1992 J Colin Siddons
**1993 Christopher Anthony Butlin
**1994
Cyril Isenberg
Cyril Isenberg MBE is an English physicist at the University of Kent, where he is an Honorary Lecturer.
Isenberg is known for pioneering the analog computing possibilities of soap bubbles; in 2012, his 1976 article on the subject was one of a se ...
**1995 Bryan Reginald Chapman
**1996 Brenda Margaret Jennison
**1997 Timothy David Robert Hickson
**1998 Maurice George Ebison
**1999 Averil Mary Macdonald
**2000 Frank Russell Stannard
**2001
George Marx
George Marx (June 22, 1838 – January 3, 1895) was a German-born American arachnologist, scientific illustrator and physician. He was regarded as one of the foremost authorities on spiders and highly regarded for his superb scientific illustrati ...
**2002 Robert Lambourne and Michael Harry Tinker
**2003 Ian Lawrence
**2004 Elizabeth Swinbank
**2005 Ken Dobson
**2006 Derek Raine
**2007 Philip Britton
**2008 Robin Millar
**2009
Becky Parker
Becky Parker is a British physicist and physics teacher based in Kent. She is a Visiting Professor at School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London.
Early life and education
Parker obtained a physics degree at the Universit ...
**2010 Peter Campbell
**2011 Philip Harland Scott
**2012
Katherine Blundell
Katherine Mary Blundell is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and a supernumerary research fellow at St John's College, Oxford. Previously, she held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, and fellowships from the R ...
**2013 Bob Kibble
**2014 Peter Vukusic
**2015 Paula Chadwick
**2016 Stuart Farmer
**2017 Mary Whitehouse
**2018 Bobby Acharya
**2019 Mark Warner and
Lisa Jardine-Wright
Lisa Jayne Jardine-Wright (born 1976) is a physicist and educator at the University of Cambridge. She is Director of Isaac Physics, a Department for Education and The Ogden Trust supported Open Platform for Active Learning that supports sch ...
**2020 Nicholas St John Braithwaite
* The
Marie Curie-Sklodowska
Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...
Medal and Prize, established in 2016, is awarded for "distinguished contributions to physics education and to widening participation within it."
* The
Daphne Jackson
Daphne Frances Jackson (23 September 1936 – 8 February 1991) was an English nuclear physicist. In 1971 she became the first female physics professor in the UK. A legacy after her death in 1991 enabled the foundation of the Daphne Jackson ...
Medal and Prize, established in 2016, is awarded "for exceptional early career contributions to physics education and to widening participation within it."
* The Teacher of Physics Award since 1986,celebrates the success of secondary school physics teachers who have raised the profile of physics and science in schools.
* The Technician Award, to recognise the experience of technicians and their contribution to physics
* The Goronwy Jones prize, the is awarded to the top-scoring A-level candidate in Physics in Wales.
Outreach awards
* The
Kelvin Medal and Prize
The Institute of Physics awards numerous prizes to acknowledge contributions to physics research, education and applications. It also offers smaller specific subject-group prizes, such as for PhD thesis submissions.
Bilateral awards
* The Max B ...
is a gold medal instigated in October 1994 in recognition of the importance of promoting public awareness of the place of physics in the world, of its contributions to the quality of life and its advancement of an understanding of the physical world and the place of humanity within it.
* The
Lise Meitner
Elise Meitner ( , ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who was one of those responsible for the discovery of the element protactinium and nuclear fission. While working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute on rad ...
Medal and Prize, established in 2016, is awarded for "distinguished contributions to public engagement within physics."
* The
Mary Somerville
Mary Somerville (; , formerly Greig; 26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872) was a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and Caroline Herschel were elected as the first female Honorary ...
Medal and Prize
Research awards
* The
Isaac Newton Medal and Prize is a gold medal awarded annually to any physicist, regardless of subject area, background or nationality, for outstanding contributions to physics. It is accompanied by a prize of £1000, and the recipient is invited to give the Newton lecture.
* The
Paul Dirac Medal and Prize is a gold medal awarded for outstanding and sustained contributions to theoretical physics.
* The
Michael Faraday Medal and Prize
The Michael Faraday Medal and Prize is a gold medal awarded annually by the Institute of Physics in experimental physics. The award is made "for outstanding and sustained contributions to experimental physics." The medal is accompanied by a pr ...
is a gold medal awarded annually for outstanding contributions to experimental physics to a physicist of international reputation in any sector.
* The
Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize
The Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize is awarded annually by the Institute of Physics to recognise leadership in the field of physics. It was established in 1966 and named in honour of Sir Richard T. Glazebrook, the first president of the Insti ...
, established in 1965, is a gold medal awarded for "outstanding and sustained contributions to leadership in a physics context."
* The
John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh
John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, (; 12 November 1842 – 30 June 1919) was an English mathematician and physicist who made extensive contributions to science. He spent all of his academic career at the University of Cambridge. Amo ...
Medal, established in 2008, is awarded biennially in odd-numbered years, for distinguished research in theoretical, mathematical or computational physics.
* The
Sam Edwards
Sam George Edwards (May 26, 1915 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor. His most famous role on television was as banker Bill Anderson on ''Little House on the Prairie''.D.S.S. Form 1 Military Draft Registration Card completed on October 16, ...
Medal and Prize is awarded for distinguished contributions in soft matter physics
* The
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, co ...
Medal and Prize is awarded for distinguished contributions to physics applied to the life sciences
* The
Nevill Mott Medal and Prize
The Nevill Mott Medal and Prize is an award presented in selected years by the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom, for distinguished research in condensed matter or materials physics. It was first established in 1997 thanks to a donation ...
is awarded for distinguished contributions to condensed matter physics
* The
David Tabor
David Tabor (né Tabrisky), FRS (23 October 1913 – 26 November 2005) was a British physicist who was an early pioneer of tribology, the study of frictional interaction between surfaces, and well known for his influential undergraduate textboo ...
Medal and Prize is awarded for distinguished contributions to surface or nanoscale physics.
* The
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (born Cecilia Helena Payne; – ) was a British-born American astronomer and astrophysicist who proposed in her 1925 doctoral thesis that stars were composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Her groundbreaking conclus ...
Medal and Prize is awarded for plasma or space physics
* The
Edward Appleton Medal and Prize is awarded for distinguished research in
environmental
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
,
earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
or
atmospheric physics
Within the atmospheric sciences, atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the study of the atmosphere. Atmospheric physicists attempt to model Earth's atmosphere and the atmospheres of the other planets using fluid flow equations, che ...
. Originally named after
Charles Chree
200px, Charles Chree (circa 1900)
Charles Chree, FRS (5 May 1860 – 12 August 1928) was a British physicist, an authority on terrestrial magnetism and atmospheric electricity, and for 32 years Superintendent of Kew Observatory.
Chree was born ...
, it was established in 1941 and is currently awarded in even-dated years.
* The
Thomas Young Medal and Prize is awarded biennially in odd-numbered years, for distinguished research in the field of optics, including physics outside the visible region.
* The
Joseph Thomson Medal and Prize, established in 2008, is awarded biennially, in even-numbered years, for distinguished research in
atomic physics
Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...
(including
quantum optics
Quantum optics is a branch of atomic, molecular, and optical physics dealing with how individual quanta of light, known as photons, interact with atoms and molecules. It includes the study of the particle-like properties of photons. Photons have b ...
) or
molecular physics
Molecular physics is the study of the physical properties of molecules and molecular dynamics. The field overlaps significantly with physical chemistry, chemical physics, and quantum chemistry. It is often considered as a sub-field of atomic, mo ...
.
* The
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who came to be known as the father of nuclear physics.
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' considers him to be the greatest ...
Medal and Prize, awarded biennially in even-numbered years, was instituted in 1966, replacing the Rutherford Memorial Lecture. The award recognises distinguished research in
nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
or
nuclear technology
Nuclear technology is technology that involves the nuclear reactions of atomic nuclei. Among the notable nuclear technologies are nuclear reactors, nuclear medicine and nuclear weapons. It is also used, among other things, in smoke detectors an ...
and is named in honour of
Lord Rutherford of Nelson.
* The
James Chadwick
Sir James Chadwick, (20 October 1891 – 24 July 1974) was an English physicist who was awarded the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the neutron in 1932. In 1941, he wrote the final draft of the MAUD Report, which inspi ...
Medal and Prize is awarded "for distinguished contributions to particle physics."
* The
Fred Hoyle Medal and Prize
The Fred Hoyle Medal and Prize was established in 2008 by the Institute of Physics of London for distinguished contributions to astrophysics, gravitational physics or cosmology. The medal is named after astronomer Fred Hoyle who formulated the th ...
is awarded for distinguished contributions to astrophysics or cosmology
* The
Peter Mansfield
Sir Peter Mansfield (9 October 1933 – 8 February 2017) was an English physicist who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Paul Lauterbur, for discoveries concerning Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Mansfie ...
Medal and Prize is awarded for
medical physics
Medical physics deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being. Since 2008, medical physics has been incl ...
* The
James Joule Medal and Prize
The James Joule Medal and Prize is awarded by the Institute of Physics. It was established in 2008, and was named in honour of James Prescott Joule, British physicist and brewer. The award is made for distinguished contributions to applied physic ...
is awarded for applied physics
* The
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...
Medal and Prize has been awarded annually since 1962 to recognize outstanding early-career contributions to theoretical physics.
* The
Henry Moseley
Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley (; 23 November 1887 – 10 August 1915) was an English physicist, whose contribution to the science of physics was the justification from physical laws of the previous empirical and chemical concept of the atomic num ...
Medal and Prize is awarded for exceptional early career contributions to experimental physics
* The
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (; Bell; born 15 July 1943) is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. The discovery eventually earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in ...
Medal and Prize was originally known as the 'Very Early Career Female Physicist Award'
* The
Simon Memorial Prize
The Simon Memorial Prize is an award that honors 'distinguished work in experimental or theoretical low temperature physics'. The prize is awarded by the Institute of Physics and is presented at the International Conference on Low Temperature ...
Service to the IOP awards
* The
President's Medal can be given to both physicists and non-physicists who have provided meritorious services in various fields of endeavour which were of benefit to physics in general and the Institute in particular.
* The
Phillips Award
The Institute of Physics awards numerous prizes to acknowledge contributions to physics research, education and applications. It also offers smaller specific subject-group prizes, such as for PhD thesis submissions.
Bilateral awards
* The Max B ...
is awarded for distinguished service to the Institute of Physics.
See also
*
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application.
It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...
*
List of physics awards
This list of physics awards is an index to articles about notable awards for physics.
The list includes lists of awards by the American Physical Society of the United States, and of the Institute of Physics of the United Kingdom, followed by a lis ...
References
External links
*
{{Institute of Physics
Science and technology in the United Kingdom
Institute of Physics
Physics awards
Awards of the Institute of Physics
Lists of awards