/ Medals and awards

Copley Medal

The Copley Medal is the Society’s oldest and most prestigious award. The medal is awarded for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science.

  • Opening date

  • Closing date

  • Winners announcement

    Exact date TBC

The award

The Copley Medal is the Society’s oldest and most prestigious award. The medal is awarded for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science.

First awarded in 1731 following donations from Godfrey Copley FRS (PDF), it was initially awarded for the most important scientific discovery or for the greatest contribution made by experiment. The Copley Medal is thought to be the world's oldest scientific prize and it was awarded 170 years before the first Nobel Prize. Notable winners include Benjamin Franklin, Dorothy Hodgkin, Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin. The medal is of silver gilt, is awarded annually, alternating between the physical and biological sciences (odd and even years respectively), and is accompanied by a a gift of £25,000.

Eligibility

The Copley medal is open to international citizens. It is restricted to senior scientists and nominations will remain valid and shall be considered by the award selection committee throughout three nomination cycles. Teams or groups may now be nominated for this award. In 2025, the Copley Medal will be awarded for the physical sciences. 

Nominations are closed

Nominations are closed and will reopen in December 2025. 

2024 winner

  • Sir Gregory Paul Winter CBE FRS FMedSci

    Sir Gregory Paul Winter CBE FRS FMedSci

    The Copley Medal 2024 is awarded to Sir Gregory Paul Winter CBE FRS FMedSci for pioneering protein engineering, especially antibody engineering for the successful production of therapeutic antibodies. Picture Credit: The Croucher Foundation

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Past winners

  • Martin Rees
    Awarded in 2023

    Martin Rees

    The Lord Rees of Ludlow OM Kt HonFREng FRS

    The Copley Medal 2023 is awarded to Martin Rees (The Lord Rees of Ludlow OM Kt HonFREng FRS) for being arguably the most distinguished theoretical astrophysicist of his generation, responsible for numerous and varied conceptual breakthroughs, with influence spreading far beyond the specialist academic community.
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    Awarded in 2022

    Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Team

    For rapidly developing and deploying a COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Jocelyn Bell Burnell
    Awarded in 2021

    Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell

    For her work on the discovery of pulsars, one of the major astronomical discoveries of the 20th century.
  • Alan Fersht
    Awarded in 2020

    Sir Alan Fersht FMedSci FRS

    He has developed and applied the methods of protein engineering to provide descriptions of protein folding pathways at atomic resolution, revolutionising our understanding of these processes.
  • John Goodenough
    Awarded in 2019

    Professor John Goodenough ForMemRS

    In recognition of his exceptional contributions to the science and technology of materials, including his discovery that led to rechargeable lithium batteries.
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    Awarded in 2018

    Professor Jeffrey Gordon

    For his contributions to understanding the role of gut microbial communities to human health and disease.
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    Awarded in 2017

    Sir Andrew Wiles KBE FRS

    For his beautiful and unexpected proof of Fermat's Last Theorem which is one of the most important mathematical achievements of the 20th century.
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    Awarded in 2016

    Dr Richard Henderson CH FMedSci FRS

    For his fundamental and revolutionary contributions to the development of electron microscopy of biological materials, enabling their atomic structures to be deduced.
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    Awarded in 2015

    Professor Peter Higgs CH FRS

    For his fundamental contribution to particle physics with his theory explaining the origin of mass in elementary particles, confirmed by the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider.
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    Awarded in 2014

    Sir Alec Jeffreys CH FMedSci FRS

    For his pioneering work on variation and mutation in the human genome.
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    Awarded in 2013

    Sir Andre Geim FRS

    For his numerous scientific contributions and, in particular, for initiating research on two‐dimensional atomic crystals and their artificial heterostructures.
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    Awarded in 2012

    Sir John Walker FMedSci FRS

    For his ground-breaking work on bioenergetics, discovering the mechanism of ATP synthesis in the mitochondrion.