/ Medals and awards

Royal Medals

These medals are awarded for the most important contributions in the physical, biological and applied sciences

  • Opening date

  • Closing date

  • Winners announcement

    Date subject to confirmation

The award 

Each year two medals are awarded for the most important contributions to the advancement of "Natural Knowledge” in the physical and biological sciences respectively. A third medal is awarded for distinguished contributions in the applied sciences.

The three Royal Medals, also known as the Queen’s Medals, are awarded annually by the Sovereign on the recommendation of the Council of the Society. Frederick Sanger FRS, Max Perutz FRS and Francis Crick FRS are among those who have been awarded a Royal Medal.

The Royal Medals were founded by HM King George IV in 1825. Between 1826 and 1964 two medals were awarded each year. In 1965 the third medal, covering the applied sciences, was introduced on behalf of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Eligibility

The Royal medals are open to UK/Commonwealth/Republic of Ireland citizens or those who have been residents for three or more years. They are 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 these awards.

Nominations are closed

Nominations will reopen in November 2024.

2023 winners

  • Sir Antony Hoare FREng FRS

    Sir Antony Hoare FREng FRS

    Sir Antony Hoare FREng FRS is awarded the Royal Medal 2023 for groundbreaking contributions that have revolutionised the computer programming field, the development of "Hoare logic" that has paved the way for provably correct code, providing a robust framework for ensuring software reliability.
  • Professor Herman Waldmann FMedSci FRS

    Professor Herman Waldmann FMedSci FRS

    Professor Herman Waldmann FMedSci FRS is awarded the Royal Medal 2023 for pioneering monoclonal antibodies for human therapy.
  • Sir Patrick Vallance KCB FMedSci FRS and Sir Christopher Whitty KCB FRS

    Sir Patrick Vallance KCB FMedSci FRS and Sir Christopher Whitty KCB FRS

    Sir Patrick Vallance KCB FMedSci FRS and Sir Christopher Whitty KCB FRS are jointly awarded the Royal Medal 2023 for their pivotal role in ensuring that the UK’s response to the covid-19 pandemic has benefitted from the very best science and evidence.

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    Past winners

    • Antony Hoare
      Awarded in 2023

      Sir Antony Hoare FREng FRS

      For groundbreaking contributions that have revolutionised the computer programming field, the development of "Hoare logic" that has paved the way for provably correct code, providing a robust framework for ensuring software reliability.
    • Herman Waldmann
      Awarded in 2023

      Professor Herman Waldmann FMedSci FRS

      For pioneering monoclonal antibodies for human therapy.
    • Patrick Vallance and Christopher Whitty
      Awarded in 2023

      Sir Patrick Vallance KCB FMedSci FRS and Sir Christopher Whitty KCB FRS

      For their pivotal role in ensuring that the UK’s response to the covid-19 pandemic has benefitted from the very best science and evidence.
    • Richard Ellis
      Awarded in 2022

      Professor Richard Ellis CBE FRS

      For motivating numerous advances in telescopes and instrumentation, and exploited these facilities to revolutionise the understanding of cosmological evolution.
    • Stephen West
      Awarded in 2022

      Dr Stephen West FMedSci FRS

      For discovering and determining the function of the key enzymes that are essential for recombination, repair and the maintenance of genomes.
    • Geoffrey Hinton
      Awarded in 2022

      Professor Geoffrey Hinton CC FRS

      For pioneering work on algorithms that learn distributed representations in artificial neural networks and their application to speech and vision, leading to a transformation of the international information technology industry.
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      Awarded in 2021

      Professor Michael Green FRS

      For crucial and influential contributions to the development of string theory over a long period, including the discovery of anomaly cancellation.
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      Awarded in 2021

      Professor Dennis Lo FRS

      For the discovery of foetal DNA in maternal plasma, developing non-invasive prenatal testing, and making foundational contributions for other types of liquid biopsies. He has made a major impact on pre-natal diagnosis.
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      Awarded in 2021

      Sir Colin Humphreys CBE FREng FRS

      For excelling in basic and applied science, university-industry collaboration, technology development and transfer, academic leadership, promotion of public understanding of science, and advising on science to public bodies.
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      Awarded in 2020

      Herbert Huppert

      He has been at the forefront of research in fluid mechanics. As an applied mathematician he has consistently developed highly original analysis of key natural and industrial processes.
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      Awarded in 2020

      Caroline Dean

      She has elucidated molecular mechanisms underlying seasonal timing in plants, thus discovering fundamental processes of plant developmental timing and the epigenetic basis of vernalisation.
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      Awarded in 2020

      Ian Shanks

      He extended knowledge of liquid crystals and applied this successfully to invent novel LCDs. He developed commercial diabetes test strips, which have revolutionised the control and therefore the lives of diabetics worldwide.