2024 IOP Award winners

Professor Sir Richard Friend wins the medal and lecture for pioneering and enduring work on the fundamental electronic properties of molecular semiconductors and in their engineering development.

• Professor Stephen Blundell receives the Lawrence Bragg Medal and Prize for contributions to physics scholarship and education through the publication of widely used and influential physics textbooks.
• Dr Christopher Dorman receives the Katharine Burr Blodgett Medal and Prize for contributions to the laser industry, through executive leadership and community engagement.
• Professor Laura Herz receives the Michael Faraday Medal and Prize for pioneering advances in the photophysics of next-generation semiconductors, accomplished through innovative spectroscopic experiments.

• Professor Isabelle Baraffe receives the Fred Hoyle Medal and Prize for pioneering research in theoretical astrophysics that has revolutionised understanding of the structure and evolution of stars and planets.
• Professor Nicolas Bellouin receives the Edward Appleton Medal and Prize for pioneering use of satellite observations and simulations to quantify climate impacts of atmospheric particles on Earth’s climate through advancing understanding of their interaction with sunlight, clouds and vegetation.
• Professor Alison Bruce receives the Ernest Rutherford Medal and Prize for seminal contributions to the understanding of shapes and dynamical symmetries in atomic nuclei and inspirational leadership in international nuclear structure physics research. 
• Professor Michael Kosch receives the Dennis Gabor Medal and Prize for image processing techniques, derived from pioneering auroral research, that have been deployed in hundreds of automated cameras for wildfire detection, realising huge savings in timber and CO2 emissions.  
• Professor Janne Ruostekoski receives the Joseph Thomson Medal and Prize for outstanding contributions to the fundamental understanding of cooperative interactions between light and atomic ensembles, as well as for pioneering efforts in harnessing these interactions for applications.
• Professor Nicholas Stone receives the Rosalind Franklin Medal and Prize for pioneering use of light for diagnosis and therapy in healthcare; most significantly, for developing novel Raman spectroscopic tools and techniques for rapid in-vivo cancer diagnosis and monitoring.
• Professor Carole Tucker receives the James Joule Medal and Prize for outstanding work on the development and provision to the worldwide scientific community of metamaterial-based quasi-optical components for far infrared to millimetre wavelength astronomical instruments and other applications. 

• Dr Rohit Chikkaraddy receives the Henry Moseley Medal and Prize for outstanding contributions to extreme confinement of light at atomic scales to see the invisible interaction of light with molecular bonds at room temperature.
• Associate Professor Daniel Cottle receives the Daphne Jackson Medal and Prize for exceptional contributions to physics education by linking physics teacher training with widening participation in university physics, and pioneering a whole life-cycle approach to addressing issues of inclusion.
• Dr Catherine Regan receives the Jocelyn Bell Burnell Medal and Prize for exceptional leadership of the Eyes on Mars project, engaging diverse audiences and inspiring our next generation of scientists, alongside high-impact and novel research on Martian dust storms.
• Dr Frank Schindler receives the James Clerk Maxwell Medal and Prize for numerous conceptual contributions to condensed matter physics; in particular, the prediction of higher-order topological insulators, novel quantum materials whose lossless edge states promise energy-efficient microelectronics in the post-silicon age. 
• Lara Stafford receives the Mary Somerville Medal and Prize for revolutionising how home-educating families access physics education, using drama and humour to support the learning of tens of thousands of children from Key Stage 1 to International General Certificate of Secondary Education.

• Dr Rebecca Dewey receives the Phillips Award for contributions to equality, diversity and inclusion in Institute of Physics activities, including promoting, updating and improving the accessibility of the I am a Physicist Girlguiding Badge, and engaging with British Sign Language users.
• Dr James Kneller receives the Phillips Award for leadership in establishing the Physics League Across Numerous Countries for Kick-ass Students (PLANCKS) and fostering international collaborations showcasing a commitment to advancing physics.
• Dr David Sands receives the Phillips Award for work in higher education, particularly degree accreditation and the development of the new Institute of Physics accreditation scheme.

• Dr Katharine Bridge wins for teaching expertise, passion and enthusiasm for the subject, inclusive teaching, and outstanding leadership of professional development within the school and local area.
• Ian Delaney wins for exceptional knowledge and classroom practice, outstanding development of pupils, and support of colleagues.
• Victoria Horlock wins for passion for the subject, outstanding development of pupils, support for the development of colleagues, outreach work with local primary schools and exceptional work to promote inclusivity.
• Everton McClymont wins for outstanding teaching style, exceptional work with supporting local primary schools, exemplary work with pupils through extracurricular activities, and promotion of underrepresented groups.
• Ali Panju wins for subject knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment to students, and exceptional work with local schools and nationally in providing high quality teaching and learning of physics for both pupils and teachers. 
• Dr James Perkins wins for subject expertise, curriculum innovation and skilled teaching, raising the profile of physics in the school, development of staff in local schools, and outstanding work with pupils through extracurricular activities at a local and national level. 
• Kulvinder Randhawa wins for inspirational professional development and support of colleagues in local secondary schools, exemplary work with technicians, and support for pupils through extracurricular activities.  
• Jonathan Williams wins for exceptional classroom practice and development of pupils, outstanding support and development of colleagues, trainee teachers and staff in local schools, outstanding work with pupils through extracurricular activities, and provision of materials at a national level.

• Nick Mitchener for outstanding support in the physics teaching community and extensive dissemination of physics knowledge and best practice among technicians and teachers, both locally and in the wider community.
• Ken W Smith and David R Young for internationally recognised technical expertise, exceptional software skills and dedication to astrophysics, enabling world-leading discoveries and the formation of a European supernova community.

Daniel Smith for supporting the development of new technologies, managing a research project underpinning the realisation of next-generation nuclear reactor technologies and an outstanding contribution to outreach.

National Grid for creating a diverse and supportive apprenticeship scheme that enables apprentices to develop technical knowledge, interpersonal skills and collaborate on projects aiming to achieve net zero.

• Covesion receives a Business Innovation Award for the research, development and manufacture of PPLN technologies, facilitating highly efficient frequency conversion, providing access to wavelengths that are presently unavailable from commercial laser sources.
• FeTu receives a Business Innovation Award for the development of a revolutionary heat engine, generating electrical power from waste heat and geothermal sources as low as 40 °C.
• Geoptic Infrastructure Investigations receives a Business Innovation Award for establishing cosmic ray muon imaging as a primary technique in assuring the safety of the UK’s railway tunnels from concealed shafts, effectively solving Network Rail’s hidden shaft location challenges.
• Oxford Ionics receives a Business Innovation Award for the development of quantum computers with electronic qubit control and scalable architecture that enables world-leading performance with chips that can be manufactured at scale on standard semiconductor production lines.

• Metasonixx receives a Business Start-Up Award for the development of mass-produced acoustic metamaterial panels that allow airflow, enabling improvements to noise management and ventilation, and facilitating net-zero industrial ventilators and heat pumps.
• Phlux Technology receives a Business Start-Up Award for the development of patented semiconductor technology for infrared light sensors with 12X higher sensitivity than existing state-of-the-art devices, delivering unprecedented levels of speed and sensitivity for 3D imaging.
• Silveray receives a Business Start-Up Award for the development of the first generation of flexible colour X-ray cameras based on proprietary semiconductor materials, bringing new analytical capabilities in industrial markets, and transforming the future of medical diagnostics.

• Crainio receives the Lee Lucas Award for the development of a novel technology that allows the simple, affordable, risk-free and non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure, a vital indicator of brain health after a head injury.