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A Royal Medal, which recognises substantial contributions to the advancement of Natural Knowledge or to the applied sciences, was presented to Sir Alan Fersht FRS, the ̽��ֱ��’s Herchel Smith Professor of Organic Chemistry and Director of the Cambridge Centre for Protein Engineering.

Sir Alan, who is a fellow of Gonville & Caius, received the medal for his seminal work in protein engineering and the problem of protein folding. He has developed methods for the high resolution of protein folding in very short time scales and pioneered experimental methods for studying the structure of the transition states. Sir Alan has previously been awarded the Royal Society Davy Medal for chemistry and the Gabor Medal for molecular biology.

He said: “ ̽��ֱ��greatest thrill for me is to have been awarded the same medal as my scientific heroes from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, as well as illustrious scientists of yore, such as Charles Darwin, Humphrey Davy and Michael Faraday, and so bathe in just a little of their reflected glory.”

Sir Alan was also elected recently to the American Philosophical Society and is to receive an honorary PhD from the ̽��ֱ�� of Aarhus.

̽��ֱ��Leverhulme Medal, a triennial award for an outstandingly significant contribution to pure or applied chemistry or engineering was awarded to Anthony Cheetham, Cambridge’s Goldsmiths’ Professor of Materials Science.

Professor Cheetham’s research has focused on inorganic materials, but for the last decade he has been working on the emerging field of hybrid organic/inorganic materials. These have many of the advantages of purely organic substances but are combined with inorganic materials to increase their functionality. ̽��ֱ��results have applications ranging from photoluminescence to use in the storage of hydrogen gas for fuel cells.

̽��ֱ��Michael Faraday Prize for science communication was awarded to John Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences, a Fellow of Clare Hall, and Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project. ̽��ֱ��annual award is presented to a scientist or engineer for exemplary expertise in communicating scientific ideas to a lay audience. Previous winners include Richard Dawkins and David Attenborough.

Professor Barrow’s research has covered cosmology, gravitation, and particle physics, authoring more than 430 scientific articles and 19 books, which have been translated into 28 languages, and the award-winning play Infinities.

His works have explored the wider historical, philosophical and cultural effects of developments in mathematics, physics and astronomy. He is a frequent speaker to audiences of all types around the world. His most recent book, Cosmic Imagery, is about the influence of pictures on science.

̽��ֱ��Royal Society was founded in 1660 and is the oldest such society still in existence. It bestows ten medals, seven awards and nine prize lectureships, which are awarded annually, biennially or triennially.
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