Professor Robertus von Fay-Siebenburgen from School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences has been awarded the 2025 Institute of Physics Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin Medal and Prize.
Robertus has received their award for outstanding contributions to solar theory over the decades and innovative approaches and leadership for ground-based solar instrumentation with application to space weather.
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is the professional body and learned society for physics, and the leading body for practising physicists, in the UK and Ireland.
Its annual awards proudly reflect the wide variety of people, places, organisations and achievements that make physics such an exciting discipline.
The IOP Awards celebrate physicists at every stage of their career; from those just starting out through to physicists at the peak of their careers, and those with a distinguished career behind them.
They also recognise and celebrate companies that are successful in the application of physics and innovation, as well as employers who demonstrate their commitment and contribution to scientific and engineering apprenticeship schemes.
“I am delighted to receive the Institute of Physics Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Medal and Prize. It has been a great privilege to have contributed to the development of novel solar theory. This award recognises not only my own contribution, but also that of my eminent academic colleagues, postdoctoral research associates, research students and non-academic partners, such as those at the Solar Activity Monitor Network (SAMNet), with whom I have worked for many fantastic years in collaboration to achieve my results and advancements.”
Congratulating this year’s Award winners, Institute of Physics President Professor Michele Dougherty CBE FRS FInstP FRAS FRSSAf said: “On behalf of the Institute of Physics, I want to congratulate all of this year’s award winners on the significant and positive impact they have made in their profession, be it as a researcher, teacher, industrialist, technician or apprentice, and I hope they are incredibly proud of their achievements.
“It is becoming more obvious that the opportunities generated by a career in physics are many and varied - and the potential our science must transform our society and economy in the modern world is huge.
“I hope our winners appreciate they are playing an important role in this community and know how proud we are to celebrate their successes - I hope their stories will help to inspire current and future generations of scientists.”