Three Oxford University researchers have received prestigious awards from the Royal Society in recognition of their work in the fields of science and medicine.
Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe FRS, Director of the Target Discovery Institute at the University of Oxford and Clinical Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute, has been awarded the Buchanan Medal for his ground-breaking research on oxygen sensing and signalling pathways mediating cellular responses to hypoxia.
Professor Marta Kwiatkowska of the Department of Computer Science has been awarded the Milner Award for her contribution to the theoretical and practical development of stochastic and quantitative model checking. The Royal Society Milner Award, supported by Microsoft Research, is given annually for outstanding achievement in computer science by a European researcher. Professor Kwiatkowska is the first female winner of the award.
Professor Peter Bruce FRS, of the Department of Materials, has been awarded the Hughes Medal for his distinguished work elucidating the fundamental chemistry underpinning energy storage.
In 2016 Professor Ratcliffe was also awarded the Lasker Award for his discovery of the mechanisms by which cells sense and signal hypoxia (low oxygen levels). Hypoxia is an important component of many human diseases including cancer, heart disease, stroke, vascular disease, and anaemia.
Professor Ratcliffe said: ‘The Royal Society awards are more than just a personal honour. They highlight the world-class research being carried out here, and are a tribute to the research teams who make this work possible.
‘As our knowledge of science increases, so do does the complexity of making further discoveries, opening up whole new fields of exploration. These awards will help to raise awareness of the pioneering work being done in each of these fields.’
Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, said: ‘The Royal Society has a long-standing tradition of celebrating the best and brightest scientists. The winners of this year’s medals and awards have made outstanding contributions to their field and I congratulate them for their distinguished work and the advancement of science as a whole.’
First awarded in 1897, the Buchanan Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society for distinguished contributions to the biomedical sciences.