Professor Neil Turok elected Fellow of the Royal Society
The UK’s national academy of sciences announces new Fellows.
Over 90 outstanding researchers from across the world have been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society this year.
Among the list of elected Fellows is Professor Neil Turok FRS, Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics, based in the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh.
Contributions to Theoretical Physics and the Globalisation of Science
Neil undertook studies in Cambridge and London and has held appointments as Professor of Physics at Princeton, Chair of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge and Director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada.
Neil develops and tests theories of the universe and its basic laws, from the Big Bang to the far future. Several of his team’s predictions have been confirmed, including correlations between the distribution of galaxies and the cosmic microwave background radiation. He has recently proposed a new paradigm for cosmology, connecting particles and forces to dark matter, dark energy and primordial density variations. Its predictions will be tested in the coming decade.
In 2003, Neil founded the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), now Africa’s largest centre for postgraduate training and research in the mathematical sciences. Currently, AIMS operates six centres of excellence, in South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Rwanda. AIMS has over 4,000 Master’s and 1,000 PhD alumni. In the coming decade, AIMS plans to open four additional centres of excellence and to graduate 10,000 students at Master’s level and beyond.
For his research and for founding AIMS, Neil was awarded a TED Prize in 2008. In 2016, he was awarded the John Torrence Tate award of the American Institute of Physics for international leadership in physics. He is an Honorary Fellow of the UK Institute of Physics, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Mission of the Royal Society
The Royal Society’s fundamental purpose, reflected in its founding Charters of the 1660s, is to recognise, promote and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.
Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, said:
I am delighted to welcome this newest group of exceptional scientists to the Fellowship of the Royal Society. Their contributions reflect the highest standards of scientific endeavour. Whether advancing our understanding of vaccines or exploring the transformative potential of mathematics and computation, their work exemplifies the enduring value of curiosity, creativity and rigorous inquiry. Our Fellowship is strengthened not only by individual distinction, but by the diversity of perspectives and experiences its members bring. This incoming cohort highlights the truly international character of contemporary science and underscores the vital role that plays in achieving breakthroughs that benefit us all.
The Fellows and Foreign Members join the ranks of Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Dorothy Hodgkin.