Edinburgh University

Source: STV Edinburgh

Every year, one of the key events at the festival is the presentation of the Edinburgh Medal and subsequent talk by the winner.

This year, the joint recipients were Professor Peter Higgs and the research group Cern – who are behind the Large Hadron Collider – for their work on the Higgs boson, the elusive particle which gives matter mass.

Prof Higgs spoke of his delight at the award after he worked with the very first winner of the accolade, Professor Abdus Salam, as many celebrated with him on yet another achievement in a glittering scientific career.

But what is the Edinburgh Medal? And what is its significance to the scientific community and the city which bears its name?

The award, like the science festival, is now 25 years old. It was started by the City of Edinburgh Council to mark the festival, and his presented every year by the Lord Provost or their deputy.

Made of Sterling silver, it is produced by capital firm Alexander Kirkwood & Son and features the original science festival logo – a juggler performing with different symbols of science in the air.

The medal, though, is much more than a pat on the back from the city to the world’s leading scientists in fields like neurobiology, theoretical physics, anthropology and astrophysics.

“It is an award to an individual or a group who have not only done some great science but have contributed more broadly to society,” said Simon Gage, the director of the science festival who has worked at the event for 24 years.

“It is an unusual award in that it looks at the implications of what science is being done.

“Almost ever other science medal is just for the science. It (the Edinburgh Medal) recognises two dimensions of someone’s work – scientific work and the social consequence of their work. I don’t know of another award that does those things.

“I hope the medal is a point of focus that really tells the story of the festival. The science festival is not for scientists, it is for the general public. The scientific community work for the rest of us.”

Looking at the list of the 25 recipients, Nobel Prize winners Professor Salam (inaugural winner in 1989), Professor Amartya Sen (1997) and Sir John Sulston (2001) stand out, as does one other who made more of a ‘social’ influence – broadcasting legend Sir David Attenborough (1998).

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