Hughes Medal

The Hughes Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London for original discoveries in electricity and magnetism or their applications."In recognition of an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications".

The medal was first given to J.J. Thomson in 1902 "for his numerous contributions to electric science, especially in reference to the phenomena of electric discharge in gases". It has been awarded over a hundred times. At first it was awarded annually, now it is every two years.

Unlike some other Royal Society medals, the Hughes Medal has never been awarded to the same person more than once. Only one woman has won it: Michele Dougherty in 2008, who was awarded the medal "for innovative use of magnetic field data that led to discovery of an atmosphere around one of Saturn's moons and the way it revolutionised our view of the role of planetary moons in the Solar System".

The medal has been awarded to more than one person at once; in 1938 it was won by John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton "for their discovery that nuclei could be disintegrated by artificially produced bombarding particles", in 1981 by Peter Higgs, Thomas Walter and Tom W. B. Kibble "for their international contributions about the spontaneous breaking of fundamental symmetries in elementary-particle theory", in 1982 by Drummond Matthews and Frederick Vine for explaining the magnetic properties of the ocean floors which then led to the plate tectonic hypothesis, and in 1988 by Archibald Howie and M.J. Whelan for their work on the theory of electron diffraction and microscopy, and its use in the study of lattice defects in crystals.

 List of recipients 
YearNameReason for winningNotes1902 for his many contributions to electric science, especially electric discharge in gases1903 for his experiments on electric discharge in liquids and gases1904 for his invention of the incandescent lamp, and his other inventions and improvements in the practical uses of electricity1905 for his research in electrical science, including electric vibrations1906 for her experiments on the electric arc, and also on sand ripples1907 for his work on exact physical measurement1908 for his discoveries about electric discharge in rarefied gases1909 for his research on electrical standards1910 for his research in electricity and electrical measurements1911 "for his work on nuclei in dust-free air, and his work on ions in gases and atmospheric electricity"1912 for his work in technical electricity1913 for his part in the invention of the telephone, and especially the construction of the telephone receiver1914 for his research on electric induction in gases1915 for his work on electrical science1916 for his research in experimental electricity1917 for his research on X-ray radiation1918 for his research in molecular physics1919 "for his researches in terrestrial magnetism"1920 for his work in experimental physics, and thermionics1921 "for his research in theoretical physics"1922 "for his discovery of isotopes of a large number of the elements by using positive rays"1923 for his work on the electronic charge and of other physical constants1924 zzzzNot awarded — —1925 for his work on fundamental electrical units and for research in technical electricity1926 for his pioneer work in the scientific investigations of radiotelegraphy and its use for navigation1927 "for his work on the X-rays and the development of highly efficient apparatus for their production"1928 "for his work on X-ray spectra"1929 "for his invention and development of methods of counting alpha and beta particles"1930 "for his studies on the abnormal scattering of light"1931 for his pioneer work on explaining crystal structure by using X-ray analysis1932 for his research on radioactivity1933 for his research into the effect of the Heaviside layer upon sending wireless signals1934 "for his work as a physicist and technician on long-wave X-rays"1935 "for his research that resulted in the discovery of the physical existence of electron waves through long-continued investigations on the reflection of electrons from the crystal planes of nickel and other metals"1936 "for his discovery of the Schrot Effect in thermionic emission and his invention of the screen-grid tetrode and a superheterodyne method of receiving wireless signals"1937 for his work on the development of the cyclotron and its use to study nuclear disintegration1938  and for their discovery that nuclei could be disintegrated by artificially produced bombarding particles1939 for his important discoveries about the diffraction of electrons by matter1940 "for his discovery of the Compton Effect; and for his work on cosmic rays"1941 for his use of quantum theory in physics, especially nuclear and collision theory, the theory of metals and in the theory of photographic emulsions1942 for his work on the electrical structure of matter, quantum theory, and his experimental studies of the neutron—1943 for his work in nuclear physics and mastery of methods of generating and applying high potentials1944 for his fundamental study of the structure and properties of surfaces, and for his work on the electrical ignition of gases1945 for his work on atmospheric electricity and of other physical researches1946 for his research into fluorescent materials and into the production of high frequency electro-magnetic radiation—1947 for his work in nuclear physics, particularly the discovery of artificial radioactivity and of neutron emission in the fission process1948 for his work on atmospheric physics and to the development of radar1949 for his work on the photography of particle tracks, and the discovery of mesons and their transformation1950 for his contributions to theoretical physics in general and to the development of quantum mechanics 1951 for his work on the quantum theory, and its use in the study of optical and magnetic properties of matter—1952 for his work on the disintegration of atomic nuclei, particularly those using the Wilson cloud chamber technique—1953 for his work, both theoretical and experimental, of the physics of the Earth1954 for his experiments in radio astronomy1955 for his work on atomic and molecular physics, especially collisions involving the production and recombination of ions—1956 for his work in many fields: the meting point formula and theory of specific heats; ionisation of stars; meteors and temperature inversion in the stratosphere1957 for his work on dynamical oceanography1958 for his work in many branches of classical physics—1959 for his work in the field of low temperature physics—1960 for his work on radio astronomy both in the study of solar and of cosmic ray emission—1961 for his work on the physical properties of metals, particularly mechanical deformation and the effects of irradiation1962 for his study of electrical and magnetic phenomena and their link with atomic and molecular properties1963 for work on early computers—1964 for his work on quantum mechanics and the theory of fundamental particles1965 for his experiments and study of nuclear structure and high energy physics—1966 for his many important discoveries in theoretical nuclear physics1967 for his work on cryophysics, and his discoveries in superconductivity and superfluidity1968 for his work in theoretical physics, and quantum electrodynamics1969 for his work in low-temperature physics and thermodynamics"1970 for his work on theoretical atomic and molecular physics and its use in studying atmospheric physics, plasma physics and astrophysics1971 for his work in developing a new form of stellar interfrometer, and in his observations of alpha virginis1972 for his discovery of the remarkable properties of junctions between superconducting materials1973 for his work on the development of the electron microscope thin film technique for the study of crystal defects and its use in a wide range of problems in materials science and metallurgy1974 for his work on cosmic ray and elementary particle physics1975 for his work on the development of the electron microscope thin film technique for the study of crystal defects and its use to study problems in materials science and metallurgy1976 for his work on using general relativity to study astrophysics, and the behaviour of highly condensed matter1977 for his work in radio astronomy, including the discovery and identification of pulsars1978 for his pioneering work in X-ray crystallography, and for his original work in lattice dynamics and its relation to phase transitions1979 for his studies of the conformations of computer molecules in solution by the use of nuclear magnetic resonance1980 for his ultra-precise measurements of the muon magnetic moment, a severe test of quantum electrodynamics and of the nature of the muon"—1981 ,  and for their work on the spontaneous breaking of fundamental symmetries in elementary-particle theory1982  and for their explanation of the magnetic properties of the ocean floors which led to the plate tectonic hypothesis1983 for his important and original work on quantum field theory, the Ward identity and the Salam-Ward theory of weak interactions1984 for his work on relativity, and his important discovery of the so-called Kerr Black Hole1985 for his work on theoretical particle and nuclear physics, and his discovery that particle-like entities simulating the properties of baryons can occur in non-linear meson field theories—1986 "for the creation of algorithms including MULTAN and SAYTAN which are used world-wide to solve the majority of reported crystal structures"—1987 for his many important experiments into the fundamental properties of semiconductors in low-dimensional systems, where he has explained some of their unusual properties like electron localization and the Quantum Hall effects—1988  and for their work on the theory of electron diffraction and microscopy, and its use to study lattice defects in crystals—1989 for his work on our understanding of the structure and interpretation of quantum theory, showing the unique nature of its predictions1990 for his work on theoretical astrophysics including original theoretical studies of the role of electromagnetic induction in cosmic systems1991 for his work in three main areas of science — nuclear physics, the discovery of gamma-ray resonances, and the use of colliding molecular beams to study chemical reactions1992 for his theoretical research in atomic physics and leadership of the Opacity Project1993 "for his pioneering use of resonant scattering techniques to make extremely precise measures of Doppler velocity shifts in the solar photosphere"1994 for his work on solid-state physics, and his ingenious and technically demanding experiment which proved the Ahoronov-Bohm effect on the behaviour of charged particles in magnetic fields—1995 for his work on the electronic structure of solids, using low temperature techniques, and the De Haas Van Alphen effect, defining the Fermi surface of many metals—1996 for his work in chemical physics on long-range intermolecular forces, non-linear optics, problems related to the polarizability of the helium atom, the interpretation of NMR spectra, and the uses of ab initio computations1997 for his work on X-ray diffraction physics and for his developing techniques of X-ray topography to study defects in crystal structures1998 for his experiments and study of the hydrodynamics of rotating fluids, and the use of this study in understanding of motions in the atmosphere and interiors of the major planets1999 for his landmark discoveries on the nature of active galactic nuclei, the physics of the intergalactic medium and of the interstellar gas in primordial galaxies. He is noted also for his work on the development of astronomical instrumentation including the Image Photon Counting System, a revolutionary electronic area detector for the detection of faint sources, which inspired optical astronomy in the United Kingdom2000 for his work on materials chemistry in the study of the electronic and magnetic properties of transition metal oxides and high temperature superconductors. His work has been an inspiration to a generation of Indian scientists2001 for his work on nanometre and atomic scale mechanics. He invented and developed the technique of nanoindentation thereby revolutionising the mechanical characterisation of ultra-small volumes of materials. This has been important for industries using thin film and coating technologies2002 for his work on the theory of atomic and molecular process, and how it can be used in astrophysics. His studies of energy depositions provide the key to understanding emissions from terrestrial aurorae, planetary atmospheres and comets—2003 for his work as a solid state chemist. He has made original contributions in superconductivity and the behaviour of metal nanoparticles, and has greatly advanced our understanding of the phenomenology of the metal-insulator transition2004 for his research, leading the world in the invention, building and development of innovative new Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (SQUID), in their theory and use in many fundamental problems and their investigative tools—2005 for his work on the understanding of magnetohydrodynamics and the mechanisms determining how magnetic fields can develop from a low background level to substantial amplitude2006 for his work in the fundamental physics of electron transport and the creation of practical electronic devices which can be deployed in advanced systems—2007 "for his pioneering work on quantum cryptography and his many important contributions to the theory of quantum computation and other branches of quantum physics"2008 for innovative use of magnetic field data that led to discovery of an atmosphere around one of Saturn's moons and the way it changed our view of the role of planetary moons in the Solar System—2009 zzzzno award ——2010 "for his revolutionary discovery of graphene, and elucidation of its remarkable properties"2011 "for his influential discoveries in the synthetic chemistry of solid state electronic materials and novel microporous structures"2013 "for his pioneering development of inkjet printing processes for organic semiconductor devices, and dramatic improvement of their functioning and efficiency"2015 "for many outstanding contributions to our understanding of the early Universe"2017 "for distinguished work elucidating the fundamental chemistry underpinning energy storage"2018 "for his distinguished photochemical studies for the design solar energy devices"

 References 
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 Other websites 
Royal Society: Hughes Medal

Category:Science awards
Category:Physics
Category:Royal Society
Category:1902 establishments in Europe
Category:1900s establishments in the United Kingdom