| Research Awards / Medals, Prizes and Prize Lectureships |
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| The Royal Society of Edinburgh awards Medals, Prizes and Prize Lectureships, details of which are given below. Prizes and Prize Lectureships carry monetary awards. Fellows are asked each year to make nominations for the current awards (click here to view). Current award titles (2008-2009) are shown below in red. |
| MEDALS |
David Anderson Berry Medal
This Medal was established in 1930 as a result of a donation from Dr David Anderson-Berry. It is awarded quinquennially for recent work on the effects of X-rays and other forms of radiation on living tissues. Published work is taken into consideration if submitted to the Society with the application. |
Bicentenary Medal
This Medal was instituted by Council in 1983 to commemorate the bicentenary of the Society and recognises distinguished Service to the Society.
HM Queen Elizabeth II presented the first four medals on the occasion of her opening of the refurbished Rooms on 25 June 1983. Awards are normally made triennially, in the first year of each Presidency. |
W S Bruce Medal
Instituted in 1923, this Medal commemorates the work of Dr W S Bruce, an explorer and scientific investigator in polar regions. The Society acts as trustee for administration of the Bruce Medal fund and the award is made by a joint Committee appointed by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal Physical Society and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
The Bruce Medal is awarded quinquennially and it is open to workers of all nationalities, preferably of Scottish birth or origin, and preferably at the outset of their careers. The Medal is for some notable contribution to Zoology, Botany, Geology, Meteorology, Oceanography or Geography. It should represent new knowledge, or be the outcome of a personal visit to polar regions by the recipient. |
Keith Medal
This Medal was inaugurated in 1827 as a result of a gift from Alexander Keith of Dunottar, the first Treasurer of the Society. It is awarded quadrennially for a paper on a scientific subject presented in the first instance to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, preference being given to a paper containing a discovery.
The Medal is awarded alternately, provided that a paper worthy of recommendation has been received, for a paper published in:
(i) Proceedings A (Mathematics) or
(ii) Transactions (Earth Sciences). |
Neill Medal
This Medal was first awarded in 1859, following a bequest received in 1851 from the late Dr Patrick Neill, a distinguished Scottish Naturalist. It is awarded triennially for a work or publication, by a Scottish Naturalist, preferably based in Scotland, on some branch of Natural History, completed or published within the last five years. |
Royal Medal
These Medals were instituted by Her Majesty The Queen in the year 2000. They are awarded annually, to individuals who have achieved distinction and are of international repute in any of the following categories: Life Sciences; Physical and Engineering Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; Business and Commerce. Normally candidates should be Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh but others will be considered if there are exceptional circumstances. |
PRIZES |
Makdougall Brisbane Prize
This Prize was founded in 1855 by Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, who was the fourth President of the Society and who held office for twenty-eight years. It is awarded biennially, with preference to a person working in Scotland, for particular distinction in the promotion of scientific research, with the proviso that, in the absence of a person of sufficient distinction, Council may decline to make the award. The Prize is awarded sequentially to research workers in the following fields:
(i) Physical Sciences
(ii) Engineering Sciences
(iii) Biological Sciences |
Alexander Ninian Bruce Prize
This Prize is funded by the Henry Dryerre Fund established under the will of the late Mrs Agnes Dryerre. It is awarded quadrennially for meritorious research in Medical or Veterinary Physiology, to a person working in a Scottish Higher Education Institution. |
PRIZE LECTURESHIPS |
BP Prize Lectureship in the Humanities
In 1990, British Petroleum provided an endowment to create a Prize Lectureship in the Humanities. The first Prize Lectureship was awarded in 1991. It is awarded biennially to a person working in a Scottish Higher Education Institution. It is awarded sequentially in the following subject areas:
(i) Language, Literature and the Arts
(ii) Archaeological and Historical Studies
(iii) Social Studies
(iv) Philosophy, Theology and Law |
Bruce Preller Prize Lectureship
In 1929 the Society, having received the bequest of the late Dr Charles Du Riche Preller, an electrical engineer and amateur geologist, instituted this biennial Prize Lectureship to be given to an outstanding scientist. It is awarded sequentially in the following areas:
(i) Earth Sciences
(ii) Engineering Sciences
(iii) Medical Sciences
(iv) Biological Sciences
or, at the discretion of Council, in some other branch of science. |
CRF Prize Lectureship in Biomedical Sciences and Arts & Letters
In 1990, as part of a five-year Agreement with Caledonian Research Foundation, the Society created an annual Prize Lectureship in Biomedical Science. In 1994 it was agreed that the Prize Lectureship would alternate annually between Biomedical Sciences and Arts & Letters subjects. The next Lectureship will be in Biomedical Sciences. The Biomedical Sciences Lectureship is normally awarded to a scientist working outside the United Kingdom. There is no geographical restriction on the domicile of the Prize Lecturer in Arts and Letters.
Prize Lecturers are expected to be of the highest international repute, with no restriction on nationality. The Prize Lecture is normally given at a number of locations in Scotland. |
Henry Dryerre Prize Lectureship
In 1989, the Society received the entire estate of the late Mrs Agnes Dryerre, to establish a fund to be used principally to support research in Physiology. The Fund is named after her late husband, Henry Dryerre, who was a Professor of Veterinary Physiology at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, Edinburgh. The Prize Lectureship is awarded quadrennially to a distinguished scholar in the field of medical research. |
Henry Duncan Prize Lectureship
In 1990, as part of its Purchase of Rooms Appeal, the Society received a donation from the Trustee Savings Bank (Scotland), from which Council created a Prize Lectureship named after the Reverend Henry Duncan, founder of the first Trustee Savings Bank. It is awarded triennially to a scholar of any nationality for work of international repute in Scottish Studies. |
Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship
This Prize Lectureship was founded in 1887 by His Excellency Dr R H Gunning, who spent much of his life in Brazil and was noted for his generosity. It is awarded quadrennially in recognition of original work by scientists resident in or connected with Scotland. It is awarded sequentially in the following areas:
(i) Chemistry
(ii) Physics
(iii) Pure or Applied Mathematics |
James Scott Prize Lectureship
In 1918 a Prize Lectureship was established in memory of James Scott, a farmer at East Pittendreich, near Brechin, by the Trustees of his Bequest. This is awarded quadrennially for a lecture on the fundamental concepts of Natural Philosophy.
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