Higgs and Cern share science medal

Jan 31 2013

The professor who gave his name to the "God particle", believed to give matter mass, is to receive a science medal.

Professor Peter Higgs will receive the Edinburgh Medal at a ceremony in March.

The medal will also be awarded to international organisation Cern, whose Large Hadron Collider on the Swiss-French border last year detected the existence of an elusive, subatomic particle consistent with the long sought-after "Higgs boson".

It marks the first time in the medal's history that two recipients will get the medal in a single year.

Prof Higgs, made a Companion of Honour in the New Year Honours list, said it is a pleasure to be jointly awarded the 25th Edinburgh Medal.

The scientist, a theoretical physicist and emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh, was one of the first to suggest the existence of the particle that now bears his name.

In 1964 he predicted the existence of a force-carrying particle, part of an invisible energy field which filled the vacuum throughout the observable universe.

The search for the Higgs boson went on to become a major objective of experimental particle physics.

The medal is being awarded to Prof Higgs and Cern, which led the quest for the particle, in "celebration of the spirit of collaboration in modern scientific endeavour".

The medal, awarded at Edinburgh International Science Festival, is supported by City of Edinburgh Council. It will be presented at a ceremony in the city on Sunday March 24.