A researcher in the University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy has been named a Finalist in the annual Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom.
Announced by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences, the awards are the largest unrestricted cash prizes available exclusively to talented young scientists and engineers in the UK under the age of 42.
Each year, three Laureates and six finalists are recognised for innovative discoveries ranging from microbubble engineering and clean energy development to the discovery of new planets and advances in medicine, physics and fossil dating. Despite being still in the early stages of their careers, their research is already changing science and our understanding of the world.
Dr Amaury Triaud, an expert in the discovery of exoplanets at the University of Birmingham, is a Finalist in the Physical Sciences and Engineering category. The Laureate in this category is Professor Claudia de Rham, of Imperial College London.
Dr Triaud was recognised for his contribution to the discovery of a new exoplanet system that provides the most promising physical conditions to support life among all the planets we know of beyond our Solar system, and improving the understanding of the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems significantly different from our own Solar system.
On receiving the award, Dr Triaud commented: “The news of this award came as a complete surprise. I am delighted that my work and that of my collaborators is recognised so highly by the Blavatnik Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences. This speaks volumes about the interest and relevance of discovering exoplanets, and the steps that astronomers are making towards finding out whether biology has arisen elsewhere in the Cosmos, in what has become one of the most exciting scientific quests of the 21st century. I would like to give thanks to the University of Birmingham for appreciating this, and nominating my work for this award."
“The UK has cultivated much of the world’s leading scientific talent,” commented Sir Leonard Blavatnik, Founder and Chairman of Access Industries and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, and member of the President’s Council of the New York Academy of Sciences. "We are incredibly proud to elevate these select scientists to an international stage that will enable them to be recognised globally, prepare them to become world-class leaders in their scientific fields, and propel the wheel of innovation and societal progress."
The UK Laureates and Finalists in the 2020 Blavatnik Awards will be honoured at a black-tie gala dinner and ceremony at Banqueting House in London on 4th March 2020.
The following day, on 5th March 2020, the honourees will present their research with a series of short, interactive lectures at a public symposium. The event, “Game Changers: 9 Young Scientists Transforming Our World”, will be held at Banqueting House in London from 11am to 6pm, and includes a reception, during which attendees can meet the honourees. The event is free and open to the public.
- For media enquiries, please contact Beck Lockwood, Press Office, University of Birmingham, tel +44 (0)121 414 2772.
- The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 6,500 international students from over 150 countries.
- Now in their third year, the 2020 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK received 80 nominations from 41 academic and research institutions across the UK. The UK awards sit alongside their global counterparts, the Blavatnik National Awards in the United States and the Blavatnik Awards in Israel, all of which honour and support exceptional early-career scientists at lecturer level and above.