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Six Oxford University academics, including three from MPLS Division, have been elected to the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society.

Royal Society medals

The Royal Society, the UK’s distinguished academy of science, has announced the election of 62 new Fellows and Foreign Members, which include six academics from the University of Oxford. The three newly elected Fellows from MPLS Division are:

Professor Ehud Hrushovski FRS

Professor of Mathematical Logic, Mathematical Institute

Ehud Hrushovski's work is concerned with mapping the interactions and interpretations among different mathematical worlds. Guided by the model theory of Robinson, Shelah and Zilber, Hrushovski investigated mathematical areas including highly symmetric finite structures, differential equations, difference equations and their relations to arithmetic geometry and the Frobenius maps, aspects of additive combinatorics, motivic integration, valued fields and non-archimedean geometry. He also took part in the creation of geometric stability and simplicity theory in finite dimensions, and in establishing the role of definable groups within first order model theory.

Professor Peter Nellist FRS

Professor of Materials and Joint Head of Department, Department of Materials

Peter Nellist is a materials scientist who has pioneered new techniques for atomic-resolution microscopy. Nellist’s work has focused on scanning transmission electron microscopy and its application across a range of functional and structural materials. He is known for the practical implementation of electron ptychography which allows light elements to be detected while reducing beam-induced damage, and to the theory underlying quantitative image interpretation. He has made fundamental contributions to the development of correctors for the inherent aberrations of electron lenses and their use for the three-dimensional imaging of materials.

Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert FRS

Halley Professor, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics

Raymond Pierrehumbert works on the physics of planetary climates - including Earth - and his research explores the past four billion years of the Universe and the next several billion years, extending from the Solar System out to the newly discovered exoplanets. His early work focused on fundamental processes such as water vapour and cloud effects both in the present climate and under the effects of human-influenced global warming, as well as climates of the Earth’s distant past. He has also worked on the climates of Titan and of ancient Mars. His current research is primarily focused on the climates of newly discovered exoplanets.

Three academics from the Medical Sciences Division were also elected: Professors Timothy Behrens (Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences), Benjamin Berks (Department of Biochemistry), and Xin Lu (Nuffield Department of Medicine)

Professor Sam Howison, Head of MPLS Division, said: 

"I am really delighted to congratulate our colleagues on this recognition of their tremendous scientific accomplishments. It is wonderful news for them personally and for the whole Oxford scientific community. I shall raise a (virtual) glass to them now and look forward to doing so properly when we return to more normal life."  

Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, said:

“At this time of global crisis, the importance of scientific thinking, and the medicines, technologies and insights it delivers, has never been clearer. Our Fellows and Foreign Members are central to the mission of the Royal Society, to use science for the benefit of humanity.

“While election to the Fellowship is a recognition of exceptional individual contributions to the sciences, it is also a network of expertise that can be drawn on to address issues of societal, and global significance. This year’s Fellows and Foreign Members have helped shape the 21st century through their work at the cutting-edge of fields from human genomics, to climate science and machine learning.

“It gives me great pleasure to celebrate these achievements, and those yet to come, and welcome them into the ranks of the Royal Society.” 

See more information about the Royal Society and this year’s elected Fellows and Foreign Members.

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