The Royal Astronomical Society is now welcoming nominations for its 2026 Awards.
Among them is the prestigious Gold Medal – the Society’s highest honour – which dates back more than 200 years and has previously been won by Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
The annual awards, medals and prizes recognise significant achievement in the fields of astronomy and geophysics, encompassing different types of talent from research to education and outreach.
Some are aimed at young scientists, while others recognise many years of dedicated service.
The deadline for nominations is 31 July 2025, although the Education and Outreach Awards have a later deadline of 26 September 2025.
Winners of the RAS Medals and prizes will be announced in January 2026.
This year several changes have been made to the awards.
For the Gold Medal and Fowler Award, the Awards Panel will seek two independent expert evaluations for each of the nominated candidates. Previously, nominators were asked to provide the details of two referees.
Evaluators should be capable of providing an objective assessment, but it is not required that they have no past or present collaborative links with the nominee. In selecting the evaluators, the panel will consider these as well as additional names which it will compile.
The Service Award (A) has also been renamed and the prize money associated with it increased from £500 to £1,000 thanks to a generous donation from former winner Professor Ian Robson. It will now be known as the Ian Robson Lifetime Achievement Award in Astronomy.
The prize for the Service Award (G) has also been increased from £500 to £1,000.
In addition to the usual awards, this year nominations are being sought for the Agnes Mary Clerke Medal for Historical Research in Astronomy or Geophysics, which is awarded every three years, and the Gerald Whitrow Lecture, given every two years.
The former recognises an individual who has achieved outstanding personal research into the history of astronomy or geophysics, while the latter is awarded to an authoritative and engaging speaker on any topic in cosmology, including its philosophy.
Anyone may submit a nomination for an award – it is not necessary to be a Fellow of the RAS. All nominations are made in strict confidence. Nominees should not be informed of submissions in order to avoid unnecessary disappointment. This does not apply to the Education and Outreach Awards.
To find out more about the RAS Awards, medals and other prizes, and for information on how to nominate, visit: https://ras.ac.uk/awards-and-grants/awards