Exeter physicist wins top award for research

A University of Exeter lecturer has been honoured with a medal and prize for his outstanding contribution to experimental Physics.

Dr Jacopo Bertolotti, of the University’s department of Physics and Astronomy, has been awarded the Moseley Medal and Prize for 2016 by the Institute of Physics (IOP), after judges decided that his work has made a substantial contribution to the development of physics in the UK and Ireland.

A fellow academic nominated Dr Bertolotti for the prestigious award, presented to early career physicists. The honour, which comprises a medal, a certificate and a prize of £1000 will be presented at a special awards event, to be held in London.

The IOP said that the prize was awarded for Dr Bertolotti’s ‘contribution to the understanding and exploitation of light scattering both in natural and artificial materials’.

Dr Bertolotti said: “My research focuses mostly on what happens to light when it encounters something random and how we can extract information out of it. I am very happy and surprised to have been awarded this medal, for which there is a lot of competition from very good people.”

Professor Roy Sambles, President of the IOP and Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Exeter said: “The IOP Awards recognise outstanding individuals and teams within our physics community, not only to celebrate their creativity, hard work and dedication but also to inspire others to strive to achieve excellence in what they do.

“The recipients represent some of the best and brightest minds involved with physics in academic and industrial research, in education and in outreach.  These awards recognise their outstanding contribution to the development of their own fields of interest and also their ongoing commitment to strengthening the reputation of UK physics as a whole.

“To all who have received an award this year I proffer my warmest congratulations.”