Each year we recognise the outstanding breadth of research conducted within the Department. Typically, three prizes are awarded for exceptional contributions in computational, experimental, and theoretical physics.
Each prize includes a £500 award, funded by the Head of Department, and you have the opportunity to present your award-winning work at the annual postgraduate student conference at the end of Michaelmas term.
There is also the Abdus Salam Prize for Postgraduate Student Research, which is presented annually to a PhD student in recognition of outstanding research. Generously funded by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association UK, it is awarded based on a peer-reviewed paper showcasing work you have undertaken at the Cavendish.
Further information is available from the Postgraduate Office.
Abdus Salam Prize
Rituparno Chowdhury
Bright triplet and bright charge-separated singlet excitons in organic diradicals enable optical read-out and writing of spin states – Nature Chemistry
Cavendish PhD Prize
Shedding Light on the Kinetics of the Carboxysulfitic Scenario – ACS Earth and Space Chemistry
The dawn of discs: unveiling the turbulent ionized gas kinematics of the galaxy population at z ∼ 4–6 with JWST/NIRCam grism spectroscopy – Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cavendish Community Contribution Prize
Ella Wood
Graduate Student Conference poster prizes
Best Poster Prize: William Brilliant, Zory Davoyan and Aneesh Agarwal
Graduate Student Conference Committee (GSCC) choice award: Luca Rüegg’s
Best Poster (Audience Vote): Yingxu Li
Abdus Salam Prize
Emmanuel Gottlob (‘Hubbard Models for Quasicrystalline Potentials’) – Physical Review Journals
Cavendish Prize in Experimental Physics
Camilla Tacconis (‘Role of Fe Impurity Reactions in the Electrochemical Properties of MgFeB2O5’) – Chemistry of Materials
Cavendish Prize in Theoretical Physics
Pratyush Ghosh (‘Decoupling excitons from high-frequency vibrations in organic molecules’) – Nature
Read more about the 2024-25 winners and their research projects.
Abdus Salam Prize
Lena Dogra (Atomic, Mesoscopic and Optical Physics) – Nature
Cavendish Prize in Experimental Physics
Sebastian Gorgon (Optoelectronics) – Nature
Cavendish Prize in Theoretical Physics
Thomas Gessey-Jones (Astrophysics) – Oxford Academic (oup.com)
Read more about the 2023-24 winners and their research projects.
Abdus Salam Prize in Computational Physics
Siyu Chen (TCM Group) – Physical Review B
Cavendish Prize in Experimental Physics
Arjun Ashoka (OE) – Nature Communications
Cavendish Prize in Experimental Physics
Rakesh Arul (NP) – Light:Science and Applications
Cavendish Prize in Theoretical Physics
Abdus Salam Prize in Theoretical Physics
William Barker (AP) – Physical Review D
Cavendish Prize in Experimental Physics
Alice Merryweather (OE) – Nature
Cavendish Prize in Computational Physics
Bo Peng (TCM) – Science Advances
Abdus Salam Prize in Experimental Physics
Sascha Feldmann (OE) – Nature Photonics
Cavendish Prize in Theoretical Physics
Clara Wanjura (TCM) – Nature Communications
Cavendish Prize in Computational Physics
Antonios Alvertis (OE) – Physical Review B
Abdus Salam Prize in Theoretical Physics
Andrea Pizzi (TCM) – Physical Review Letters
Cavendish Prize in Experimental Physics
Cavendish Prize in Computational Physics
Herschel Chawdhry (HEP) – Physical Review D
| 2018-19 | Christoph Eigen |
| 2017-18 | Dedalo Sanz Hernandez |
| 2016-17 | Felix Benz Kerstin Gopfrich |
| 2015-16 | David Sutherland |
| 2014-15 | Carsten Schulte |
| 2013-14 | Alexander Gaunt |
| 2012-13 | Stuart Moulder |
| 2011-12 | Naaman Tammuz |
| 2010-11 | Lars Boyde |
| 2009-10 | Stefan Palzer Petra Vertes |
| 2009-10 | Gareth Conduit |
| 2008-09 | Tuomas Knowles |