The University of Warwick has been awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher & Further Education for its research in Mathematics and Statistics and the impact and application of that research to solve global challenges. The award was announced at a ceremony at St James’ Palace in London on the evening of Thursday, 19^th November 2015.

The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes are awarded every two years to universities and colleges who submit work judged to show excellence, innovation, impact and benefit for the institution itself and for people and society generally in the wider world. The Awards Council of the Royal Anniversary Trust recommend the entries judged deserving of a Prize to The Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Warwick’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Nigel Thrift said:

“It is particularly pleasing to be awarded this Royal prize in the year Warwick is celebrating its 50^th Anniversary. The very first students to study and research at Warwick were mathematicians and in the fifty since years our mathematics and statistics research has become an intellectual powerhouse with a world-wide reputation for excellence and impact.”

Jo Johnson, Minister for Universities and Science says: “The UK is a world leader in science and research and The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes celebrate the achievements of our universities and colleges. The outstanding academics recognised with these awards bring benefits to the everyday lives of millions of people in the UK and deserve this high honour for their work.”

Kieran Poynter, Chair of The Royal Anniversary Trust says: “The Prizes in this biennial round again illustrate the variety and quality of innovative work being done in our universities and colleges. They encourage our institutions to think about what they are doing in terms of practical benefit as well as intrinsic quality. The work being recognised combines a track record of outstanding achievement with the promise of future development.”

Mathematics and statistics research at Warwick has had impacts across government, health, the legal system and industry. Examples include modelling the spread of infectious diseases, estimating life expectancy of victims in high profile legal damages cases and modelling risk within the finance and other industries.

This is the second Royal accolade for mathematics and statistics at Warwick in recent times. In 2013 Warwick’s Mathematics Institute was awarded a Regius professorship by the Queen to mark her Diamond Jubilee. That was the first Regius professorship in mathematics to be awarded in over 300 years. Professor Martin Hairer who became that Regius Professor of Mathematics was soon after awarded the Fields Medal, the world’s most prestigious mathematics award.

Note for editors:

• In this 11th round of the prestigious awards, 21 UK universities and colleges have been awarded Prizes recognizing a wide range of innovative work across many different disciplines including technical skills training for business and industry; advances in surgery, medicine and healthcare; innovations in construction technologies and in energy; contributions to international development goals and social issues and new developments in IT; the application of maths and statistics in society as well as work in the creative industries and the services industries. .
• The 2014 – 2016 round is the eleventh round of The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes, the first round was announced in 1994 and to date Her Majesty The Queen has awarded a total of 211 Queen’s Anniversary Prizes to 111 different institutions, 71 universities and 40 colleges of further education. The Prizes were a direct outcome of the Trust's initiative to mark the 40th Anniversary of Her Majesty's Accession. The Prize Medals will be awarded at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace in February.
• The Prize itself consists of a silver gilt medallion and a decorated and inscribed certificate granting the award signed by The Queen.
• For more information on the work of The Royal Anniversary Trust and to view films of previous winners visit www.royalanniversarytrust.org.uk

 

For further information please contact:

Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Policy, University of Warwick Tel UK: 024 76523708 office 07767 655860 mobile Tel Overseas: +44 (0)24 76523708 office +44 (0)7767 655860 mobile/cell Email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk

Royal Communications: Colette Saunders, colette.saunders@royal.gsx.gov.uk

Tel: 020 7024 4214 Mobile: 07990 974 270 Ext: 713361

For the Trust - Kim Creed, kim@kimcreedpr.co.uk Tel: 07802 210972

ABOUT THE ROYAL ANNIVERSARY TRUST

The Royal Anniversary Trust was established in 1990 as a registered charity. Originating with an idea of Sir Robin Gill's, the Trust was conceived as a mechanism through which the nation could mark, during 1992, the 40th anniversary of The Queen's accession and express its gratitude for her 40 years of service as Head of State. The Trust had four main objectives:

• To create a programme of celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of The Queen’s accession;

• To make educational awards;

• To contribute to public education regarding the development of the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom;

• To promote industry and commerce and the advancement of education.

   

  In line with the original concept, the funds for this programme were raised without calls on taxpayer funding or public appeal. Donations were given by industry, commerce, the professions and private individuals.
  
  Following the completion of the 40th anniversary programme,and with the approval of The Queen, it was agreed that the Trust’s remaining funds be used to create an award scheme to celebrate outstanding achievement by the UK higher and further education sectors. The establishment of The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education was announced in Parliament by the then Prime Minister John Major with all-party support, in 1993. Prizes in the inaugural round of the scheme were presented by The Queen in 1995.

  PR551 PJD 20th November 2015

   

Contact:

Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Policy, University of Warwick

Tel UK: 024 76523708

Mobile: +44 (0)7767 655860

Email: p dot j dot dunn at warwick dot ac dot uk