President’s Medals for University of Glasgow gravitational wave researchers

University of Glasgow physicists who played a key role in the historic first detection of gravitational waves have received a prestigious award for their achievements. A total of 13 scientists associated with the University's School of Physics and Astronomy received the President's Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) at an event held at the Society's headquarters yesterday (Monday 31 October). Professors Sheila Rowan, James Hough and Norna Robertson discuss the RSE President's Medal The award, presented by the RSE President and University of Glasgow alumna Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, recognises outstanding achievements from scientists working in Scotland. The awards were presented after a public lecture from Professor Martin Hendry, Head of the University's School of Physics and Astronomy, on the science of gravitational waves - ripples in spacetime caused by massive astronomical events such as the collision of black holes. Researchers from the University of Glasgow's Institute for Gravitational Research led on the conception, development, building and installation of the sensitive mirror suspensions at the heart of the US-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors, which made the first direct observation of the existence of gravitational waves on September 14, 2015. University of Glasgow researchers were also involved in the analysis of the data from the first detection.