Martin John Rees

Most important awards, prizes and academies
Awards: Heinemann Prize of Amer. Inst. Phys. (1984); Bappu Medal, Indian Nac. Sci. Acad. (1986); Gold Medal, Royal Astronomical Society (1988); Schwarzschild Medal, Astronomischege sellschaft (1989); Guthrie Prize, Institute of Physics (1989); Balzan International Prize (1989); Robinson Prize for Cosmology (1990); Bruce Medal, Astron. Soc. Pac. (1993); Science writing award, Amer. Inst. Phys. (1996); Bower Prize for Science, Franklin Institute (1998); Rossi Prize, Amer. Astro. Soc. (2000); Gruber Prize for Cosmology (2001); Albert Einstein Award of World Cultural Congress (2003); Descartes Prize (2004); Faraday Award, Roy Soc (2004); Crafoord Prize, Royal Swedish Academy (2005); Templeton Prize (2011); Dirac Medal of ICTP (2013). Japanese Order of Rising Sun – Silver Star (2014) Zwicky Prize (2019); Life Peerage (2005); Niels Bohr Medal, UNESCO (2005); Order of Merit (2007). Academies: Fellow, Royal Society (1979; President 2005-10); Foreign Associate, Nat. Acad. Sci. (1982); Foreign Hon. Mem., Amer. Acad. of Arts and Sci. (1975); Foreign Member, Amer. Phil. Soc. (1993); Associate Fellow, TWAS (2007). Hon. Fellow: Indian Nat. Sci. Acad. (1990); Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1993); Russian Academy of Sciences (1994); Norwegian Academy of Science (1996); Accademia dei Lincei (1996); Royal Netherlands Academy of Science (1997); Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters (2003); Darwin College, Cambridge (2004), King's College, Cambridge (2007); Royal Academy of Engineering (2007). British Academy (2012); Japan Academy (2014) Hon. Degrees: Sussex, Leicester, Uppsala, Keele, Newcastle, Copenhagen, Toronto, Cardiff, Durham, Oxford, Ohio, Exeter, Hull, Zurich, Sydney, Melbourne, Cambridge, Yale, Harvard.

Summary of scientific research
Research has been mainly on topics in high energy astrophysics, cosmology and galaxies, and space science. Early work concerned the nature of cosmic radio sources, and interpreting the data that first became available in the 1960s on cosmology and very remote objects at high redshifts. Other topics have included the nature of the compact objects emitting strong x-rays, quasars, pulsars, gravitational waves, background radiation, the formation of galaxies, and physical processes in the early universe. He has also been interested in the interface between cosmology and philosophy. Outside the primarily academic sphere, he has also been involved in international space research, and in projects for education, etc. in developing countries. In the last decade he has engaged with issues of technological and environmental risks, and co-founded a Centre at Cambridge University to address these questions.