About the Simon Memorial Prize

The Simon Memorial Prize, established in 1957, is an international prize awarded once every three years which is intended to recognise outstanding experimental and theoretical contributions to low temperature physics. 

The prize commemorates the outstanding contributions to science of Sir Francis Simon during his career in the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford. Sir Francis worked closely with Nicholas Kurti, mentor and colleague of Sir Martin Wood during his career in the Clarendon prior to the establishment of Oxford Instruments. 

The prize is administered by the Institute of Physics, London. Oxford Instruments has been financially supporting the Simon Memorial Prize since 2014.

How to nominate

Nominations for the 2025 Simon Memorial Prize are now open.

Nominations should be sent to the Secretary of the Simon Memorial Prize Selection Panel, Prof. Andrew Armour, andrew.armour@nottingham.ac.uk, by November 15, 2024, together with a supporting statement describing the achievements for which the prize should be awarded.

Additional letters supporting the nomination from colleagues with relevant expertise are also welcome and should be submitted together with the nomination.

The prize presentation will take place at the 30th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics (LT30), Bilbao, August 2025.

The 2020 Prize Winner:

Professor Jukka Pekola from Aalto University

Jukka Pekola is awarded the Simon Memorial Prize for fundamental achievements in quantum thermodynamics, metrology and cryogenics based on nanoscale electronic devices.

The 2017 prize winner:

Professor Louis Taillefer from University of Sherbrooke

Louis Taillefer is awarded the prize for his outstanding contribution to the study and understanding of Heavy Fermions and Quantum Criticality.