Congratulations to Dame Jocelyn Burnell, one of our Honorary Fellows, who has been awarded the Copley Medal 2021 by the Royal Society for her work on the discovery of pulsars.

Dame Jocelyn said: “I am delighted to be the recipient of this year’s Copley Medal, a prize which has been awarded to so many incredible scientists.

“With many more women having successful careers in science, and gaining recognition for their transformational work, I hope there will be many more female Copley winners in the near future.

“My career has not fitted a conventional – male – pattern. Being the first person to identify pulsars would be the highlight of any career; but I have also swung sledgehammers and built radio telescopes; set up a successful group of my own studying binary stars; and was the first female president of the Institute of Physics and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

“I hope that my work and presence as a senior woman in science continues to encourage more women to pursue scientific careers”.

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell awarded world’s oldest scientific prize as Royal Society announces 2021 medal and award winners | Royal Society