The Peter Higgs Memorial Fund

We are immensely grateful to Professor Higgs for so much, including a pecuniary legacy he left to the University which has enabled us to establish a new fund in his name, the Peter Higgs Memorial Fund.

This fund will drive forward research in Theoretical Physics by supporting postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics. This flexible fund will enable young researchers to push the boundaries of our knowledge, through MSc and summer school bursaries, PhD studentships and postdoctoral fellowships.

Professor Peter Higgs transformed physics, and with the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012 and his Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013 Professor Higgs became one of the most renowned physicists in the world. In addition to these accolades, his contribution to research and learning over decades made him a greatly valued and admired colleague and teacher within the School of Physics and Astronomy.

Today, the inter-disciplinary Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics, founded in 2012, keeps the School of Physics and Astronomy at the global forefront of the extensive world-wide theoretical efforts to understand our Universe. Its ethos is exchange of ideas across theoretical physics, which Peter was passionate about. As well as its vibrant research and outreach activities, the Higgs Centre trains up the next generation of researchers through its postgraduate programme and summer schools.

We are delighted that this fund will continue to create opportunities for talented young theoretical physicists to build on Professor Higgs achievements and open up new possibilities in our understanding of the Universe.