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The Higgs Lecture series was set up in recognition of its name bearer Professor Peter Higgs, who read his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate at King's College London, going on to win the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the Higgs Boson.

The inaugural lecture was delivered by Higgs himself in 2012, and since then has annually hosted some of the greatest minds in physics to share their discoveries with public audiences. 

About Peter Higgs

In 1954, Peter Higgs received his PhD from King's College with a thesis titled "Some Problems in the Theory of Molecular Vibrations."

After finishing his doctorate, he joined the University of Edinburgh as a Senior Research Fellow. Before returning to the University of Edinburgh in 1960, Higgs held various posts at Imperial College London and University College London. In 1980, he was promoted to a Personal Chair of Theoretical Physics. Following his retirement in 1996, Higgs assumed the position of Emeritus Professor at the University of Edinburgh.

Peter Higgs and François Englert were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2013 for the theory of how particles acquire mass.

 

Previous speakers:

  • Professor David Gross, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics - 50 years of Quantum Chromodynamics: The Theory of The Strong Nuclear Force (2023)
  • Professor Sir Roger Penrose - From KCL and black hole singularities to cyclic cosmology (2022)
  • Sir Michael Berry, University of Bristol - Chasing the dragon: tidal bores in the UK and elsewhere (2019)
  • Professor Stephen Roberts, University of Oxford - The age of intelligent algorithms: 21st century industry, commerce and science (2018)
  • Professor Sheila Rowan, University of Glasgow - Gravitational waves: prospects for a new astronomy (2017)
  • Professor James Bowie, UCLA - Toward quantitative folding studies of complex membrane proteins (2016)
  • Professor Caroline Series, University of Warwick - Thurston and beyond: Hyperbolic geometry in three dimensions (2015)
  • Sir John O’Reilly, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills - Information, Knowledge & Wisdom: TS Eliot, Science, Technology and Industrial Strategy (2013)
  • Professor Peter Higgs FRS, Emeritus Professor, University of Edinburgh, - Putting Maxwell in his Place (2012)