Higgs Boson theorists share physics Nobel Prize

The 2013 Nobel Prize for Physics has gone to Peter Higgs and François Englert for their prediction of the existence of the Higgs Boson in the 1960s, which was verified in 2012 with the Large Hadron Collider.

Today’s award from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences marks the UK’s 120th Nobel Prize.

Edinburgh University’s Prof Peter Higgs won the Nobel Prize for the theory he developed in 1964, which states that fundamental particles have mass due to their interaction with a Higgs field. François Englert, Prof Emeritus at the Université Libre de Bruxelles has also been named on the prize.

‘I am overwhelmed to receive this award and thank the Royal Swedish Academy,’ said Prof Higgs, Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at Edinburgh University. ‘I hope this recognition of fundamental science will help raise awareness of the value of blue-sky research.’

David Willetts, minister for science and universities said: ‘This is the 23rd Nobel Prize for Physics to come to the UK – we should all be very proud of this wonderful achievement. It’s an incredible endorsement of the quality of UK science.