A physicist from the University of Nottingham has had her work to engage more girls with Physics recognised with a prestigious award from the Royal Society.
Professor Clare Burrange from the School of Physics and Astronomy has been awarded the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture, for her achievements in theoretical cosmology and her proposed project which aims to inspire and engage girls of all ages with physics.
She is among 27 Royal Society medal and award winners announced today for their outstanding contributions to scientific discovery, public engagement and research culture.
Professor Burrage's research explores our ability to detect dark energy – new forces and particles that make up 70 per cent of the universe – and bring greater understanding of what this means for well-known, but flawed, theories on gravity.
Alongside her research Professor Burrage is also undertaking a two year project to show girls of all ages how fun and accessible Physics can be, and to support girls who have chosen to study Physics at A-Level to further their interests and make connections with female peers outside their (male dominated) classroom.
In the UK, Physics remains an overwhelmingly male discipline. In 2025, only 24% of A-Level Physics entrants were female, and this underrepresentation persists across the sector; only 22% of working Institute of Physics (IoP) members are female. At school Physics is often perceived as difficult and boring, and many students don't have access to a specialist teacher (e.g. in 2022 the number of Physics teachers recruited in England was 17% of the government's target). Combined with prevalent stereotypes that Physics is a subject 'for boys', the subject can be unappealing to many girls.
The project will support the 'I'm a Physicist' Girl Guiding badge, created by Girl Guiding Nottinghamshire and the Institute of Physics East Midlands branch in 2019.
This badge introduces girls from ages 5-18 to the fascinating world of Physics and the project will provide materials and trained volunteers to support the activities needed to obtain this badge, including carrying out experiments and meeting professional physicists.
The popular Physics work experience week at the University will also be expanded to ensure more girls can access this hugely popular event. There will be an expanded in-person programme and a new online version to provide greater opportunities for girls to get involved.
I'm really honoured to receive this award, we already do a lot of outreach work at Nottingham to interest girls in Physics and it's great to have this recognised as it's so important to ensure girls have every opportunity to explore this fascinating area of science. I'm so excited to get started on the next phase of the work we have planned to share the excitement of doing Physics.
I'm thrilled that Clare's outstanding contributions to particle cosmology, and her passion for supporting women in physics, have been recognised by this Royal Society award. Our School has long prioritised achieving a better gender balance in physics and, as a result, more than a third of our recent undergraduate students are female, far higher than the fraction of women in the national A-level cohort. This has been driven by the success and visibility of women in our School, as exemplified by the award to Clare, which will help us move further towards 50% female students.
Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said: "The recipients of this year's medals and awards have all made outstanding contributions to science and its applications for the benefit of humanity.
"They have done so by furthering our understanding of the processes that govern the world around us, changing the practices of academia to build a more robust and inclusive research environment, and engaging new audiences.
"Celebrating these diverse contributions is core to the Society's mission and I offer my congratulations to all the 2025 recipients."
