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Scientists win Royal Society awards

Three Oxford University scientists have been honoured by the Royal Society in this year's Awards, Medals, and Lectures.

Professor Ben Green of the Mathematical Institute has been awarded the Sylvester Medal for his famous result on primes in arithmetic progression, and his subsequent proofs of a number of spectacular theorems over the last five to ten years. The Sylvester Medal is awarded biennially (in even years) 'for the encouragement of mathematical research'. The award was created in memory of the mathematician James Joseph Sylvester FRS, who was Savilian Professor of Geometry at the University of Oxford in the 1880s.

Dr Rob Klose of the Department of Biochemistry has been awarded the Francis Crick Lecture for his research to understand how chromatin-based and epigenetic processes contribute to gene regulation. The award is given annually to an outstanding early career stage scientist in any field in the biological sciences with preference to the general areas in which Francis Crick worked – genetics, molecular biology and neurobiology. Dr Klose will give the lecture at the Royal Society in December 2015 at which he will be presented with a medal and gift.

Kenyan scientist Dr Faith Osier has won the Royal Society Pfizer Award for her research on understanding the mechanisms of immunity to malaria infection in humans. The prize is awarded annually to a young scientist based in Africa. Dr Osier works at the KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, a partnership between the University of Oxford, the Wellcome Trust and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). She is also an honorary research fellow at the University of Oxford.