The Institute of Physics (IOP) has announced this year's award winners with the Isaac Newton Medal, IOP's international medal, going to theoretical physicist Professor Edward Witten for outstanding, transformative contributions to physics.

As one of the most influential physicists of the past 30 years, he has had impact in areas ranging from the phenomenology of particle physics and cosmology to theoretical areas of string theory and quantum gravity.

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, president of IOP, said of Professor Witten, "Professor Witten's originality, physical insight and mathematical power have revolutionised the subject. A most creative and productive theoretical physicist, he has had a tremendous impact in the areas of quantum field theory, general relativity and string theory.

"As the third ever winner of our Newton medal, following Anton Zeilinger and, last year, Alan Guth, we are delighted that Edward is coming over from the US to give the Newton Lecture and to receive his medal."

Professor Witten will be giving the Newton Lecture at the Institute of Physics on Friday 2 July.

This year's range of winners also includes pioneers of biological physics such as Professor Dame Athene Donald; architects of paradigm-shifting technologies like Professor Sir Michael Pepper; climate scientist Dr Myles Allen renowned for quantifying the role of uncertainty in predictions of future climate change, and media star Prof Brian Cox.

Jocelyn continued, "The range of winners shows how all-encompassing contemporary physics research is. From Professor Donald's studies into the structure of proteins to Dr Allen's climate models, just two examples of research that are helping us deal with some of the biggest issues our society faces - disease in an ageing population and climate change.

"Every one of our winners, as some of the world's very best physicists, has an incredible story to tell about the advances they are responsible for."

2010 Award Winners

Isaac Newton medal of the Institute of Physics
Professor Edward Witten
Institute for Advanced Studies
For his many profound contributions that have transformed areas of particle theory, quantum field theory and general relativity.

Business and Innovation medal of the Institute of Physics
Professor Sir Michael Pepper
University College London
For translating advances in semiconductor physics into the commercial arena, including key roles in founding Toshiba Research Europe, Cambridge Laboratory, and TeraView Ltd.

Dirac medal of the Institute of Physics
Professor James Binney
Rudolf Peierls Institute for Theoretical Physics, Oxford University
For his contribution to our understanding of how galaxies are constituted, how they work and how they were formed.

Faraday medal of the Institute of Physics
Professor Athene Donald
University of Cambridge
For her many highly original studies of the structures and behaviour of polymers both synthetic and natural.

Glazebrook medal of the Institute of Physics
Professor Peter Roberts
AWE
For his leadership in the design, physics and safety of nuclear weapons.

Appleton medal and prize
Dr Myles Allen
University of Oxford
For his important contributions to the detection and attribution of human influence on climate and quantifying uncertainty in climate predictions.

Franklin medal and prize
Professor Thomas Duke
University College London
For the application of physical principles to the development of elegant molecular sorting devices, for providing new insights into the organising principles of cells and for his primary contributions to a new generation of theories of how the inner ear works.

Gabor medal and prize
Professor Pratibha L Gai
The University of York
For her pioneering development of atomic – resolution environmental transmission electron microscopy and its application to instrument manufacture and industrial processing.

Hoyle medal and prize
Professor Carlos S Frenk
Institute for Computational Cosmology, University of Durham
For his major contributions to the development of the now widely accepted cold dark matter model by using cosmological simulations, novel methods for calculating the physics of galaxy formation and analysis of galaxy surveys.

Rutherford medal and prize
Professor Martin Freer
University of Birmingham
For establishing the existence of nuclear configurations analogous to molecules and demonstrating the existence of nucleon-clustering in key light nuclei, a long-standing issue in the field.

Thomson medal and prize
Professor Gaetana Laricchia
University College London
For her contributions to the development of the world's only positronium beam and its use to probe the properties of atoms and molecules

Maxwell medal and prize
Dr Peter Haynes
Imperial College London
For his work on linear-scaling methods for large-scale first-principles simulation of materials based on density-functional theory, in particular his leading role in the development of the ONETEP code used in both academe and industry.

Moseley medal and prize
Professor Jeremy O’Brien
University of Bristol
For his outstanding contributions to experimental quantum optics and quantum information science and in particular for pioneering the field of integrated quantum photonics.

Paterson medal and prize
Professor Stefan Maier
Imperial College London
For his important contributions to the fields of plasmonics and plasmonic metamaterials.

Bragg medal and prize
Peter Campbell
Science Learning Centre London
For his leading role in a wide range of projects that have made a significant impact on the physics curriculum and the teaching of physics.

Kelvin medal and prize
Professor Brian Cox
The University of Manchester
For communicating the appeal and excitement of physics to the general public through the broadcast media.