Professor Peter Higgs has been awarded the the Edinburgh Award 2011. The award is organised by the City of Edinburgh Council. The recipients are nominated by the citizens of Edinburgh for their outstanding contribution to the city.

It was back in 1964 that Higgs developed the theory of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the context of particle physics. The Higgs boson is an important, but as of yet undiscovered component of the standard model of particle physics. CERN in 2011 narrowed down the possible mass of the Higgs boson and it is hoped that a proper discovery will be made this year.

The Edinburgh University news report can be found here.

Professor Higgs website can be found here.

The BBC news report can be found here.