British physicist and broadcaster Brian Cox has been awarded the 2026 Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, recognising his work bringing complex scientific ideas to audiences around the world.
Cox was presented with the award at a private ceremony at the Royal Astronomical Society in London on 2 October, by co-founders of Starmus, Sir Brian May and astrophysicist Garik Israelian. STARMUS is a global platform for science, art, and human inspiration that brings together some of the most brilliant minds on the planet.
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The medal, established by Starmus with Stephen Hawking a decade ago, honours outstanding science communicators across disciplines and creative forms – from literature and broadcasting to music, film and art – who are helping bridge the gap between science and society, spark curiosity and make science accessible to all.
“It’s a great honour to receive the 2026 Stephen Hawking Medal from Starmus, and particularly poignant for me because I was there with Stephen when the Medal was first announced 10 years ago,” Cox said at the ceremony.
“Astronomy is the oldest science, and in today’s fractured world I believe that striving to understand the Universe is more important than ever,” Cox added.
“The Stephen Hawking Medal was born from a shared belief that science should inspire people far beyond the scientific community,” May said. He also emphasised this message was particularly important at a time when “truth, evidence, and critical thinking are increasingly challenged”.
Stephen Hawking Medal recognises Cox’s accessible science
Cox is one of Britain’s best-known science communicators. He has presented television series including Universe and The Planets, written books such as The Quantum Universe and delivered lectures around the world. He currently serves as Professor of Particle Physics and Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science at the University of Manchester.
His work attempts to enlighten the public on subjects ranging from the smallest building blocks of matter to the origins and eventual fate of the Universe – ideas that are not always easy to explain while keeping an audience engaged.
Alongside Cox, this year’s medal winners are filmmaker Ridley Scott, the Artemis II crew, Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton, and 17-year-old Valeria Corrales, who receives the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior. Christiana Figueres, a key figure in brokering the 2015 Paris climate agreement, will also be awarded the inaugural Jane Goodall Earth Medal.
Previous recipients of the Steven Hawking medal include broadcaster David Attenborough, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, marine biologist Sylvia Earle, filmmaker Christopher Nolan, composer Hans Zimmer and musician Brian Eno. The NASA communications office has also received the award.
The medal’s design reflects the unique mix of science and culture at the heart of Starmus’ vision. One side features a portrait of Hawking by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, while the other depicts Leonov during his historic spacewalk, alongside an image of Brian May’s ‘Red Special’ guitar associated with rock band Queen.
During the London ceremony, Cox, May and Israelian discussed astronomy, humanity, music, artificial intelligence and Hawking’s enduring legacy. Cox was also presented with an OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch crafted in 18K Moonshine Gold.
‘The Search for Truth’ continues at the 8th Starmus Festival
The award will be celebrated as part of Starmus VIII Festival, which takes place on the Canary Islands from 17 to 22 October.
This year’s festival, themed ‘The Search for Truth’, will bring scientists, astronauts, Nobel Prize winners, artists and musicians together across Tenerife and La Palma. The location is fitting for such a celebration, with both islands recognised for the quality of their night skies and astronomic facilities, the latter protected as a Starlight Reserve.
Alongside lectures and discussions, the programme includes music, art, stargazing and a science camp, aiming to take the conversation beyond the lecture hall and inspire real-world curiosity.
Music from Andrea Bocelli, Rick Wakeman and Sarah Brightman will set the tone, alongside more than 40 speakers across the week, including Nobel laureates May-Britt Moser, Donna Strickland and Steven Chu, and astronauts Chris Hadfield, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen.
The festival will close in La Palma with a free public performance of Ilan Eshkeri’s Space Station Earth. This live orchestral work is accompanied by footage from space, exploring how seeing Earth from above can reshape human perspective.
Ten years after Hawking helped launch the medal, Starmus is recognising Cox’s embodiment of its original ambition: not only to explain what we know about the Universe, but to inspire us all to look up and wonder.
