University news

One of the University of Glasgow’s longest-serving and most distinguished researchers is set to add another honour to his collection of accolades.
 
Astrophysicist Professor Sir James Hough will be presented with the Baird of Bute Innovation Award on Friday 12 September in recognition of his contributions to the field of gravitational wave research.

 
Presented annually by the Baird of Bute Society, the award honours Scots who have made significant contributions to innovation in science, technology and entrepreneurship.
 
The award comes just two days ahead of the date of the 10th anniversary of the first detection of gravitational waves on September 14th 2015 – a historic breakthrough in a field which Professor Sir James has played a key role in advancing for more than 50 years.
 
Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime caused by massive astronomical events like the collision of black holes. Their existence was first proposed by Albert Einstein in his general theory of relativity in 1916.
 
However, it took a century for the international collaboration to design and build the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, the US-based detector which was sensitive enough to detect the spacetime ripples for the first time.
 
Professor Sir James’ work on the British-German GEO600 gravitational wave detector helped pioneer some of the technologies which were used in LIGO. In 2000, he established the University’s Institute for Gravitational Research, which designed and developed the delicate mirror suspensions which enables LIGO to make its extremely sensitive detections.
 
He was knighted in 2019 for his achievements in science, and has received numerous other prestigious awards in recent years, including the Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal.
 
Professor Sir James said: “I’m delighted to be visiting the Isle of Bute to receive this award from the Baird of Bute Society. It’s an honour to be recognised for my work and my role in the development of gravitational wave detectors alongside colleagues from around the world. I’m looking forward to taking part in the Society’s Lord Smith of Kelvin Lectures to explain gravitational wave research and celebrate the remarkable last decade of detections.”
 
Professor Sheila Rowan is head of the University’s Institute for Gravitational Research (IGR). She said: “Jim has been a leading figure in gravitational research for more than half a century. He has taught and inspired generations of researchers and made invaluable contributions to the international collaborations which make gravitational wave astronomy possible today.
 
"It’s fantastic to see his work recognised and rewarded with the Baird of Bute Innovation Award. The timing couldn’t be better as we reflect this week on 10 years of remarkable detections made by LIGO, the Virgo detector in Europe and the KAGRA detector in Japan, which have opened up an entirely new way for us to probe the universe.”
 
Professor Gillian Wright, who was until recently Director of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) and Head of Site at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, will also receive the Baird of Bute Innovation Award alongside Professor Sir James. Professor Sir James was one of Professor Wright’s undergraduate tutors at Glasgow University and played a pivotal role in helping her secure a position at Imperial College London, where she studied for her PhD.

First published: 12 September 2025