RSE Sir Walter Scott Medal
The RSE Sir Walter Scott Medal recognises exceptional achievements in arts, humanities and social science by a senior career researcher. This award meets with the Society’s strategic objective of increasing public understanding of science and the arts and humanities. The awardees are required to have a Scottish connection but can be based anywhere in the world.
Senior-career definition: academics who are normally beyond 15 years from the award of their doctorate. This terminology takes no account of either an applicant’s age or current status in determining eligibility for this award. This does not include career breaks.
- Nominations can only be made by Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
- The deadline for nominations is 13:00, 6 December 2023.
- Once into your profile, access and complete the nomination form. Google Chrome is the recommended browser.
Sir Walter Scott (1771 – 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet. He was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia, and North America. Sir Walter Scott was the third President of the RSE from 1820 to 1832. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor.
| Year | Name(s) | Institution | Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Professor Richard Bradley FSA, HonFSAScot, FBA | University of Reading | For his outstanding and sustained contribution to Scottish prehistoric archaeology through his fieldwork, service to scholarship and paradigm-changing publications. |
| 2022 | No award made | ||
| 2021 | Professor John Peter Renwick | University of Edinburgh | One of the world’s leading experts on the French Enlightenment in recognition for the monumental and ground-breaking contribution he made to the 140-volume Complete Works of Voltaire, and his responsibility in the scholarly resurrection of the highly significant figure, Jean-François Marmontel. |
| 2020 | No award made | ||
| 2019 | Professor Kathryn Rudy | University of St Andrews | For their outstanding contribution to art history, where her capacity for lateral thinking has meant she has been able to examine a large corpus of manuscripts in ways unexplored by previous scholars. |
| 2018 | Professor Duncan Macmillan FRSE | University of Edinburgh | For their outstanding contribution to the appreciation of Scottish Art and its place within the European Tradition. |
| 2017 | Professor Robert Bartlett FBA FRSE | University of St Andrews | For their outstanding work as one of the world’s leading historians and his communication to a mass audience through his rigorous, imaginative and highly original research. |
