New Zealand Institute of Physics Awards

Two awards are made by NZIP to recognise excellence in Physics:

Dan Walls Medal
Rutherford Trophy

Presentation of Awards

2008 Awards

The Danny Walls Medal will be presented at the 2008 Science Honours Dinner which will take place in the Wellington Foyer of Te Papa Museum in Wellington on Tuesday 11 November 2008. Travel and associated costs for the recipient will be covered by the NZIP.

Dan Walls Medal

This will be presented annually to the physicist working in New Zealand for at least the past ten years and who is deemed to have made the greatest impact both nationally and internationally in his/her field of research.

Nominations may be made by members or Fellows of the NZIP.
Applications should to be sent to the Secretary of the NZIP by the advertised date.
Each application will include
- a letter of support signed by three persons, all of whom must be members or Fellows of the NZIP
- the CV of the applicant
- a list of the five best papers on which the applicant's research contributions can be judged
- any other supporting material that the applicant believes might assist the reviewers
The NZIP Awards Committee may decline to make an award if the appropriate standard is not achieved.
An unsuccessful application will be considered by the Awards Committee for a further three years before it drops off the list. A new application cannot be made for a period of at least three years.

2008 Nominations:

The closing date for nominations is the 1st October 2008. All supporting information should be sent to

Dan Walls Medal
NZIP
c/o Physics and Astronomy Department
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch

Rutherford Trophy

The Rutherford Trophy was established in 1973 by the Mathematics and Physics section of the RSNZ Christchurch Branch to "stimulate the development and improvement of simple lecture and laboratory demonstrations". The keynotes are simplicity and "the string and tape approach". The trophy is so named because of Rutherford's emphasis on simple and clear demonstrations.

Applications are invited from those who have developed demonstrations or similar that live up to the spirit of the award.

Awards are made in odd years (but it got missed in 2007 so it is offered in 2008 unusually.).

A cheque of $200 will be presented to the winner of this award.

2008 Nominations:

The closing date for nominations is the 1st October 2008. A description of the demonstration or activity should be sent to

Rutherford Trophy
NZIP
c/o Physics and Astronomy Department
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch

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Pages are maintained by: Judy Edwards, Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University