ECMWF is delighted that Professor Tim Palmer has been awarded the Institute of Physics 2014 Dirac medal for his work on probabilistic weather and climate prediction. The award is made annually for outstanding contributions to theoretical (including mathematical and computational) physics.
Tim led research on extended-range forecasting and predictability at ECMWF for 2 decades. He has been instrumental in developing ensemble methods for producing weather and climate predictions and his research work continues to inspire. ECMWF congratulates Tim on this well-deserved award and is especially proud to be working with him through its newly created fellowship programme.
The Institute of Physics commended Tim’s ability to blend theoretical insight and practicality, acknowledging that his work on probability benefits people around the world as they seek to determine the risk associated with extreme weather. The full citation about Tim’s work and why he was selected for the medal is available on the Institute of Physics website.
"I believe it is the first time this award has been given in the field of geophysics, previous winners being Peter Higgs and Stephen Hawking,” says Tim. “It is a great boost for our subject that it has been recognised by the theoretical physics community. Of course, I would not be getting this award were it not for the many wonderful scientists I have worked with at ECMWF."
Tim is a Royal Society Research Professor in Climate Physics at Oxford University. He recently became an ECMWF Fellow and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of the UK.
More information
ECMWF’s fellowship programme
Institute of Physics 2014 award winners