IMA Hedy Lamarr Prize | Previous Winners
Click on a winner’s picture to read more about their achievements.
Katerina Kaouri
The Council of the IMA is delighted to announce that Katerina Kaouri has been awarded the IMA Hedy Lamarr Prize for Knowledge Exchange in Mathematics and its Applications.
Established in 2020, the Hedy Lamarr Prize is awarded biennially to a mathematician who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in the exchange of mathematical knowledge and its applications. Named in honour of the pioneering inventor and mathematician Hedy Lamarr, the prize recognises excellence in bringing mathematics to wider communities and forging impactful collaborations beyond academia.
The citation for the 2025 award to Katerina Kaouri follows;
Katerina Kaouri is a leading academic tackling industrial and biomedical challenges through mathematical modelling. She is a Reader in Applied Mathematics and the Director for Impact and Engagement at the School of Mathematics, Cardiff University. Katerina excels at fostering academia-industry collaborations and identifying synergies, with impact both in the UK and Cyprus.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Katerina led research that informed policy decisions, contributing to the Welsh Government’s Technical Advisory Group. Katerina secured a Sêr Cymru grant from the Welsh Government and co-led the creation of the AIRVICA web app to model viral infection risk in indoor spaces. She continues to inform policy and working on epidemic preparedness; with UKRI Impact Acceleration Account funding, she co-developed the Virtual Infection Risk Indoor Simulator (VIRIS), an agent-based model and web app that integrates infection risk, people movement, and architecture. VIRIS has significant applications for policymakers, architects, and the public, and was recently shortlisted for the GW4 Open Research Prize.
A standout example of Katerina’s expertise is her leadership in organising two European Study Groups with Industry, in her home country Cyprus in 2016 and 2018. In this connection, she identified several industrial and societal challenges ranging from managing water resources to improving bus routes and breaking barriers for women in science. These week-long workshops, which engaged more than 65 mathematical scientists, from across Europe and the UK, led to follow-on projects, such as MSc projects, Impact Acceleration Account funding, and support for postdoctoral researchers. These collaborations not only delivered real-world impact but also strengthened long-term ties with industry and society.
Initiating a culture of industrial mathematics and innovation in Cyprus is just one example of how Katerina has played a significant leadership role in championing knowledge exchange. Katerina’s commitment to KE is also reflected in her activities in the UK and beyond. In Cardiff, she led the organisation of major events like the Mathematics for Industry Day and Maths Adventures Day, strengthening industry partnerships and engaging the public with mathematics. As departmental Director for Impact and Engagement since 2021, she also chairs the Industrial Advisory Board, further enhancing industry-academia connections. A dedicated science communicator, Katerina, has delivered popular talks, including a TEDx talk and a TED-Ed animation with over 5 million views. She co-founded the Mediterranean Science Festival and the non-profit SciCo Cyprus and served as Vice President of the Parallel Parliament for Research, Innovation, and Digital Governance in Cyprus. She was nominated Woman of the Year in “Innovation” in 2021.
On a national and international level, Katerina has shaped KE in mathematical sciences through her roles on the Council of the European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry, the Newton Gateway Scientific Advisory Panel, the EU Mathematics for Industry Network (MI-NET) and as a KE Champion in the UK KE
Hub for Mathematical Sciences. She has also worked within the EU SciShops.eu project, addressing pressing societal challenges.
Katerina’s own research embodies the true spirit of mathematical sciences knowledge exchange, best exemplified by the range of sectors – policy, medicine, and industry – that her work impacts upon. In the biomedical field, Katerina co-leads the GW4 interdisciplinary network Fertility: In Vitro, In Silico, In Clinico (inFer), using collaboration to improve IVF success rates. This initiative bridges mathematics, experimental biology, and clinical practice, demonstrating the impact of mathematical thinking on medical advancements.
The Hedy Lamarr prize presents a unique and impactful opportunity to raise awareness of the importance and relevance of the mathematical sciences work that Katerina is championing at Cardiff University and beyond, as well as to recognise her sustained, proactive, and tireless contribution to leadership in mathematical sciences knowledge exchange, through her research projects, strategic partnerships, innovation activities, and science communication.
Julia Gog
We are delighted to announce that the Council of the IMA has awarded the IMA Hedy Lamarr Prize for Knowledge Exchange in Mathematics and its Applications to Professor Julia Gog OBE. This new IMA prize, which was introduced to the community in 2020, is awarded to a mathematician who demonstrates meritorious knowledge exchange in mathematics and its applications.
The citation for the 2023 award to Julia Gog follows:
Julia is the Professor of Mathematical Biology at DAMTP, in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. She is also the David N Moore Fellow in Mathematics at Queens’ College, Cambridge. Julia is also a keen supporter of mathematics outreach and is the Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project (https://maths.org).
Julia has shown a consistently strong interest in raising public awareness about the usefulness of mathematics in our everyday lives.
However, it was during the pandemic is where Julia showed her mathematical greatness. She was a member of SPI-M and SAGE where Julia made a very active contribution towards the Covid-19 response at the highest level, and was frequently seen on television explaining the maths behind COVID to a general audience as well as to policy makers. She was (and remains) co-lead of the JUNIPER consortium which brought many universities and disciplines together to fight COVID in a truly interdisciplinary fashion. During this period, she also managed to find time to work with an outreach journal as well as appearing alongside the Deputy Chief Medical Officer in presenting the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Julia is an outstanding mathematician who cares passionately about knowledge exchange and outreach, going beyond any reasonable expectations by collaborating with the medical community, the media, and education resource designers to develop activities which benefited schools across the UK. Because of this she was awarded the Royal Society’s Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture for her achievements in the field of mathematics.
This is a fitting award for a brilliant mathematician, and an exceptional exponent of knowledge exchange.
Professor Nira Chamberlain OBE & Prof Chris Budd OBE
Julia Gog (credit Lionel D’souza)
Rebecca Hoyle
We are delighted to announce that the Council of the IMA has awarded the first IMA Hedy Lamarr Prize for Knowledge Exchange in Mathematics and its Applications to Professor Rebecca Hoyle. This new IMA prize, which was introduced to the community in 2020, is awarded to a mathematician who demonstrates meritorious knowledge exchange in mathematics and its applications.
Professor Rebecca Hoyle, Associate Dean for Research and Enterprise, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton receives the first Hedy Lamarr Prize for her sustained contributions to knowledge exchange in the mathematical sciences, creating new links between academia and the wider world, and inspiring, enhancing and supporting others in their knowledge exchange.
Professor Hoyle is known as someone who is passionate about using her undoubted strengths as a mathematician to bring benefit to society, especially the interface with the life and social sciences. She has a sustained history of bridging the divide between mathematical modelling and other disciplines. Her early work on pattern formation included applications to aeolian sand ripples and chemical catalysis. Her research then moved strongly towards applying mathematics and modelling to issues in the life and social sciences. In collaboration with life scientists she researched two-component system signalling, the dynamics of molecular motors and the evolution of transgenerational effects in response to environmental change. More recently, she has worked on problems in psychology and social science, studying the effect of personality traits on strategy decisions and the evolution of cooperation in social networks. She uses a variety of mathematical techniques from equation-free methods and agent-based modelling to statistical inference and dynamics on multiplex networks.
However, the primary work for which we recognise Professor Hoyle with this medal is in her response to the Covid-19 pandemic. She has played a key role in supporting and encouraging knowledge exchange at a national level. She is one of the founding members of the Virtual Forum for Knowledge Exchange in Mathematical Sciences (V-KEMS), an effort to develop virtual approaches enabling knowledge exchange in the mathematical sciences during the pandemic. These approaches have been so successful that they may well be used indefinitely, even when in-person events are once again possible. As part of V-KEMS, Professor Hoyle has been instrumental in leading work at virtual events on reopening physical spaces in the workplace and in higher education, taking a significant leadership role in each. She has used her impressively broad network of contacts to bring University managers, social scientists and epidemiologists to collaborate in the online study groups. She is deeply inclusive in her attitudes, making extra efforts to ensure that diverse voices are brought to the table. Beyond her direct contribution to these pieces of work, colleagues have commented on her outstanding ability to guide a group of researchers (of different backgrounds and from different career stages) toward useful outputs that will have the largest impact possible.
These V-KEMS events and their resulting papers are large, collaborative efforts that have had significant interest from the appropriate government departments including engagement both during and after the events. Leading on from V-KEMS activity, Professor Hoyle has also been working with collaborators on modelling the pandemic in higher education settings in the UK.
Throughout her work, Professor Hoyle has demonstrated a real passion for the responsibility of mathematicians to improve society; to make a real difference to the human condition. She brings teams together and guides them to produce something extraordinary.
Much of Knowledge Exchange is about people. Professor Hoyle is calm, sensible and selfless, driven by her desire to bring collaborators together and enable them to achieve really important work.
Professor Rebecca Hoyle is a fantastic role model and a worthy recipient of this award.
This list is updated every two years following the new award announcement.