New Royal Society Fellows for 2010

Four researchers from the University of Oxford have been elected as new Fellows of the Royal Society. The new Fellows are Professor Philip Candelas, Professor Georg Gottlob, Professor Robert C Griffiths and Professor Ian Hickson.

Professor Philip Candelas is Rouse-Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, and a Fellow of Wadham College. His research focuses on higher dimensional field theories and superstring theory – an attempt to explain all of the particles and fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modelling them as vibrations of tiny supersymmetric ‘strings’. He was part of the team which constructed the first potentially viable model of superstring theory in four space-time dimensions.

Professor Georg Gottlob is Professor of Computing Science at the Computing Laboratory, a founding member of the Oxford-Man Institute, and a Fellow of St Anne's College. His current research deals with databases, web information processing, artificial intelligence and computational logic. He has done pioneering academic research on web data extraction that gave rise to algorithms and software now used by the Vienna-based company Lixto, which he co-founded. His work has applications in game theory and electronic commerce.

Professor Robert C Griffiths is Professor of Mathematical Genetics at the Department of Statistics, and a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall. His research interests include stochastic processes, applied probability and mathematical population genetics. This includes the development of computational algorithms for inferring from the DNA of current species how long ago they diverged from a common ancestor and working out the timing of key mutations in the history of evolution.

Professor Ian Hickson is Professor of Molecular Oncology at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. His research focuses on genetic changes in cancer cells that are important in driving the growth of tumours. Armed with this knowledge, his team aim to develop new therapies to prevent or cure certain types of cancer. Their recent focus has been on chromosomal instability disorders in which a predisposition for cancer is a feature, such as Bloom’s syndrome.