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Albert Medal

Recognising creativity and innovation since 1864
Two bronze medallions: left shows a profile of a bearded man labeled "Albert Prince Consort President 1842-61"; right depicts a standing figure and two seated figures with the text "Arts Manufactures Commerce MDCCGCLXIII.

The RSA Albert Medal honours outstanding, regenerative and impactful innovation that is enabling people, places and the planet to flourish in harmony. It was instituted in 1864 as a memorial to Prince Albert, a former President of the RSA. 

Recipients range from world-renowned scientists and artists to social campaigners. They include:

  • Alexander Graham Bell in 1902 for the invention of the telephone.
  • Marie Curie in 1910 for the discovery of radium.
  • Stephen Hawking in 1999 for improving public awareness of physics.
  • Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert DBE in 2021 for her role as the Oxford Project Leader for ChAdOx1 nCov-19, a vaccine against the novel coronavirus.

Past Albert Medal winners

Winners since 1864 have included Michael Faraday, Marie Curie, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Professor Stephen Hawking, Baroness Mary Warnock and Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
A man seated in a wheelchair against a dark background, wearing glasses and a brown jacket, looking thoughtfully to the side. A computer device is positioned in front of him.

The future is incredibly promising. And I take optimism from that. The future that we want and the future that we choose is so much better than the present that we have.

Christiana Figueres
RSA Albert Medallist 2023

2023 Albert Medal

The 2023 Medal has been awarded to climate diplomat Christiana Figueres in recognition of the leadership and creativity she has shown in the areas of nature and climate action.

Christiana is a founding partner of Global Optimism, co-host of the Outrage + Optimism podcast and co-author of The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisis.

As Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana was instrumental in bringing about the landmark Paris Agreement of 2015, a breakthrough in climate diplomacy that brought together corporations and governments, activists and institutions, think tanks and NGOs to set the world on the path to net zero.

Today, Christiana continues to advocate for an acceleration of the global response to climate change, and for the repair, protection and regeneration of our web of life.

Our mission

Read about our mission to bring people and ideas together, and to turn that shared imagination into real progress.

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