Arthur Peacocke , a physical biochemist at the University of Oxford and an Anglican priest, has been awarded the £700,000 Templeton prize for progress in religion.
The University of Dundee will award honorary degrees to: Ian Graham-Bryce , former principal and vice-chancellor of the university; Salvador Moncada , director of the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research in London; Syd Scroggie , hillwalker and poet; Sir Robert Wilson , chairman of Rio Tinto; and Xu Ya-fen , chairperson of the Wanli education group in China.
The Institute of Education will present honorary fellowships to Dame Tamsyn Imison , vice-chair of the National Teaching Awards Panel; and Lord Wolfson of Marylebone, founder trustee of the Wolfson Foundation.
Laura Piddock , head of the antimicrobial agents research group in the University of Birmingham's medical school, has won the Bristol-Myers Squibb infectious diseases research award .
The University of Glasgow has awarded honorary degrees, in celebration of its 550th anniversary, to: Pier Ugo Calzolari , rector of the University of Bologna, Italy; Bernard Shapiro , principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University, Canada; Christiane Nuslein-Vollhard , of the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Germany; Andrew Skinner , Adam Smith professor of political economy and former vice-principal of the University of Glasgow; Sir Robert May , president of the Royal Society; golfer Colin Montgomerie ; and Prince Charles .
The University of Ulster has awarded honorary degrees to: John Cullinane , founder of Cullinane Software; John Dunlop , a former moderator of the Presbyterian Church; Sir Brian Fender , chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England; David Figgins , former chief executive of Mellon Stuart; James Flannery , founder of the Yeats International Theatre; Alan Gillespie , chairman of the Commonwealth Development Corporation; Lord Jenkin of Roding ; Conservative statesman Patrick Jenkin ; sportsman Stephen Martin ; Lady Anne McCollum , chairman of the Mater Hospital Trust; Thomas McDowell ; chairman of the Irish Times Trust; actor Ewan McGregor ; Paul Muldoon , Clark professor in the humanities at Princeton University; Maureen Wheeler , co-founder of Lonely Planet publications; and Monica Wilson , chief executive of Disability Action.