J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series of books, is to receive an honorary degree from the University of St Andrews.
Sir Martin Rees, astronomer royal for the Royal Observatories of England and professor at the University of Cambridge Institute of Astronomy, has received the Bruno Rossi Prize, awarded by the high-energy astrophysics division of the American Astronomical Society. He shares it with Peter Meszaros, head of the department of astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University and Bohdan Paczynski, Lyman Spitzer Jr professor of astrophysics at Princeton University. They received the prize for their work on gamma-ray bursts.
Stephen Newstead, professor of psychology at the University of Plymouth, has received the British Psychological Society's Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Teaching of Psychology. The award is for a candidate who has made "an unusually significant contribution to education and training in psychology".
Sir Philip Cohen, professor in biochemistry at the University of Dundee, has received the Pfizer Prize for Innovative Science.
John Mavor, principal of Napier University, has been awarded the Golden Jubilee Medal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Circuits and Systems Society.
Roland Paxton, chair of the Institution of Civil Engineers panel for historical engineering works, has received the institution's Garth Watson Gold Medal in recognition of his role in developing its work on the history of civil engineering.
Mike Pidd, head of the department of management science at Lancaster University, has been appointed president of the Operational Research Society.
Steve Molyneux, director of Development and Evaluation of Learning Technology Applications, based at the University of Wolverhampton's Telford campus in Shropshire, and Microsoft chair of Advanced Learning Technologies, has been appointed to the Knowledge Economy Task Force in Scotland.