Ellis at Buckingham Palace

World-renowned relativistic cosmologist Professor George Ellis (right in picture) received his Templeton Prize from the Duke of Edinburgh, who presented it at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace on May 5. The initial announcement of Ellis's award (which goes by the full name of the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries About Spiritual Realities) was made in New York last month and honours the UCT academic's work on the fundamentally complementary nature of science and religion. The award carries a purse of roughly R10-million and is the world's largest annual monetary award to an individual. It is the brainchild of Sir John Templeton, the visionary financier who pioneered global investment strategies.