Professor Mike Kosterlitz and Professor David Thouless were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2016 for their work into the discoveries of the properties of matter.
Professor Kosterlitz (left) was a Research Fellow in high energy physics before becoming Lecturer and then Reader at the University of Birmingham from 1970 to 1982. He is now Professor of Physics at Brown University, Rhode Island, US. During his time at Birmingham, he collaborated with Professor David Thouless on phase transitions driven by topological defects – work which later led to their Nobel Prize.
Professor Thouless (right) carried out post-doctoral work at Birmingham before becoming Professor of Mathematical Physics in 1965. While at the University, his collaboration with Professor Mike Kosterlitz on the theory of phase transitions in two dimensions was recognised in the Nobel Prize. His contributions to condensed matter theory have been recognised by many awards.