A scientist who helped first detect gravitational waves has said she is "delighted" to be recognised in the New Year Honours list.
Professor Sheila Rowan, director of the Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow and chief scientific adviser for Scotland, is made a CBE for services to science.
Prof Rowan's research is targeted at developing optical materials for use in gravitational wave detectors.
Read more: New Year Honours List 2020: Full list revealed
Her recent work has been a "crucial part" of the Advanced Laser Interferometry Gravitational-wave Observatory (Ligo) upgrades, carried out between 2010 and 2015, that contributed to one of the "most significant scientific breakthroughs of this century", the first detection of gravitational waves announced in February 2016, according to her biography on the University of Glasgow website.
She was appointed chief scientific adviser (CSA) for Scotland in June 2016.
Read more: New Year Honours List: F1champion takes the lead among stars and celebrities on list
Prof Rowan, who is also chair of natural philosophy at the University of Glasgow's School of Physics and Astronomy, said: "I'm surprised but delighted to be included in the New Year Honours list for my work at the University of Glasgow's Institute for Gravitational Research and as the chief scientific adviser for Scotland.
"During my career I've been lucky enough to work with hugely talented people, in the UK and from around the world, as part of the LIGO scientific collaboration which made the historic first detection of gravitational waves in September 2015 and established gravitational wave astronomy as a new way of understanding our universe.
"I've also been honoured to help support the Scottish Government on questions of science. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity, throughout my career, to work with great colleagues."
In her role as chief scientific adviser, Prof Rowan works closely with the Scottish Science Advisory Council to advise the Scottish Government across all areas of its work.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel