Prof Bengt Gustafsson

In addition to being a famous astrophysicist, an eloquent speaker and a gifted teacher, Bengt Gustafsson has worked and published in cross-disciplinary areas including research ethics, social responsibilities of science, science-religion interaction, science policy, science teaching and more. He has held posts as Professor in Stockholm and Uppsala Universities and is Corresponding Fellow at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Prof Gustafsson has held important positions within Sweden including that of Secretary General of the Advisory Council on Research of the Swedish Government, as a board member of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education and on the Nobel Committee for Physics. He is a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science and of the Balzan Prize Committee.

Prof Gustafsson is well known for his popularisation of science, and astronomy in particular. He regularly participates in Swedish radio and TV programmes and has been involved in writing and performing two science theatre plays.  He has received the Lars Salvius Prize and the Nils Gustav Rosén Prize, the foremost Swedish award for popularization of science, in recognition of these activities.