King honours LJMU with highest accolade

King Charles and Queen Camilla received LJMU’s Vice Chancellor as the university formally accepted the 2026 Queen Elizabeth Prize.

Professor Mark Power and Professor Caroline Wilkinson, director of the university’s winning research centre, Face Lab, received the Prize medal and scroll personally from the King and Queen at St James’s Palace, London early this week [Tuesday 24 February 2026].

Professor Power and Professor Wilkinson were accompanied at the ceremony by Chancellor Nisha Katona.

The Queen Elizabeth Prize was awarded in recognition of LJMU’s pioneering work with Face Lab. Face Lab is a research centre which reconstructs the faces of victims of crime, migrant refugees and figures from history.

Previously called The Queen’s Prize for Industry, the honour also went to LJMU in 2006, when the university’s work to engage British schoolchildren in astronomy and astrophysics earned national recognition.

Faces of the dead

LJMU establish Face Lab in 2015. It combines art, history, anatomy and digital technology to reconstruct the faces of the dead. It delivers projects for the police and law enforcement agencies, heritage projects, museums and cultural institutions.

Professor Wilkinson said:

“We are thrilled to have been awarded one of the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education. I work with really amazing people in Face Lab and this is a recognition of all their hard work over the last 10 years and keeping ahead of the advances in technology to work in our field.”

In the digital heritage field, Face Lab has pioneered the creation of authentic digital avatars of international historical figures. Recreations include Richard III, Pharaoh Rameses III and Robert The Bruce. It has reproduced the faces of stolen indigenous remains of native South Africans, handing them back their humanity and dignity.

In the forensic field, Face Lab contributes to national and international investigation. Work has lead to the identification of unidentified bodies and indirectly to the criminal conviction of those responsible for murder. 

In the university, Face Lab researchers established the distinctive Art in Science Master’s programme. This focuses on interdisciplinary research between art and STEM subjects and training the next generation of global art-science practitioners.

About the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education

Managed by the Royal Anniversary Trust, the prizes were first awarded in 1994. They are part of the UK national honours system. The Monarch awards the prizes every two years to a select group of institutions. The Prime Minister advises on the winners after a rigorous, independent process.

Sir Damon Buffini, chair of the Royal Anniversary Trust said:

“The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education celebrate the power of education to change the world for the better.

“This much-loved national honour recognises, at the highest level of state, outstanding work in UK universities and colleges, and the remarkable benefit they bring to our economy, society and the wider world. This year we are delighted to honour 19 institutions whose work offers an inspiring snapshot of the excellent and innovative work going on in universities and colleges across the UK. Congratulations all!”

Read more about the Face Lab here.