On 21 August 2025, Professor Per-Olof Wikström, Emeritus Professor of Ecological and Developmental Criminology and Director of the Centre for Analytic Criminology, was awarded the Medal of Reward in Gold of the Eighth Size by the Swedish government.
This medal was created in 1785 by King Gustav III and is presented to individuals who have made "outstanding contributions to cultural, scientific and other public benefit purposes". Professor Wikström received his award for his "many years of significant contributions to criminological research". These contributions include developing Situational Action Theory to better understand how crime patterns are shaped by people's interaction with their environment, creating the Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study (PADS+) to apply this theory into practice, and founding the Centre for Analytic Criminology at the University of Cambridge.
Professor Wikström was understandably proud of his award, remarking "as a Swede, I think it's particularly gratifying that this is a Swedish award, and it also comes from civil society rather than academia".