Today, as part of the Starmus VI Festival of Science and Art, the SONIC UNIVERSE concert program was held, during which Queen guitarist Brian May, co-founder of the festival, poet, essayist, naturalist Diane Ackerman, primatologist and anthropologist Dame Jane Morris Goodall were awarded the Stephen Hawking Science Popularization Medal. They thanked the festival organizers for the awards.

During this international festival, the Stephen Hawking Science Popularization Medal is awarded for a major contribution to the presentation and dissemination of science and scientific discoveries in music, art, cinema, and other fields. The medal features a picture of Stephen Hawking, the author of which is Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.

This award ceremony has been organized within the framework of the Starmus festival since 2016, starting with the third Starmus festival. It was first received by German composer Hans Zimmer, physicist Jim Al Khalili, and an American documentary called "Particle Heat".

In 2017, at the 4th Starmus festival, this medal was awarded to French composer Jean-Michel Jarre, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, as well as the film "The Big Bang Theory".  In 2019, musician, and composer Brian Eno, billionaire, Space X founder Elon Musk, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and the documentary "Apollo 11" received an award at the 5th Starmus festival.