It has been awarded since 1955 for "outstanding work by an engineer or physicist for the peaceful utilization of atomic energy".
The medal is administered by the Danish Society of Engineers (Denmark) in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute and the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences.
The first recipient was Niels Bohr himself who received the medal in connection with his 70th birthday.
[1] Alain Aspect, regarded as an outstanding figure in optical and atomic physics, was awarded the medal for his experiments on the Bell's inequalities test.
It was presented on 7 October 2013 by Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik at a special event at the Honorary Residence in the Carlsberg Academy.