The Rank Prizes are presented every two years by the charitable Rank Foundation in the United Kingdom. The prizes are awarded to individuals who have made a significant contribution to certain scientific fields, including optoelectronics, "where an initial idea has been carried through to practical applications that have, or will, demonstrably benefit mankind." Lord Rank established the foundation to benefit fields related to his career, including, in the case of optoelectronics, the film industry.
The physicists were awarded the prizes "for the creation and demonstration of the first chip-scale atomic clock."