THE Royal Society of Edinburgh will today award Royal Gold Medals to three of the UK's leading intellectuals in recognition of their outstanding achievements.

They are Professor Sir Philip Cohen for his work in life sciences, Professor Sir Neil MacCormick for his contribution to legal philosophy, and Professor Robin Milner for his work in computing science.

Lord Sutherland, RSE president, said: ''The impact of their commitment and achievement has transcended academic boundaries, effecting a profound influence on the lives of people in Scotland, the United Kingdom and internationally.''

Sir Philip's discoveries in the role of protein phosphorylation and its deregulation in major diseases, particularly diabetes, have led to the development of a new scientific investigation and new therapeutic drugs. Among many roles, he is a Royal Society of London research professor, and director of research at the school of life sciences, University of Dundee.

Sir Neil became regius professor of public law and the law of nature and nations in the University of Edinburgh in 1972 at the age of 31. He is one of the world's leading philosophers of law. His central contribution has been the concept of law as ''institutional fact'', and he has produced five major books and numerous essays.

Professor Milner, a Cam-bridge graduate, was at the University of Edinburgh before returning to Cambridge. Among his many achievements was pi-calculus, a language used for the worldwide web.