Dalton early career prize: Sir Edward Frankland Prize

Key Information

Deadlines

• Nominations open 15 October.
• Nominations close 14 January, 17:00 GMT.
• Reference deadline 21 January, 17:00 GMT. 

Eligibility

Individuals named in any of the following roles during the nomination and judging period are not eligible to nominate, be nominated or provide a reference:

• Dalton Prize Committee members
• RSC Subject Community Presidents
• RSC Prize Committee members
• Trustees of the Royal Society of Chemistry
• Royal Society of Chemistry staff 

Nominators:

• Only RSC members can nominate for this prize.
• Nominees may NOT nominate themselves.

Nominees:

• The prize is open to nominees working in the UK and Ireland only.
• Nominees should be an early career scientist (for further details, see information below and in the ‘Guidelines for Nominators’ section).
• Nominees can only be considered for one of our Research & Innovation Prizes in any given year. In a case where a nominee is nominated for more than one prize independently, RSC staff will ask the nominee which prize they would like to be considered for.
• We will not consider nominations of deceased individuals.

Career stage guidance

• After fully taking account of any time away from research, career breaks or interruptions, nominees will typically have no more than 10 years of full-time equivalent professional experience at the closing date for nominations.
  • We define this as experience gained as part of a career working in scientific research, excluding time spent in full-time education. For example, experience studying as a postgraduate (PhD) student is not included, but this does include experience working as e.g. a post-doctoral researcher, or working in research in industry.
  • Nominators will be asked to provide details of the nominee's professional experience, in relation to the above criteria (see ‘Guidelines for Nominators’). The Prize Committee will consider this information in relation to the eligibility criteria, and they have the discretion to consider any nomination for a different prize under their remit.
• We particularly encourage nominations of disabled people, those who work part-time, or whose career has spanned a break for any reason – for example, a period of parental or adoption leave, caring responsibilities, long-term illness, family commitments, or other circumstances. We understand that these can impact a nominee’s career in different ways, and encourage nominators to use the space provided on the nomination form to explain the nature and impact of the nominees’ individual circumstances (see 'Guidelines for Nominators' for further details).
• Please do not hesitate to contact the team at awards@rsc.org should you have any questions about the above.

Guidelines for nominators

General information

• When nominating previous RSC prize winners, please remember that a person cannot be awarded twice for substantially the same body of work.
• Nominees should only be nominated once for this prize in any given prize cycle. In cases where we receive more than one nomination for the same nominee, only one nomination will go forward to judging.
• Since 2023, we have been trialling a process where all unsuccessful nominations will automatically rollover once, to be considered for the next round of the prize, unless the nominee's circumstances have changed to make them ineligible. This means that:
  • All nominations submitted for the first time for a 2024 prize will be considered for a 2025 prize. We strongly encourage nominators to update their nomination between cycles when the nomination window is open.
  • The RSC Prize Committee will review the outcomes from the trial in July 2025.

Submitting your nomination

Please use our online nominations system to submit the following information:

• Your name, contact details, and RSC membership number (please contact the RSC Membership team if you do not know your membership details).Your RSC membership must be confirmed at the point of nomination – it is not sufficient to have a membership application in process. The identity of nominators is not made known to our judging panels. The RSC reserves the right to amend nominations if necessary to ensure the anonymity of the nominator.
• Your nominee's name and contact details.
• An up to date CV for the nominee (no longer than one A4 side, 11pt text) which should include a summary of their education and career, and a maximum of 5 relevant publications or patents.
• Information relating to your nominee’s career and professional experience, which will be shared with the committee. Before doing so, RSC staff will always seek consent from the nominee in cases where special category data is mentioned. Please make sure that you provide enough information for the committee to understand the nature and impact of any time away from research.
  • Date (month and year) of the start of their career working in scientific research.
  • Details (dates and time periods) of any part-time work, time away from research, career breaks or interruptions – for example, parental/adoption leave, caring responsibilities, long-term illness, family commitments, etc.
  • Any other circumstances not captured above – for example, long-term conditions, disabilities, etc., that you would like the committee to be aware of and consider.
• A short citation describing what the nominee should be awarded for. This must be no longer than 250 characters (including spaces) and no longer than one sentence.
• A supporting statement (up to 750 words) addressing the selection criteria. Our guidance for nominators page has more information on writing this supporting statement.
• A statement (up to 100 words) describing how your nominee has contributed more broadly to the scientific community. A list of possible examples is outlined in the ‘selection criteria’ tab.
• The name and contact details of one referee. The referee might be the nominee's post-doc or PhD supervisor, line manager, project manager or mentor:
  • The reference should be a maximum of 750 words. Referees will be asked to state their relationship (if any) with the nominee and note any conflicts of interest.
  • All references must be submitted through the online system by the reference deadline, 21 January, 17:00 GMT. Nominations will not go forward to judging without a completed reference. Please ensure you submit your referee's details in plenty of time, to allow them sufficient opportunity to provide their reference.
  • As soon you submit your referee’s details, they will receive an automated e-mail with a link to submit their reference. Please contact awards@rsc.org as soon as possible if you experience any issues with this.
  • It is the nominator’s responsibility to ensure that the referee is aware of the nomination, that they should expect an e-mail invitation to submit their reference, and that they are aware of what is required to ensure that the reference is submitted before the deadline.
  • All referees will receive one e-mail reminder from RSC staff in the week before the reference deadline.

The RSC reserves the right to rescind any prize if there are reasonable grounds to do so. All nominators will be asked to confirm that to the best of their knowledge there is no impediment, relating to professional conduct, to their nominee receiving this prize. All prize winners will be asked to sign the RSC’s Code of Conduct Declaration for Recognition. 

Selection Criteria and Judging Panel

Our selection committees base their evaluations on the overall quality of relevant contributions and achievements by nominees, in relation to the selection criteria listed below.

The scientific content of any supporting publications, as described in the supporting statement, is much more important than publication metrics or the identity of the journal in which it is published.

The selection committee will consider the following aspects of nominations for this prize:

• Originality of research
• Impact of research
• Quality of publications and/or patents and/or software
• Innovation
• Professional standing
• Independence
• Collaborations and teamwork
• Other indicators of esteem indicated by the nominator/referee

The committee will give greater priority to recent work; supporting statements should focus on the nominee's more recent achievements.

In an instance where multiple nominees are judged equally meritorious in relation to the above criteria, judging panels have the flexibility to use information provided by the nominator on the nominee’s broader contribution to the chemistry community as an additional criterion.

Examples of relevant contributions could include, but are not limited to:

• Involvement with Royal Society of Chemistry member groups/networks
• Teaching/demonstrating
• Effective mentorship
• Service on boards, committees or panels
• Leadership in the scientific community
• Peer-reviewer
• Promotion of diversity and inclusion
• Advocacy for chemistry
• Public engagement and outreach

Dalton Prize Committee

• Mike Ward, University of Warwick (Chair)
• Rodolphe Clérac, Université Bordeaux
• Michael Cowley, University of Edinburgh
• Emily Flashman, University of Oxford
• Nicholas Long, Imperial College London
• Shaikh Mobin, Indian Institute of Technology Indore
• Anna Slater, University of Liverpool

History of the prize

The Sir Edward Frankland Prize was created to recognise research in organometallic chemistry or the co-ordination chemistry of transition metals. In 2020, following an independent review of the Royal Society of Chemistry's recognition programmes, the scope of this prize was broadened to recognise achievements in any area of inorganic chemistry made by an early career scientist. 

The prize is named after the first President and cofounder of the Institute of Chemistry, which later merged with the Faraday Society, the Chemical Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry to form the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Frankland was born in 1825 in Lancashire, UK, and began his career in chemistry as a pharmacist’s apprentice. Towards the end of his apprenticeship Frankland started studying at the Lancaster Mechanics’ Institute, and in 1845 went to Westminster to briefly work in the laboratory of Lyon Playfair.

Frankland studied for a PhD at the University of Marburg, where he began to establish the idea of compounds consisting of carbon bonded to metal atoms (organometallic chemistry). Frankland returned to the UK in 1850 to replace the retiring Playfair as Professor at Putney for Civil Engineers. Over the following decades Frankland continued to teach chemistry at Owen’s College Manchester, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Addiscombe Military College, The Royal Institution of Great Britain and The Royal School of Mines.

Frankland made several contributions to organic and structural chemistry. In addition to being a pioneer in organometallic chemistry, Frankland established the theory of valency, where an atom of an element is limited in the number of atoms it can bind with from other elements. He also coined the term “bonds” to describe connections between atoms in his 1866 book “Lecture Notes for Chemical Students: Embracing Mineral and Organic Chemistry”.

In 1869 Frankland was appointed a member of the second royal commission on the pollution of rivers, where he gathered a large amount of data on water contamination and methods of water purification over a period of decades. Frankland also contributed to the discovery of the element helium through his work with Joseph Lockyer on how light from luminous flames changes with atmospheric pressure. 

Accolades Frankland received included the Royal Society Royal Medal and Copley Medal, and a knighthood in 1897.

The prize was established in 1984 through an anonymous donation. In 2021, the purposes of this Trust were amended, and remaining monies were combined with other generous bequests and donations to become part of the RSC Recognition Fund.