Participation is key: reflecting on this year’s RSC Prizes winners
Five years on from our review of recognition, we take a tour through some of the 2024 prize winners – reflecting on their contributions to the chemical sciences community and to our planet.
It is now five years since we reviewed our recognition programmes and published our report Re-thinking recognition: Science prizes for the modern world. Since then, we have been working to evolve our recognition programmes, including our prizes, to better reflect the scientific community and our values as an organisation.
We’ve also introduced a new Vision for science culture, which sets out the principles of a positive science culture, and aligns closely with the themes identified in our review of recognition. The vision for science culture identifies three foundations:
- Scientific practice
- Wellbeing & development
- Participation
It also highlights recognition itself as an important feature, and a way in which great science culture can be incentivised and celebrated.
Of the three foundations, the participation element in particular has a strong overlap with the intentions of our review of recognition.
Participation is about who takes part in science and how people work together. It relates to inclusion and accessibility, but it’s also about knowledge sharing, openness and collaboration.
Excellence remains the first criterion for winning any RSC prize, and by evolving the breadth of our recognition programmes, we aim to ensure that excellence is celebrated wherever it exists – recognising all contributors to science and innovation, irrespective of their role, job title or seniority.
As part of our initial review, we introduced greater recognition for those at various career stages including early career. We also launched new prizes for education (which are announced in November). And we created a new category, the Horizon Prizes, which are given to teams and collaborations, and which recognise not only great innovations in research and in education, but the diverse teams of individuals across various roles and disciplines who contribute to that work.
Meanwhile, our long-running Volunteer Recognition Prizes recognise those who have fostered participation across the chemical sciences through our committees, boards, local sections and interest groups, and outreach activities.
This year we’ve once again increased our recognition for the breadth of roles within the chemical sciences, expanding our Apprentice Prizes to allow for more awardees, and introducing new Technical Excellence Prizes. Finally, the new Innovation Through Partnership Prize celebrates partnerships across any and all sectors, including government, industry, education, research institutions and the third sector.
Another important focus for the RSC this year has been sustainability, with particular emphasis on pollution and the circular economy, with our #CleanUpPFAS campaign receiving widespread attention. The role of chemical scientists in tackling urgent sustainability issues is also reflected among this year’s winners, as we will see below.
We should also mention here our Sustainable Laboratories Grant, of which the first cohort of awardees was announced in April this year. As well as furthering the aims of both sustainability and an ethical science culture, grants like this form one of the many ways in which we recognise, celebrate and reward members of our community.
Meet the winners
On 12 June we announced the 2024 winners of our Research & Innovation Prizes, Horizon Prizes, Volunteer Recognition Prizes, and Inclusion & Diversity Prize.
Each one of our winners has embraced our values and made critical contributions to science. Below we’ll highlight just a few of this year’s cohort who have exemplified some of the themes discussed above. You can explore the full list of winners at rsc.li/2024-winners
George Burton is a glassblower at Queen’s University Belfast, and recipient of one of this year’s Technical Excellence Prizes. In-house glassblowers are an essential part of many chemistry departments – making specialised scientific glassware to order.
George is involved in every step of the development of a new piece of glassware – from turning the initial idea into a design, to manufacturing the piece, then advising on installation and following up if modifications are needed.
He wins for the development of outstanding glass-blowing expertise, supporting research and teaching nationally and internationally over nearly four decades.
The other Technical Excellence Prizes were awarded to two teams: The University of Edinburgh School of Chemistry Workshop Team and the NPL Air Quality Networks team at the National Physical Laboratory.
Our Inclusion & Diversity Prize was first awarded in 2017, and in 2022 it became an annual prize, recognising the importance of working to ensure that everyone can participate in science to the fullest.
This year’s winners are Discovery Planet CIC, who won for bringing accessible STEM experiences to the underserved community of Thanet, East Kent. Their innovative approach has enabled more than 20,000 participants, including those at special educational needs (SEN) schools and unaccompanied child refugees, to enjoy chemistry.
Director and creative producer Nikki Hildesley explains how they have placed themselves at the heart of the community. “We are intentionally based on the High Street,” she says. “You can’t miss us; we are easy to find, and our huge glass windows show off the space. We break down some of the barriers to participation by working with schoolchildren first, and then inviting them to return for free on Saturdays with their friends and families.”
Collaboration doesn’t have a particular look, and can take many different forms. Our winning teams range from very large teams to very small ones, across sectors, countries, and institutions, comprising individuals from a wide variety of roles.
The Functional Framework Materials: Design and Characterisation Team, winners of the Dalton Horizon Prize, are a brilliant example of an international, cross-disciplinary, and multi-institutional collaboration. The work of this team holds promise for real-life applications in alternative fuel production, and in storage, capture and conversion of fuel and toxic gases such as methane, SO2 and NO2. Nearly 40 people contributed to this piece of work, across eight institutions in three countries, including universities, research institutions, and scientific facilities.
Other notable collaborations recognised this year include the Biosulfur Recyclers, winners of the Chemistry Biology Interface Horizon Prize, a truly global team with members from Australia, Japan and the UK, and the Pulpex x BASF x Scitech Adhesives – Coatings Collaboration, the first winners of our new Innovation Through Partnership Prize.
The team have developed a sustainable fibre packaging solution, and each of the organisations involved contributed something vital to the product’s development.
While Pulpex (pictured right) developed its renewable fibre bottle technology from sustainably sourced wood pulp, BASF stepped in to accelerate the options for coating chemistries to form an array of commercial products. SciTech Adhesive Systems, a known formulation leader, completed the partnership, helping to transform the initial material into something that would hold liquid whilst remaining recyclable.
The Pulpex x BASF x Scitech Adhesives – Coatings Collaboration is a great example of the development of a product that contributes to the circular economy, being fully recyclable at the end of its life. Another team that is making great strides in this area is The ReLiB Project, winners of the Environment, Sustainability and Energy Horizon Prize. The team, a multidisciplinary collaboration between five universities, focus on reducing the steps needed to remanufacture end-of-life materials from electric vehicle batteries into new cells.
The project has fast-tracked the development of low-cost technologies for separating layers (delamination), removing unwanted materials (leaching), and reviving usable components (regeneration) – all on an industrial scale. They have also developed methods to recover and potentially reuse previously unrecyclable components like the polymer binder used in most batteries.
The NPL Air Quality Networks Team, one of the winners of our Technical Excellence Prizes, have produced 20 years of high-quality air pollutant data for thee of the UK’s air quality networks.
The results they produce are made freely available to everyone: this allows the government to see if their air quality targets are met, the public to understand how clean their air is, and researchers to better understand the health effects of air pollution.
The team embodies technical excellence, teamwork, and application of scientific knowledge in the service of improving our environment and benefiting the planet.
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