Our 2021 prize winners
We are recognising individuals, collaborations and teams for their exceptional achievements in advancing the chemical sciences.
- Use the gallery below to explore our prize winners, and discover and share their stories.
- Click through to profile pages to see photo galleries, insights into their work, and a Q&A. You’ll also find buttons for sharing these pages using social media or email.
- Visit our YouTube playlist for more video content – including montages featuring each of our winners.
- We have also collected together some of the exciting research recently published by our winners, across our journals portfolio. These articles are free to access until 30 September 2021.
- The Royal Society of Chemistry is committed to supporting and improving inclusion and diversity in the chemical sciences, and this extends to our prizes programme.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to make a nomination this year, and to all of our volunteers on our judging panels.
Excellence in Education Prizes
Celebrating inspirational, innovative, and dedicated people working at all levels of education.
Horizon Prizes for Education
Celebrating ground-breaking innovations and initiatives that mark a step-change in science education.
Horizon Prizes
Celebrating discoveries and innovations that push the boundaries of science.
Inclusion and Diversity Prize
Celebrating people improving access and progression for all in the chemical sciences.
Research & Innovation Prizes
Celebrating exceptional people advancing the chemical sciences across industry and academia.
Volunteer Recognition Prizes
Celebrating people who go above and beyond to form communities and support and inspire others.
Inclusion and diversity in our prizes
The Royal Society of Chemistry is committed to supporting and improving inclusion and diversity in the chemical sciences, and this extends to our prize programme.
We are taking steps to make our prize portfolio more reflective of the modern world and the diversity of our community.
Prizes
- As part of our ongoing response to key findings of the independent Review of Recognition, which we commissioned in 2018, we are undergoing the biggest overhaul of our prize portfolio in its 150 year history.
- Our five-point action plan provides a roadmap to broadening what we recognise, and the ways in which we do so.
- We will be placing a greater emphasis on teams and collaborations, technicians, teachers, and those who are in earlier stages of their career.
- Excellence will remain the first criterion for winning a prize. However, we will expand what we and others mean by excellence, shining a light on the many types of excellence and the different facets of diversity that are crucial for modern science.
- We are continuing our efforts to expand the pool of people nominated for our prizes.
- We are reviewing our approach to eponymous prizes.
- Since 2015 we have published annual statistics relating to diversity in our prize programme. Download our 2021 diversity data.
Inclusion & diversity
As a professional and membership body, and a leading voice for the chemistry community, we have a responsibility to promote inclusivity and accessibility in order to improve diversity.
Our wider inclusion and diversity strategy to 2025 addresses the core issues at the heart of diversity and inclusion in the chemical sciences, which will in turn – in time – be reflected in the diversity of our prize programme.
- Breaking the barriers – Our 2018 report gave us new insights into the barriers women face in the chemical sciences.
- In 2019 we released a report called Exploring the workplace for LGBT+ physical scientists.
- Bullying & harassment support service – In 2019 we launched a support service for anyone affected or concerned by bullying or harassing behaviour in the chemical sciences.
- Framework for action in scientific publishing – Our framework for action maps out the steps we will take to minimise bias in the publishing processes.
- In 2020, we published our first RSC-wide diversity data report, which covers aspects of diversity across our activities.
- In 2021, we are carrying out research on race and ethnicity in the chemical sciences. Read our Black Lives Matter statement.
- Our Inclusion and Diversity Fund has a special call to support projects to improve disabled inclusion and accessibility in the chemical sciences.