The Alexander Todd-Hans Krebs Lectureship in Chemical Sciences is a reciprocal lectureship awarded alternately by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh), for advances in chemistry made by a scientist while working and residing in Germany or the UK, respectively.
- Run biennially
- The winner receives €1000 and a certificate
- The winner will deliver at least one lecture in the UK
- The prize is administered by the Royal Society of Chemistry in odd years and the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) in even years
2023 Winner
2023 RSC/GDCh Alexander Todd-Hans Krebs Lectureship in Chemical Sciences Winner
Professor Stefanie Dehnen, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
For pioneering research on molecular multinary cluster nanoarchitectures for innovative applications in catalysts, white-light emitters, and battery materials.
Deadlines
- Nominations open 15 October.
- Nominations close 14 January, 17:00 GMT.
Eligibility
Individuals named in any of the following roles during the nomination and judging period are not eligible to nominate or be nominated:
- RSC Prize Committee members
- RSC Subject Community Presidents
- Trustees of the Royal Society of Chemistry
- Royal Society of Chemistry staff
Nominators:
- Both RSC Members and non-members can nominate for this prize.
- Nominees may NOT nominate themselves.
Nominees:
- This prize is open to nominees working and residing in Germany only.
- There are no career stage restrictions associated with this prize.
- 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.
- 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 the 2023 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 and contact details. 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.
- Any information related to career breaks taken by your nominee - for example, a period of parental or adoption leave, caring responsibilities, long-term illness, family commitments, as well as any other circumstances including long-term conditions or disabilities. We understand that these can impact a nominee's career in different ways, and encourage nominators to use the space provided on the noination form to explain the nature and impact of the nominee's individual circumstances. This information will be shared with the committee, but before doing so RSC staff will always seek consent from the nominee in cases where special category data is mentioned.
- 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.
- 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.
- References are not required for this prize and will not be accepted.
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.
Make a nominationSelection Criteria and Judging Panel
Our selection committees base their evaluations primarily on the overall quality of relevant contributions made by nominees and not on quantitative measures. 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
- Collaborations and teamwork
- Other indicators of esteem indicated by the nominee/nominator
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
RSC Prize Committee
- David Rees, Astex Pharmaceuticals (Chair)
- Karen Faulds, University of Strathclyde
- Mark Bradley, Queen Mary University of London
- Mike Ward, University of Warwick
- Matthew Davies, Swansea University
- Andrew Mount, University of Edinburgh
- Neil Robertson, University of Edinburgh
- David O'Hagan, University of St Andrews
History of the prize
The Alexander Todd-Hans Krebs Lectureship in Chemical Sciences was established in 2006 in order to develop and strengthen the scientific links between Germany and the UK.
The prize is run biennially by the GDCh and RSC, alternating between nominees working and residing in the UK and in Germany respectively.
Re-thinking recognition: Science prizes for the modern world
This report is the result of an independent review of our recognition programmes. Our aim in commissioning this review was to ensure that our recognition portfolio continues to deliver the maximum impact for chemical scientists, chemistry and society.
Prizes
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