2024 Bader Prize Winner
Professor Bruce Turnbull, University of Leeds
Awarded for the development and application of bioorthogonal approaches in engineering functional protein and carbohydrate based systems.
Bruce Turnbull grew up on a farm in the Scottish Borders and was first introduced to the wonders of chemistry as a pupil at Berwickshire High School in Duns. He graduated with a BSc in chemistry at the University of St Andrews, where he stayed on to study for a PhD in carbohydrate chemistry with Professor Rob Field. A Wellcome Trust International Prize Travelling Research Fellowship then gave him the opportunity to join the lab of another farmer’s son, Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart FRS, at the University of California, Los Angeles. There, he worked on multivalent glycoconjugates, which became a recurring theme through the next 25 years of his research career.
| Year | Name | Institution | Citation |
| 2023 | Professor Marc Vendrell | The University of Edinburgh | Awarded for the design and synthesis of activatable fluorophores, and their application in high-resolution biological imaging and translational medicine. |
| 2022 | Professor Ross Denton | The University of Nottingham | Awarded for the development of novel synthesis methods and catalysts based on organophosphorus and organosilicon chemistry, and their application in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and natural products. |
| 2021 | Professor Alison Hulme | University of Edinburgh | Awarded for creative applications of alkyne chemistry in synthesis and label-free Raman imaging in cells. |
| 2020 | Professor Edward Anderson | University of Oxford | Awarded for creative contributions to organic synthesis and synthetic methodology |
| 2019 |
Professor Jason Micklefield | The University of Manchester | Awarded for innovative contributions to the elucidation of natural product biosynthetic pathways and the development of enzymes for synthesis. |
| 2018 | Professor Joseph Harrity | The University of Sheffield | Awarded for the development of innovative strategies for the synthesis of functionalised heterocyclic scaffolds. |
| 2017 | Professor Michael Greaney | The University of Manchester | Awarded for creative contributions to C-H activation, dynamic covalent chemistry, and reactive intermediates in organic synthesis. |
| 2016 | Professor Thomas Wirth | Cardiff University | Awarded for his break-through discoveries in hypervalent iodine chemistry and flow-based synthesis that have led the field and have opened up completely new areas of research. |
| 2015 | Professor Stephen Clark | University of Glasgow | Awarded for the development of new reactions and strategies for the efficient synthesis of highly functionalised natural products. |
| 2014 | Professor David Procter | University of Manchester | Awarded for significant contributions to synthetic methods development for the efficient construction of complex molecules of biological interest. |
| 2013 |
Professor Jonathan Goodman | University of Cambridge | Distinguished for his innovative applications of computational studies to understanding molecular properties and synthesis design in organic chemistry and reactivity in enzyme chemistry. |
| 2012 |
Professor John Murphy | University of Strathclyde | Awarded for his many highly creative and original contributions to reactivity in organic synthesis, including free radical chemistry, the concept of the radical-polar crossover reaction and electron transfer in the invention of organic super electron reducing agents. |
| 2011 |
Karl J Hale | Queen's University, Belfast | Awarded for outstanding contributions to organic chemistry, including elegant total syntheses and pioneering new synthetic methods of broad use to the community.
His significant contributions to the synthesis and medicinal chemistry of bioactive natural products and their analogs. |
| 2010 |
Kevin Booker-Milburn | University of Bristol | Awarded for his original and innovative contributions to photochemical reactions and techniques, and to transition metal-mediated procedures. |
| 2009 |
Douglas Philp | University of St Andrews | Awarded for his creative research into supramolecular chemistry and the design of molecular self-replication systems. |
| 2008 | Veronique Gouverneur | University of Oxford | Awarded for her important contributions to synthetic organofluorine chemistry. |
| 2007 | Dr J B Spencer | University of Cambridge | Distinguished for his breakthroughs in the biosynthesis of clinically important natural products. |
| 2006 | Professor David M Hodgson | University of Oxford | Distinguished for his development of novel synthetic technology for use in total synthesis, including novel carbenoid, lithiation and epoxide chemistry. |
| 2005 | This Award was not awarded for 2005 | ||
| 2004 | Dr Robert S Ward | University of Wales, Swansea | Distinguished for his contributions to natural product chemistry, particularly concerning the synthesis of lignans including podophyllotoxins. |
| 2003 | Dr Hamish McNab | University of Edinburgh | |
| 2002 | Dr Stuart G Warren | University of Cambridge | Distinguished for his contributions to organophosphorus and organosulfur chemistry, and for his outstanding achievements in chemical education at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. |
| 2001 | Dr David R M Walton | University of Sussex | Distinguished for his fundamental interdisciplinary contributions to the synthesis of carbon-based materials and inorganic nanostructures, and for his elucidation of nanotube self-assembly mechanisms. |
| 2000 | Dr Tom L Gilchrist | University of Liverpool | Distinguished for his contributions to heterocyclic chemistry and the development of novel heteroatom-containing dienes and dienophiles. |
| 1999 | Dr R J Whitby | University of Southampton | Distinguished for his contributions to the application of early transition metals to organic synthesis. |
| 1998 | Dr Don A Whiting | University of Nottingham | Distinguished for his contributions to the synthesis, biosynthesis and structure elucidation of natural products. |
| 1997 | Dr D A Widdowson | Imperial College London | Distinguished for his major contributions over many years in natural products, bioorganic and organometallic chemistry. Special mention should be made of his work on the biosynthesis of alkaloids and steroids; on the mechanisms of NADH and coenzyme B12 dependent reactions; new methods for aromatic fluorination; and perhaps most importantly for his work with arenetricarbonylchromiun complexes. |
| 1996 | I Paterson | ||
| 1995 | G W J Fleet | ||
| 1994 | A B Holmes | ||
| 1993 | R W Alder | ||
| 1992 | M R Bryce | ||
| 1991 | W B Motherwell | ||
| 1990 | D H Williams | ||
| 1989 | S G Davies |
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.