2024 Faraday early career Prize: Marlow Prize Winner
Professor Reinhard Maurer, University of Warwick
Awarded for contributions to the fundamental understanding of molecular structure and chemical dynamics at hybrid organic-inorganic interfaces through the development of computational simulation methods.
Many of the big challenges in modern chemistry involve developing new ways to convert chemicals into usable energy. When certain forces, like light, electricity, or magnetism, act on the meeting points (interfaces) of different materials, they can cause the movement of tiny particles (electrons) and their properties (charge and spin). This movement creates and breaks the chemical bonds within those materials more selectively than using high heat or pressure.
This principle is applied in photoelectrocatalysis, battery technology, photovoltaics and fuel cells – all of which are key technologies for transitioning to sustainable energy and materials production.
Photoelectrocatalytic technologies are still in their infancy, in many cases due to fundamental gaps in our understanding of how light, electricity, and atoms interact at interfaces on a very small scale. This limits our ability to develop better catalysts and more efficient reactions.
Dr Maurer’s research group tackles this challenge using computer simulations to predict how different materials behave and react when combined. Their computational predictions are revealing new mechanisms at play, ultimately leading to the design of new experiments and even better clean energy solutions.
| Year | Name | Institution | Citation |
| 2023 | Dr Bryan Bzdek | University of Bristol | Awarded for pioneering contributions to aerosol physical chemistry, including the surface composition of microscopic droplets, new particle formation in the atmosphere, and the physicochemical properties of respiratory aerosols. |
| 2022 | Dr Basile Curchod MRSC | University of Bristol | Awarded for the development of theoretical and computational methods to unravel new mechanisms in photochemistry. |
| 2021 | Dr Brianna Heazlewood | University of Liverpool | Awarded for the development of novel experimental techniques and computational modelling to study reactive collisions at extremely low temperatures. |
| 2020 | Dr Radha Boya | University of Manchester | Awarded for contributions to creating Angstrom-scale atomically smooth capillaries from two-dimensional materials and unravelling the properties of fluids under atomic-scale confinement. |
| 2019 |
Dr Samuel Stranks | University of Cambridge | Awarded for contributions to the development of hybrid perovskite semiconductor devices through fundamental understanding of the relationships between photophysical, chemical and material properties. |
| 2018 | Dr Artem Bakulin | Imperial College London | Awarded for the development of optical time-resolved spectroscopic techniques to uncover structural and excited state electronic dynamics in organic optoelectronic materials and devices. |
| 2017 | Dr Steven Lee | University of Cambridge | Awarded for the development of novel single-molecule super-resolution fluorescence techniques. |
| 2016 | Dr Józef Lewandowski | University of Warwick | Awarded for the development and applications of solid-state NMR methodology to study structure and dynamics of biomolecules. |
| 2015 | Dr D. Flemming Hansen | University College London | Awarded for the development and application of NMR spectroscopy in understanding motions in biological molecules at atomic resolution. |
| 2015 | Professor Philipp Kukura | University of Oxford | Awarded for the development of ultrafast spectroscopic and ultrasensitive microscopic imaging techniques with applications in chemistry, physics and the life sciences. |
| 2014 | Dr Cinzia Casiraghi | University of Manchester | Awarded for pioneering work on the use of Raman spectroscopy to characterise carbon-based nanostructures. |
| 2013 |
Dr Andrew Goodwin | University of Oxford | Awarded for his innovative studies of the physical chemistry and chemical physics of amorphous materials. |
| 2012 |
Dr Robert Best | University of Cambridge | Awarded for his innovative development and use of simulation and theory to investigate problems in biophysics and biochemistry. |
| 2011 |
Sharon Ashbrook | University of St Andrews | Awarded for her pioneering work in solid-state NMR, combining experiments and first principles calculations for the study of important materials. |
| 2010 |
Angelos Michaelides | University College London | Awarded for his innovative contributions in broad areas of surface and physical chemistry, with particular relevance to heterogeneous catalysis and improved understanding of the water-ice interface. |
| 2009 |
Not awarded | ||
| 2008 | Stefan Willitsch | University College London | Awarded for his studies of ions using ZEKE spectroscopy and his development of an experiment to study reactions at very low temperatures. |
| 2007 | Dr Alessandro Troisi | University of Warwick | Awarded for for his development of novel models for describing molecular electronic processes. |
| 2006 | Dr Frederick R Manby | University of Bristol | Awarded for his development of new computational methods that are improving the accuracy and applicability of electronic structure calculations on molecules. |
| 2005 | Dr Julie V Macpherson | University of Warwick | Awarded for her pioneering work combining AFM instrumentation with electrochemical measurements. |
| 2004 | Dr Jonathan Reid | University of Birmingham | Awarded for his novel experiments using fluorescence spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy of cavity enhanced droplet modes to characterise internal chemistry and size distributions of aerosol droplets. |
| 2003 | Dr D J Caruana | University College London | |
| 2002 | Dr Jonathan W Essex | University of Southampton | Awarded for his work in the development of techniques and application of molecular simulations to the study of proteins and related systems of biological importance. |
| 2001 | Dr Helen H Fielding | King's College London | Awarded for her experimental and theoretical studies of molecular Rydberg dynamics. |
| 2000 | Dr Jonathan A Jones | University of Oxford | Awarded for his distinguished contributions in the theory and applications of nuclear magnetic resonance. |
| 1999 | A J Orr-Ewing | ||
| 1998 | Dr Steve D Price | University College London | Awarded for his work on the structure and reactivity of molecular ions, especially dications. |
| 1997 | Dr Patrick R Unwin | University of Warwick | |
| 1996 | K D M Harris | ||
| 1995 | D E Manolopoulos | ||
| 1994 | P J Knowles | ||
| 1993 | G S Attard | ||
| 1992 | Not awarded | ||
| 1991 | S K Scott | ||
| 1990 | D E Logan | ||
| 1989 | J E Baggott | ||
| 1988 | S J Sibener | ||
| 1987 | M N R Ashfold | ||
| 1986 | D C Clary | ||
| 1985 | D J Tildesley | ||
| 1984 | N V Richardson | ||
| 1983 | D W Oxtoby | ||
| 1982 | Not awarded | ||
| 1981 | G S Beddard, G R Fleming | ||
| 1980 | J P Maier | ||
| 1979 | T F George | ||
| 1978 | R G Woolley | ||
| 1977 | J N L Connor | ||
| 1976 | J J Burton | ||
| 1975 | G Duxbury | ||
| 1974 | R Grice | ||
| 1973 | K F Freed | ||
| 1972 | W G Richards | ||
| 1971 | G R Luckhurst | ||
| 1970 | M A A Clyne | ||
| 1969 | J W White | ||
| 1968 | N M Atherton | ||
| 1967 | C N Ramachandra Rao | ||
| 1966 | A Carrington | ||
| 1965 | A M North | ||
| 1964 |
Not awarded | ||
| 1963 | S A Rice | ||
| 1962 | J C Polanyi | ||
| 1961 | J S Griffith | ||
| 1960 |
Not awarded | ||
| 1959 | P Gray | ||
| 1958 | J A Pople | ||
| 1957 | J S Rowlinson |
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.