Sir Derek Barton Gold Medal

Deadlines

• This prize will next open for nominations in October 2025. 

Eligibility

Individuals named in any of the following roles during the nomination and judging period are not eligible to nominate or be nominated:

• Organic Chemistry Prize Committee members
• RSC Subject Community Presidents
• RSC Prize Committee members
• Trustees of the Royal Society of Chemistry
• Royal Society of Chemistry staff

Nominators:

• Only RSC members can nominate for this prize.
• Nominees may NOT nominate themselves.

Nominees:

• The prize is open to nominees based in the UK or internationally.
• Nominees should be 60 or over at the closing date of nominations. Because this prize is awarded for work carried out after the age of sixty, the nomination should focus on what the nominee has achieved since reaching this age. Work carried out before the age of sixty will not be taken into account by the selection committee. 
• 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.

Submitting your nomination

Please use our online nominations system to submit the following information:

• Your name, contact details, and membership number (please contact the RSC Membership team if you do not know your membership details). Your RSC membership must be confirmed at the point of nomination – it is not sufficient to have a membership application in process. The identity of nominators is not made known to our judging panels. 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. Because this prize is awarded for work carried out after the age of sixty, the statement should focus on what the nominee has achieved since reaching this age. Our guidance for nominators page has more information on writing this supporting statement.
• A statement (up to 100 words) describing how your nominee has contributed more broadly to the scientific community.
• 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.

Selection Criteria and Judging Panel

Our selection committees base their evaluations on the overall quality of relevant contributions and achievements by nominees, in relation to the selection criteria listed below.

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.

Because this prize is awarded for work carried out after the age of sixty, the nomination should focus on what the nominee has achieved since reaching this age. Work carried out before the age of sixty will not be taken into account by the selection committee.

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 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

Sir Derek Barton Gold Medal Sub-Committee

• Pat Guiry, University College Dublin (Chair)
• Anthony Barrett, Imperial College London
• Sue Gibson, Imperial College London
• Veronique Gouverneur, University of Oxford
• John Moses, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
• David O'Hagan, University of St Andrews
• Sarah Reisman, California Institute of Technology
• John Sutherland, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

Organic Chemistry Prize Committee

• David O'Hagan, University of St Andrews (Chair)
• Vijay Chudasama, University College London
• Dorcas O. Moronkola, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
• Angela J. Russell, University of Oxford
• Eoin Scanlan, Trinity College Dublin, Republic of Ireland
• Robert Stockman, University of Nottingham
• Katherine Wheelhouse, GSK