Information for Nominators of Awards

In order to make a nomination or an application for an RSC Award, you will need to supply:

• Your name and contact details
• The candidate's name and contact details
• A supporting statement of no longer than one A4 side of 11pt text 
• A one page CV for the candidate which should include their date of birth, website URL, summary of education and career, a list of 5 relevant publications and total numbers of publications and patents.  A template CV is provided for guideline purposes 
• Please note nominators responsibility relating to referees outlined in Timeframe, see Point 3
• For early career awards the CV should also include other indicators of esteem and evidence of independence
• When nominating recent Award and Prize winners, please remember that a person cannot be rewarded twice for substantially the same body of work.     

Please note that if documents exceed the stated length, the extra content will not be passed to the awards committee.

For awards which specify a career-stage, the names of two potential referees should also be supplied.  With the exception of very-early career awards, these should not include someone from the same institution or the candidate's PhD or PostDoctoral supervisor.

Please ensure you have read the individual Award's criteria before making a nomination.

RSC Education Awards

For education awards it is acknowledged that it may not be appropriate to provide a publications list; other indicators of esteem should be emphasised in the CVs for these candidates e.g. breadth of teaching experience, outreach and engagement in the area of chemical education.

RSC Team Awards

For team awards please refer to the individual award pages, there is no requirement for a CV.

Career Stages

The portfolio of awards recognises excellence throughout an individual's career.

• Very Early Career - See definitions of individual prizes/awards
• Early Career - Aged 40 or under
• Mid Career - Aged 55 or under

The ages specified are intended to guide nominators and selection panels. Appropriate consideration will be given to those who have taken career breaks or followed different study paths.

Selection Criteria for RSC Awards

The following aspects of all nominations for scientific research Awards will be considered by the selection committee(s) as appropriate:

• Originality of research
• Impact of research
• Quality of publications and/or patents and/or software
• Innovation
• Professional standing
• Independence (for early career Awards only)
• Collaborations and teamwork
• Other indicators of esteem indicated by the nominee/nominator

When nominating recent Award and Prize winners, please remember that a person cannot be rewarded twice for substantially the same body of work.    

Selection procedure

1. Referees are required for career-stage awards.  The nominator should contact the referees once receipt of nomination is acknowledged by RSC Office. The nominator is responsible for informing the two referees that they must provide reports by 31 January. Nominators should forward the CV and supporting statement for each candidate to the two  referees, for reference. Referee reports should be a maximum of 500 words in length and should address the selection criteria outlined above. 

2. RSC Office will contact nominators and referees of candidates with outstanding references one week after close of nominations on 15 January once only. Any applications without the requisite two referees' reports will be discounted at this stage. Referees will be asked to state their relationship with the candidate and the references that they provide will be passed to the relevant Division Committee. 

3. All paperwork for awards is circulated to the members of the relevant Division Committee.  A shortlist will be created if the award has a large volume of nominations. 

4. The candidates (or shortlists) for all awards are considered by the relevant Division Committee at a formal meeting.  Winners will be proposed by the committees. 

5. The Division Committee's recommendations are then passed to the Awards Working Group and endorsed at their May meeting.  The Committee will take an overview of all awards presented that year and resolve any outstanding issues, e.g. where an individual is recommended for more than one award. 

Timeframe

1. Nominations for awards open in early September and close on 15 January the following year. Awards run either annually, biennially or triennially. Please refer to specific awards' pages for details on this. 

2. The Awards office will send an email to acknowledge receipt of your nomination within four working days of the submission. The Awards office will not contact the candidate directly. 

3. The nominator should contact referees (if required), once the nomination is acknowledged. The nominator is responsible for informing the two referees that they must provide reports by 31 January.  RSC Office will contact nominators and referees of candidates with outstanding references one week after close of nominations on 15 January once only.  Any applications without the requisite two referees' reports will be discounted at this stage.
   
4. Candidates may be shortlisted by the relevant Division committee prior to their spring meetings if there is a large number of nominations.  
   

5. At the spring meetings, winners will be chosen by the Division Committee and their recommendations passed to the Awards Working Group to be endorsed at their May meeting.

6. The award winners will be contacted by letter shortly after the meeting. 

7. Once the winners have accepted their awards, all of the nominators will be contacted by email with the results.

8. The names of the winners will be publicised in the August or September issue of RSC News and on the RSC website. 

9. Awards will be presented either at an Awards ceremony in November, or at a symposium or lecture during the year, by arrangement with the Award-winner.