Sir Derek Barton Gold Medal

The Sir Derek Barton Gold Medal recognises work in any area of organic chemistry which reflects the many diverse interests associated with Sir Derek.

General information

• Run biennially - NOT OPEN for 2019 nominations 
• Award winner receives £2000, a medal and a certificate, presented at a special dinner and ceremony
• Award winner will be chosen by the Barton Award Selection Panel and overseen by the Organic Division Awards Committee  

Guidelines for Nominators

• Nominations open on 01 October
• Nominations close on 15 January 
• Only RSC Members can nominate for this award
• Nominees may NOT nominate themselves
• The award is open to nominees based in the UK or internationally
• Nominees should be over 60 as they will be assessed on work published after their 60th birthday. 
• When nominating previous RSC prize or award winners, please remember that a person cannot be awarded twice for substantially the same body of work

To make a nomination please use our online awards nominations system to submit the following:

• Your name, contact details, and membership number (please contact the RSC Membership team if you do not know your membership details)
• The 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 their date of birth, summary of education and career, a list of 5 relevant publications, total numbers of publications and patents (if appropriate) and website URL if relevant
• A supporting statement (up to 4500 characters, not including spaces) addressing the selection criteria 
• A short citation describing what the nominee should be awarded for. This must be no longer than 250 characters (not including spaces) and ideally no longer than one sentence
• References are not required for this award and will not be accepted

Sir Derek Barton Gold Medal Sub-Committee

• Chris Willis, University of Bristol
• Anthony Barrett, Imperial College London
• William Motherwell, University College London 
• Samir Zard, CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique
• Pat Guiry, University College Dublin  

Organic Division Awards Committee

• Chris Willis, University of Bristol (Chair)
• Gonçalo Bernardes, University of Cambridge
• Vipul Patel, GSK
• John Murphy, University of Strathclyde
• Elaine O'Reilly, The University of Nottingham
• David Procter, The University of Manchester    

History of the Award

This award was established in 2001 to commemorate the life and work of Sir Derek Barton who died in 1998.

After the development of a new technique of conformational analysis, which gave rise to an entirely new branch of chemistry, and his work on the conformation of the steroid nucleus, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1969.  

He was knighted in 1976 and, rather than facing retirement in the UK at 65, he moved to CNRS, Paris, and then to Texas A&M University, where he worked until the day of his death at age 80.

To celebrate Sir Derek's unique approach to his work, this award is for work published after the age of 60 only.

The award is presented at a special dinner and ceremony held in London which, as specifically requested by Sir Derek in his bequest to the RSC, should include only the finest food and wines.