Nominations for the 2024 NPR Emerging Investigator Lectureship are now open until 09 October 2023.
This Lectureship celebrates outstanding early career researchers who have made significant contributions to a natural product related area of the chemical sciences in their independent research careers.
- This award is presented annually
- The nominations are shortlisted, and the winner is selected by a judging panel made up of the Natural Product Reports Editorial Board
- The recipient of this award receives the opportunity to present at a relevant high-profile international meeting with a contribution of up to £500 to cover associated costs
Our latest award winner 2023
Professor Christine Beemelmanns
Christine Beemelmanns studied Chemistry at the RWTH Aachen, and after graduation went to Japan for a one-year research stay in the group of Prof. Sodeoka at RIKEN. Back in Germany she worked at the FU Berlin with Prof. Reißig and received her PhD in Organic Chemistry. She then worked another six months in Japan at the University of Tokyo under the supervision of Prof. K. Suzuki and joined shortly afterwards the group of Prof. Clardy at Harvard Medical School (Boston) in 2011.
At the end of 2013, she received a call from the Hans-Knöll Institute (HKI) to work there as a Junior Research Group leader in the field of Natural Products Chemistry and Chemical Biology. In 2020, she was elected as Margaret L. and Harlan L. Goering Visiting Professor in Organic Chemistry at UW Madison.
In 2022 she was appointed Professor for Biochemistry of Microbial Metabolism at the Leipzig University and shortly after was appointed a Full Professorship on Medicinal-Pharmaceutical Microbiota Research at Saarland University together with the HIPS.
In her research projects, Christine focuses on the chemical and functional analysis of co-evolved microbial interactions. Her group combines natural product chemistry with applied microbiology and molecular biology to identify important microbial natural products from these symbiotic communities that are composed of unprecedented chemical core structures and display pharmacological important activities.
See all previous winners
Guidelines for nominators and candidates
Find out who is eligible for this award, about the nomination process and see who is on the selection panel.
Nomination deadline
09 October 2023
Lectureship winner announcement
Early 2024
The Natural Products Reports Emerging Investigator Lectureship is awarded through a process whereby nominations of candidates are invited from our community.
Open to all researchers globally
The NPR Lectureship is open to all researchers throughout the world. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and researchers in academia or industry.
As part of the Royal Society of Chemistry, we believe we have a responsibility to promote inclusivity and accessibility to improve diversity. Where possible, we encourage each nominator to consider nominating candidates of all genders, races, and backgrounds. Please see the RSC's approach to Inclusion and Diversity.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the NPR Lectureship, the candidate must:
- Be an active natural products researcher, either in academia or industry, carrying out research that is within scope of the journal
- Be an independent researcher (this includes Research Associates or Fellows who run their own research group; PhD students and postdocs are not eligible)
- Be at an early stage of their independent career (this should typically be within 12 years of completing their PhD, but appropriate consideration will be given to those who have taken a career break, followed a different career path or work in systems where their time period to independence may vary). Please contact the Editorial Office if you have any queries
Nominations can be made by anyone and must be sent via email to the Editorial Office by 9 October 2023. Self-nominations are not permitted. All nominators will be asked to confirm that, to the best of their knowledge, their nominee’s professional standing is such that there is no confirmed or potential impediment to them receiving the Lectureship.
To nominate a candidate, please provide:
- The name, affiliation, website URL and contact details of the nominee
- An up-to-date nominee CV (3 pages maximum)
- A letter of recommendation (500-word limit) addressing the following assessment criteria:
- Scientific quality of research output
- Innovation
- Community and advocacy activities
Additional indicators of esteem may be included in the recommendation letter for consideration by the judging panel. Statements as to why a nominee is eligible if they are beyond 12 years of their PhD completion, for instance, due to career breaks, will not count towards this word limit
- Contact details for a confirmed supporting referee. Please inform your referee of the nomination – the Editorial Office will request a supporting letter of recommendation (500-word limit) from this referee once the nomination has been received, where the referee should comment in detail on specific contributions/achievements/potential. Referees must state their relationship with the nominee e.g. this could be the nominee’s postdoc or PhD supervisor, line manager, project manager or academic mentor
All eligible nominated candidates will be assessed by a judging panel made up of the Natural Product Reports Editorial Board.
The judging panel will consider the following core criteria:
- Scientific quality of research output
- Innovation
- Community and advocacy activities
Additional indicators of esteem will be considered by the judging panel where multiple nominees are judged equally meritorious in relation to these core criteria.
Previous winners
Current winner: Christine Beemelmanns, Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences Saarland, Germany
2022: Jinghan Gui, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, China
2021: Hans Renata, Scripps Research Institute, USA
2020: Alison Narayan, University of Michigan, USA
2019: Mo Seyedsayamdost, Princeton University, USA
2018: Konrad Tiefenbacher, University of Basel, Switzerland
2017: Katherine Ryan, University of British Columbia, Canada
2016: Ryan Shenvi, Scripps Research Institute, USA
2015: Seth Herzon, Yale University, USA
2014: Emily Balskus, Harvard University, USA
2013: Rebecca Goss, University of St Andrews, UK
Contact NPR Editorial Office
- Email:
- the team