Our 2021 Education Prize winners
Explore our winners
2021 Education Prize winners
We are recognising individuals, teams and schools across primary, secondary, further education and higher education, for their exceptional contributions to chemistry education.
- Use the gallery below to explore our prize winners, and discover and share their stories.
- Click through to profile pages to see photo galleries, insights into their work, and a Q&A. You’ll also find buttons for sharing these pages using social media or email.
- The Royal Society of Chemistry is committed to supporting and improving inclusion and diversity in the chemical sciences, and this extends to our prizes programme.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to make a nomination this year, and to all of our volunteers on our judging panels.
Excellence in Education Prizes
Dr Julia Sarju MRSC →
2021 Early Career Prize for Excellence in Higher Education
University of York
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Mr Joshua Piggott →
2021 Early Career Prize for Excellence in Primary Education
St Nicholas' C of E First School
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Dr Emma Owens →
2021 Early Career Prize for Excellence in Secondary and Further Education
Horizon Community College
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Professor Bhavik Patel FRSC →
2021 Excellence in Higher Education Prize
University of Brighton
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Mrs Nicky Waller →
2021 Excellence in Primary Education Prize
Centre for Industry Education Collaboration, University of York
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Mr Robert Worley FRSC →
2021 Excellence in Secondary and Further Education Prize
CLEAPSS
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Professor Michael Seery CChem FRSC →
2021 Nyholm Prize for Education
The Open University
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Keele Team-Based Learning Group →
2021 Team Prize for Excellence in Higher Education
Keele University
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Stalham Infant and Junior Schools →
2021 Team Prize for Excellence in Primary Education
Stalham Infant and Junior Schools, Norfolk
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Pilgrim School Science Department →
2021 Team Prize for Excellence in Secondary and Further Education
The Pilgrim School, Lincolnshire
Read more +Horizon Prizes for Education
A course to inspire and aid the transition to undergraduate chemistry →
2021 Horizon Prize for Education
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Innovative resources for understanding organic chemistry →
2021 Horizon Prize for Education
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A remote laboratory experience for first year undergraduates →
2021 Horizon Prize for Education
Read more +Inclusion and diversity in our prizes
The Royal Society of Chemistry is committed to supporting and improving inclusion and diversity in the chemical sciences, and this extends to our prize programme.
We are taking steps to make our prize portfolio more reflective of the modern world and the diversity of our community.
Prizes
- As part of our ongoing response to key findings of the independent Review of Recognition, which we commissioned in 2018, we are undergoing the biggest overhaul of our prize portfolio in its 150 year history.
- Our five-point action plan provides a roadmap to broadening what we recognise, and the ways in which we do so.
- We will be placing a greater emphasis on teams and collaborations, technicians, teachers, and those who are in earlier stages of their career.
- Excellence will remain the first criterion for winning a prize. However, we will expand what we and others mean by excellence, shining a light on the many types of excellence and the different facets of diversity that are crucial for modern science.
- We are continuing our efforts to expand the pool of people nominated for our prizes.
- We are reviewing our approach to eponymous prizes.
- Since 2015 we have published annual statistics relating to diversity in our prize programme. Download our 2021 diversity data.
Inclusion & diversity
As a professional and membership body, and a leading voice for the chemistry community, we have a responsibility to promote inclusivity and accessibility in order to improve diversity.
Our wider inclusion and diversity strategy to 2025 addresses the core issues at the heart of diversity and inclusion in the chemical sciences, which will in turn – in time – be reflected in the diversity of our prize programme.
- Breaking the barriers – Our 2018 report gave us new insights into the barriers women face in the chemical sciences.
- In 2019 we released a report called Exploring the workplace for LGBT+ physical scientists.
- Bullying & harassment support service – In 2019 we launched a support service for anyone affected or concerned by bullying or harassing behaviour in the chemical sciences.
- Framework for action in scientific publishing – Our framework for action maps out the steps we will take to minimise bias in the publishing processes.
- In 2020, we published our first RSC-wide diversity data report, which covers aspects of diversity across our activities.
- In 2021, we are carrying out research on race and ethnicity in the chemical sciences. Read our Black Lives Matter statement.
- Our Inclusion and Diversity Fund has a special call to support projects to improve disabled inclusion and accessibility in the chemical sciences.