2022 Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize Winner
Professor Volker Deringer, University of Oxford
Awarded for innovative contributions to the modelling and understanding of amorphous materials.
Amorphous (non-crystalline) materials are important for many modern technologies: for example, encoding ‘ones’ and ’zeros’ in digital memories, or storing ions in rechargeable batteries. Professor Deringer's research uses computer simulations to explore the structure of such amorphous materials: where the atoms are, what forces hold them together, and how that atomic structure is connected to properties. His team is particularly interested in leveraging machine-learning methods to enable new insights in materials chemistry.
2022 Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize Winner
Dr Marina Freitag, Newcastle University
Awarded for outstanding work to develop, elaborate, and understand novel energy materials.
Printable photovoltaics built from low-cost, environmentally friendly materials have the potential to transform the energy sector for the benefit of humanity worldwide. The majority of progress has been made toward this aim via the development of more powerful light-absorbing materials. However, reliability and storage coupling continue to be hurdles to the widespread use of solar systems. Dr Freitag addresses these issues by focusing on the materials responsible for charge transport in photovoltaic cells, which is critical for both stability and power output. Their structure is made up of easily manipulatable building blocks made of abundant and non-toxic metals, like copper, iron and nickel, that are joined together by a non-metal backbone that governs their energy, form and stability.
Recently, Dr Freitag pioneered a new direction in indoor device design, using these new energy materials to construct ‘smart zombies’. These are wireless devices that capture indoor light with exceptional efficiency. They are smart enough to adapt to the amount of light available while performing the main functions of an Internet of Things device (a hardware device that is connected to the internet and other devices). She created a photovoltaic system that adaptively uses available energy, delivering an efficient source of sustainable energy to devices using a revolutionary mix of artificial intelligence and automated learning.
2022 Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize Winner
Dr Paul McGonigal, Durham University
Awarded for innovative studies of dynamic processes in organic functional materials.
Materials made from organic molecules are extremely attractive for a gamut of applications spanning electronics, surface science and catalysis. The near-limitless diversity of organic structures brings with it opportunities, but it also brings challenges linked to their reactivity and inherent dynamics.
Dr McGonigal’s team looks at dynamic materials containing chemical bonds that can be made, broken, or rotated rapidly and reversibly. By understanding and controlling these atomic-scale movements, they influence their properties, such as how they emit light or how they resist wear and tear.
| Year | Name | Institution | Citation |
| 2021 | Dr Nicholas Chilton | The University of Manchester | Awarded for contributions in applying experimental and advanced computational methods to understand the magnetic and electronic properties of molecules. |
| 2021 | Professor Fernanda Duarte | University of Oxford | Awarded for introducing multidisciplinary approaches to rationalise complex (bio)chemical reaction mechanisms, guiding rational molecular design. |
| 2021 | Dr Ceri Hammond | Imperial College London | Awarded for the development of traditional and sustainable catalytic processes using heterogeneous catalysts. |
| 2020 | Dr Thomas Bennett | University of Cambridge | Awarded for contributions to the non-crystalline metal–organic framework domain, including synthesis and characterization of the first liquid and glass MOF states. |
| 2020 | Dr Anthony Green | University of Manchester | Awarded for the design and evolution of enzymes using an expanded genetic code. |
| 2020 | Dr Sihai Yang | University of Manchester | Awarded for pioneering applications of X-ray and neutron scattering techniques to porous materials science and catalysis. |
| 2019 | Dr Rebecca Melen | Cardiff University | Awarded for outstanding contributions to the advancements in main-group Lewis acid mediated transformations. |
| 2019 | Dr Robert Phipps | University of Cambridge | Awarded for inventive research on the application of non-covalent catalysis to selectivity in synthetic organic chemistry. |
| 2019 | Dr Matthew Powner | University College London | Awarded for pioneering investigations into prebiotic synthesis, which illuminate key conceptual steps in the origin of life. |
| 2018 | Dr Kim Jelfs | Imperial College London | Awarded for an innovative approach to the computer-guided discovery of supramolecular and porous materials. |
| 2018 | Dr Daniele Leonori | The University of Manchester | Awarded for the development of broadly applicable photochemical C-N bond forming processes involving nitrogen-radicals. |
| 2018 | Dr David Mills | The University of Manchester | Awarded for ground-breaking contributions to the chemistry and magnetic properties of f-element compounds. |
| 2017 | Dr Matthew Baker | University of Strathclyde | Awarded for novel analytical methodologies for the detection and characterisation of molecules within complex matrices and their application towards human health and security. |
| 2017 | Dr Mark Crimmin | Imperial College London | Awarded for his research in the area of organometallic and main group chemistry, particularly for developing new types of heterobimetallic complexes. |
| 2017 |
Dr Elaine O'Reilly | The University of Nottingham | Awarded for her development of methodology that expands and simplifies biocatalytic amine synthesis. |
| 2016 |
Dr Gonçalo Bernardes | University of Cambridge | Awarded for the development of novel chemoselective reactions for the modification of biomolecules and their use to understand and influence human disease. |
| 2016 |
Professor Susan Perkin | University of Oxford | Awarded for her contributions towards understanding the structure and behaviour of liquids in thin films. |
| 2016 |
Dr Sarah Staniland | The University of Sheffield | Awarded for her understanding and exploitation of biomineralisation to produce next-generation magnetic nanoparticles via biomimetic syntheses. |
| 2015 |
Dr Adrian Chaplin | University of Warwick | Awarded for contributions to the fundamental organometallic chemistry of small molecule activation reactions. |
| 2015 |
Professor Robert Paton | University of Oxford | Awarded for his pioneering work in using computation to understand reactivity and selectivity in organic and bio-organic chemistry allowing rational design in synthesis. |
| 2015 |
Dr David Scanlon | University College London | Awarded for his development and application of computational techniques to understanding and predicting the properties of functional semi-conductors for energy applications. |
| 2014 |
Dr Matthew Fuchter | Imperial College London | Awarded for his contribution to the study of epigenetic processes in disease and his insights into chiral aromatic compounds, particularly those with helical chirality. |
| 2014 |
Dr David Glowacki | University of Bristol | Awarded for his theoretical work on energy transfer processes in chemical reaction dynamics. |
| 2014 |
Dr Erwin Reisner | University of Cambridge | Awarded for his work in combining molecular synthesis, chemical biology and materials chemistry to develop artificial photosynthesis. |
| 2013 |
Dr Andrew Baldwin | University of Oxford | Awarded for his contributions to understanding the quaternary dynamics that govern sizes of oligomeric protein assemblies, through NMR, mass spectroscopy (MS) and electron microscopy (EM). |
| 2013 |
Dr John Bower | University of Bristol | Awarded for his development of a wide range of novel transition metal catalysed processes of fundamental utility in organic synthesis. |
| 2013 |
Dr Aron Walsh | University of Bath | Awarded for contributions to the development and application of computational chemistry for the study of functional materials, in particular to the design of novel compounds for solar energy conversion. |
| 2012 |
Dr Michael Ingleson | University of Manchester | Awarded for his innovative work in borocation chemistry, particularly the borylation of arenes. |
| 2012 |
Dr Tuomas Knowles | University of Cambridge | Awarded for his development and application of an ensemble of methods by which to break down complex assembly pathways into their underlying molecular steps, thereby allowing such processes to be understood and controlled on a molecular level. |
| 2012 |
Dr Marina Kuimova | Imperial College London | Awarded for her pioneering studies in the spectroscopy and imaging of biological materials, as exemplified by her development and application of fluorescent molecular rotomers to measure cellular viscosity. |
| 2011 |
Craig Banks | Manchester Metropolitan University | Awarded for his contributions to the understanding of carbon materials, in particular graphene and its application as an electrode material. |
| 2011 |
Tomislav Friscic | Cambridge University | Awarded for his work in developing solid-state methodologies which explore and combine new types of molecular self-assembly. |
| 2011 |
Philipp Kukura | University of Oxford | Awarded for his outstanding and original contributions to the development of ultrafast and single molecule spectroscopy. |
| 2010 |
Scott Dalgarno | Heriot-Watt University | Awarded for recognition of his work on the synthesis of new nanostructures based on calixarenes with remarkable magnetic and adsorption properties. |
| 2010 |
Andrew Goodwin | University of Oxford | Awarded for his pioneering work in materials with negative thermal expansion, and in the field of total scattering methods. |
| 2010 |
Nathan S Lawrence | Schlumberger Cambridge Research | Awarded for research originality and innovation in the field of applied analytical electrochemistry. |
| 2009 |
Petra Cameron | University of Bath | Awarded for her pioneering research on solar cells. |
| 2009 |
Eva Hevia | University of Strathclyde | Awarded for her outstanding, original and innovative contributions to the synthetic and structural chemistry of the alkali metals and the development of new multimetallic methods for selective metallations. |
| 2009 |
Oren Scherman | University of Cambridge | Awarded for his work on supramolecular polymers, in particular in aqueous environments. |
Re-thinking recognition: Science prizes for the modern world
This report is the result of an independent review of our recognition programmes. Our aim in commissioning this review was to ensure that our recognition portfolio continues to deliver the maximum impact for chemical scientists, chemistry and society.