Author Archive

Congratulations to the prize winners at Dan Eley Symposium 2025

The 2025 Dan Eley Postdoctoral Research Symposium took place at the University of Nottingham on 22 May 2025. RSC Applied Polymers, RSC Advances and Polymer Chemistry were pleased to support prizes at this event and we would like to congratulate our winners!

Welcome Foyer for Dan Eley event.

Welcome Foyer for Dan Eley event.

Meet our prize winners!

Photo of prize winner Madasamy Thangamuthu.

RSC Applied Polymers Prize

Dr Madasamy Thangamuthu

Dr Madasamy Thangamuthu is a Research Fellow in Electrocatalysis, currently working with Professor Andrei Khlobystov’s Nottingham Nanomaterials research group at the School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham (Park campus) since July 2022. Prior to his move to Nottingham, he was part of Professor Junwang Tang’s Solar Energy and Advanced Materials Research Group at the Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London (UCL) from 2019 to 2022. He also conducted research at the Nanophotonics and Metrology Laboratory (NAM) in the Department of Microengineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, from 2015 to 2019. Dr. Thangamuthu earned his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from Madurai Kamaraj University, India, in 2010 and 2014, respectively, and received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, India, in 2008.

His research primarily focuses on sustainable fuel synthesis through Photocatalysis, Electrocatalysis, and Photoelectrocatalysis. Specifically, he is developing next-generation catalysts for green hydrogen production from water splitting and ammonia decomposition, CO2 reduction into liquid fuels and high-value chemicals, and green ammonia synthesis using earth-abundant materials.

Photo of prize winner Joseph Ogar.RSC Advances Prize

Dr Joseph Ogar

Dr Joseph Ogar began his academic career in 2013 as a graduate assistant at the Department of Chemistry, University of Calabar, following his First Degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2010. He earned his Master’s degree in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Calabar in 2016.

In 2017, Dr Ogar joined the research group of Professor Neil Champness at the University of Nottingham, where he completed his PhD in 2021, working on redox-active metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). He later served as a full-time lecturer at Nottingham Trent University during the 2023/2024 academic session and currently holds an hourly-paid lecturer position there. In addition to his teaching roles, he has completed two postdoctoral fellowships and is presently a lab manager and postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) in the Cliffe’s Group at the University of Nottingham.

Dr Ogar’s research interests span the synthesis of redox-active ligands, developing porous open framework materials, and electrosynthesis of BEDT-TTF salts and two-dimensional MOFs with interesting electronic and magnetic properties.

Photo of prize winner Benjamin Weare.Polymer Chemistry Prize

Dr Benjamin Weare

Dr Benjamin Weare is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Nanoscale and Microscale Research Centre, where he works as an electron microscopist. He has a strong interest in the intersection of practical electron microscopy, software development, and data science. His current research involves adapting transmission electron microscopes to work as electron diffractometers, in order to solve crystal structure from nanomaterials not suitable for X-ray methods. His Masters and PhD blended synthetic chemistry and electron microscopy, studying the nanoscale properties of small molecules and framework polymers at the University of Nottingham. In his free time he enjoys reading literature and writing for his blog.

We’d like to congratulate all the prize winners once more, it’s a great achievement for their work to be selected from all the excellent research presented at the event.  We’d also like to thank all organisers, especially Dr James Pearce for organising this conference.

Congratulations to the prize winners at POLYMAT Spotlight 2024

The POLYMAT Spotlight 2024 International Workshop on Macromolecular Materials (POLYMAT Spotlight 2024) took place in San Sebastian, Spain during 11-14th June 2024. RSC Applied Polymers, Chemical Science and Chemical Communications were pleased to support prizes at this event and we would like to congratulate our winners!

Photo of Marco Caliari with Prof Luis Campos during award ceremony.

Marco Caliari (left) with Prof Luis Campos (right) during award ceremony.

Photo of Marcin A. Majewski with Prof Luis Campos during award ceremony.

Marcin A. Majewski (left) with Prof Luis Campos (right) during award ceremony.

Photo of Marina González Sánchez with Prof Luis Campos during award ceremony.

Marina González Sánchez (left) with Prof Luis Campos (right) during award ceremony.

Learn more about the prize winners below:

Photo of prize winner Marco-Caliari.

RSC Applied Polymers Prize

Marco Caliari (University of the Basque Country)

Marco Caliari completed his Bachelor studies at the University of Bologna in 2019 with a thesis on the development of biobased, super amphiphilic vitrimers carried out in an Erasmus framework at the University of Groningen. Interested in knowing more about sustainability and polymers, he enrolled at KU Leuven. After completing an Internship at the Adolphe Merkle Institute in Fribourg (CH) in the field of supramolecular polymers, he graduated in 2021 with a thesis exploring the synthesis of novel hyperbranched polymers with applications in catalysis. He is now MSCA Fellow in the NIPU-EJD framework working towards the development on new CO2-derived 3D printable resins.

Photo of prize winner Marcin A. Majewski.

Chemical Science Prize

Marcin A. Majewski (University of Wroclaw)

I have a Masters and a PhD degree in organic chemistry, done in the group of Prof Marcin Stępień at the University of Wroclaw (Poland), where I am now pursuing my own research project as an Assistant Professor. In 2020-2022 I joined Prof Harry Anderson in Oxford as a Marie Currie Fellow to create novel, three-dimensional nanoarchitectures based on porphyrin subunits, which could be studied as models for energy and electron transfer, inspired by natural light-harvesting systems. Currently, I’m trying to merge the worlds of dendrimers and macrocycles to build large, aromatic systems by means of covalent templating.

Follow me on X (formerly know as Twitter) @MajewskiMarcinA for more, including collaboration opportunities.

Photo of prize winner Marina González Sánchez.

Chemical Communications Prize

Marina González (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

My name is Marina González Sánchez, and I am currently in the final year of my PhD at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, within the research group of Prof David González Rodríguez (MSMn). My research focuses on the development of new π-functional supramolecular materials. Specifically, I study how non-covalent interactions between nucleobases contribute to the formation of ordered supramolecular structures at the nanometric level. The main objective is the creation and improvement of properties in materials and organic systems through rational molecular ordering at the nanometric scale using supramolecular self-assembly tools.

Outside of my research, I enjoy sharing scientific insights on my X account @Marina_chem, where I occasionally discuss various scientific topics.

We’d like to congratulate all the prize winners once more, it’s a great achievement for their work to be selected from all the excellent research presented at the event. Thanks to Prof Luis Campos (Associate Editor for Chemical Science) for presenting the awards! We’d also like to thank all organisers, especially Aurelio Mateo-Alonso (Koke) for organising this conference.

Congratulations to the prize winners at UoN Polymer Symposium 2024

The University of Nottingham Polymer Symposium 2024 (UoN Polymer Symposium 2024) took place in Nottingham, UK on 22 March 2024. RSC Applied Polymers and Polymer Chemistry were pleased to support poster prizes at this event and we would like to congratulate our winners!

Photo of UoN Polymer Symposium 2024 opening remarks.

Photo of UoN Polymer Symposium 2024 opening remarks.

Learn more about the prize winners below:

Photo of RSC Applied Polymers Poster Prize winner James Wilford Caruana.

RSC Applied Polymers Poster Prize

James Wilford Caruana (University of Nottingham)

James Wilford Caruana, holding a Bachelors in Chemistry and Material Science from the University of Malta and a Masters in Bioengineering from the University of Nottingham. At Baxter Global, my focus was on renal and critical pediatric care, where I served as a Senior Medical Affairs Specialist from 2021 to 2022. Currently, a doctoral candidate at the University of Nottingham with the Centre for Additive Manufacturing and Irvine Group. My project focuses on the multi-material additive manufacturing of imageable pediatric medical devices.

Photo of Polymer Chemistry Poster Prize winner Valena (Eleni) Axioti.

Polymer Chemistry Poster Prize

Valena (Eleni) Axioti (University of Nottingham)

My name is Eleni Axioti, but I go by Valena. A chemist with a master’s degree in Cosmetic Science (Liverpool John Moores University), I’m currently in the second year of my PhD at the University of Nottingham. My research focuses on developing sustainable polymers for biomedical applications, particularly in the drug delivery area, under the supervision of Dr. Vincenzo Taresco. I’ve always been fascinated by the chemistry behind cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations. After years working as a beauty advisor, pharmaceutical assistant, completing a related internship at the University of Bologna (Italy), two placements in leading cosmetic industries, and a job as a pharmaceutical analyst, I’m ready to explore new opportunities in the academic world! In my free time, I enjoy traveling and sharing skincare advice on my Instagram page.

We’d like to congratulate all the prize winners once more, it’s a great achievement for their work to be selected from all the excellent research presented at the event. We’d also like to thank all organisers, especially Dr Vincenzo Taresco and Dr Valentina Cuzzucoli Crucitti, for organising this conference.