Awards – RSC Americas Blog

Archive for the ‘Awards’ Category

2026 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry

03 Feb 2026

The RSC Americas team sponsored three undergraduate poster awards at the recent 2026 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry in Tucson, Arizona. These prizes complemented corresponding graduate poster awards that were funded by the Journal of Analytical At omic Spectrometry, and all of these were coordinated by WCPS Awards Co-Chair and JAAS Editorial Board Member Prof. Gerardo Gamez.

Tuesday first-place winner: Melis Kocak, Saint Anselm College
“Characterization of Fiber Samples by X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry and Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy” (co-authors Melody Oakes, Ruth Ann Armitage, and Mary Kate Donais)

From left to right: Gerardo Gamez, Melis Kocak, Mary Kate Donais

Wednesday first-place winner: Emily Schorr, University of Arizona
“Chemical Characterization of Pressed Pellets Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy” (co-authors Zach Yang, Tyler Wilson, Joseph Lee, David Hahn, Daviel Diaz)
From left to right: Gerardo Gamez, Emily Schorr, Mary Kate Donais

Tuesday second-place winner: Melody Oakes, Saint Anselm College
"Handheld X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry Analysis of Pigments in the Alva de Mars Chapel Arts Center Ceiling 
Murals” (co-authors Melis Kocak, Mary Kate Donais)
(not pictured; Melody Oakes had to leave conference before award ceremony)

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Nominations Open for the 2025 Chemical Science Lectureship

06 Feb 2025

Chemical Science recently announced the launch of the new Chemical Science Lectureship, in celebration of its 15th anniversary year. Theis annual award will celebrate leading, independent researchers at all career stages who have made exceptional discoveries and innovations in their field within the last five years, which have significance for the wider chemical sciences.

Each year, the lectureship will focus on a specific subject area that aligns with the annual Chemical Science Symposium for that year. As Chemical Science is a multidisciplinary journal, this topic will rotate each year to cover the breadth of the journal and all areas of the chemical sciences.

In its inaugural year, the 2025 Chemical Science Lectureship will focus on the chemistry of imaging, biosensing, and diagnostics, with the winner presenting their lectureship at the 2024 Chemical Science Symposium in November 2025. Additionally, all travel costs will be included as part of the prize, and the winner will be invited to join the Advisory Board for Chemical Science.

Nominations are now open through March 1st, 2025, with the winner announced in late Spring. Click here to learn more about the Lectureship, read about nominee eligibility, and learn how to nominate someone.

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2025 PCCP Emerging Investigator Lectureship is Open for Nominations

16 Jan 2025

Nominations are now open for the 2025 PCCP Emerging Investigator Lectureship and will close on April 5th, 2025. This lectureship recognises early career scientists working the fields of physical chemistry, chemical physics, and biophysical chemistry, and acts as a platform for early career physical chemists to showcase their research to the wider scientific community.

The winner of the lectureship will receive a £1000 contribution towards travel and accommodation costs to attend and present a lecture based on their research at a leading international meeting. Additionally, all shortlisted nominees will be invited to contribute to an Emerging Investigators-themed collection in PCCP.

To be eligible for the lectureship, the candidate must:

Have completed their PhD
Be actively pursuing an independent research career within physical chemistry, chemical physics or biophysical chemistry
Be at an early stage of their independent career (typically this will be within 10 years of completing their PhD, but appropriate consideration will be given to those who have taken a career break or followed a different study path)

Click here to learn more about the PCCP Emerging Investigator Lectureship, see previous winners, and learn how to nominate an early career researcher you know for the award.

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Congratulating the Poster Prize Winners at 2024 NanoDay

20 Dec 2024

The Royal Society of Chemistry was proud to co-sponsor the poster competition at Vanderbilt University Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s 24th Annual Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Forum, also known as NanoDay. The yearly event at Vanderbilt University features speakers and posters from scientists and engineers working in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

This year, the Royal Society of Chemistry co-sponsored the poster competition, where each winner received (in addition to cash prizes) a one-year RSC student membership, as well as an invitation to submit a paper to a journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. This year’s winners were:

1st Place

Shannon Martello, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Rafat group): “Neutrophil-Vasculature Interactions Promote Pro-Recurrent Niche Formation Post-Radiotherapy”

2nd Place

Harrison Walker, Interdisciplinary Materials Science (Pantelides group): “Polar-Topology-Mediated Phonons in Ferroelectric Superlattices”

Megan Keech, Biomedical Engineering (Duvall group): “Therapeutic siRNA conjugates for osteoarthritis”

3rd Place

Daniel Woods, Biomedical Engineering (Gonzales group): “Fabrication of flexible, transparent electrodes for acute recordings in non-human primates”

Hayden Pagendarm, Biomedical Engineering (Wilson group): “Albumin-binding nanobody-antigen fusions enhance antigen presentation and improve vaccine responses through pharmacokinetic modulation”

Lillie Cate Allen, Hillsboro High School (Kidambi group): “Optimizing the Porosity of Different PVDF Castings”

Fan Favorite

Patricia Poley, Biomedical Engineering (Duvall group): “Sustained Release of siRNA from Antioxidant Polymer Microparticles for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis”

Interdisciplinary Materials Science 10-Week Rotation Poster Winners:

1st Place

Emanuela Riglioni, Interdisciplinary Materials Science (Ebrish group): “Optimization of etch, release, and transfer of GaN HEMTs devices”

2nd Place

Thiago Arnaud, Interdisciplinary Materials Science (Caldwell group): “Controlling polariton dispersion in anisotropic media through isotopic enrichment”

NanoDay 2024
VINSE
Vanderbilt University
Photo: Anne Rayner

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Congratulations to WesTEC 2024 Award Winners

05 Dec 2024

This year, the Royal Society of Chemistry was again proud to support the Western Canada Operations Science and Technical Excellence Conference (WesTEC), hosted by Dow Canada. The yearly event celebrates the achievements of scientists and professionals conducting research and development within Dow Canada.

The theme of the 33rd WesTEC was “From Vision to Reality,” exemplified by Dow Canada’s progress in 2024 towards implementing to their previously announced Path2Zero project, which seeks to create the world’s first net-zero scope 1 and 2 emissions ethylene and derivatives complex in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.

As in previous years, the Royal Society of Chemistry sponsored the Best Presentation and Best Exhibit award winners at the 2024 WesTEC. This year, the Best Presentation award was given to Megan Finstad and Andrew Tan, and the Best Exhibit award was given to Justin Kaban and Audrey Sidebottom. The Royal Society of Chemistry would like to express our heartfelt congratulations to all the prize winners, and we look forward to next year’s WesTEC!

Best Presentation: Megan Finstad and Andrew Tan

From left to right: Diego Ordonez (Dow Canada President), Megan Finstad, Andrew Tan, Linh Le (R&D Director)

Best Exhibit: Justin Kaban and Audrey Sidebottom

From left to right: Hillary Martin (Mega Project Organizational Excellence Director), Justin Kaban, Audrey Sidebottom, Ai Nguyen (Senior Site Manufacturing Director)

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Congratulations to the Winner of the 2024 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship

21 Nov 2024

Recently, the winner of the 2024 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship was announced as Dr. Raphaële Clément (University of California, Santa Barbara). The annual award was established in 2010 and honors early-career researchers who have made a significant contribution to the field of materials chemistry. After receiving nominations from the global research community, each nomination was assessed with help from the journals’ Editorial and Advisory Boards, with the final selection made by the Editors-in-Chief and Executive Editor.

Dr. Clément will receive £1,000 to cover travel and accommodation costs to attend and present at a leading international meeting, free RSC membership for one year, an invitation to contribute an article to one of the Journal of Materials Chemistry journals, and a complimentary cover for the issue in which the article appears.

We would also like to highlight the two runners-up for the award, Dr. Maxx Arguilla (University of California, Irvine) and Dr. Phillip Milner (Cornell University), who the journals have also recognized for their impressive contributions to materials chemistry.

Click here to read more about Dr. Clément’s work, as well as an interview with her and links to more information about the runners-up and final shortlisted candidates.

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2025 Polymer Chemistry Lectureship is Open for Nominations

07 Nov 2024

We are pleased to announce that nominations for the 2025 Polymer Chemistry Lectureship are now open until 31 January 2025. If you know an early-career researcher who deserves recognition for their contribution to the field of polymer chemistry, nominate them for this prestigious award.

In order to be eligible for nominations, candidates should:

Be an independent researcher (PhD students and postdoctoral research associates are not eligible)
Be actively pursuing research within the polymer chemistry field, and have made a significant contribution to the field
Be at an early stage of their independent career (typically within 12 years of attaining their doctorate or equivalent degree, but appropriate consideration will be given to those who have taken a career break, work in systems where their time period to independence may vary or who followed an alternative study path)
Have a publication as a corresponding author in Polymer Chemistry within the 3 years prior to the nomination deadline

The Lectureship recipient will receive:

£1,000 to cover travel and accommodation costs to attend and present at a leading international meeting
An invitation to contribute an article to Polymer Chemistry and to receive a complimentary cover for the issue in which the article appears

For more details on how to nominate a candidate, the selection process, and past winners, please see this post on the Polymer Chemistry Blog.

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Nominations for the 2025 RSC Prizes are Now Open

31 Oct 2024

Each year, the RSC recognizes outstanding members of the chemical community through the RSC Prizes, which distinguish exceptional groups, teams, and individuals for a variety of accomplishments. While some prizes are limited to those living in the UK or Ireland, there are over 20 prizes open to those elsewhere in the world.

Nominations are now open for the 2025 RSC Prizes, and will close 17:00 GMT (12:00 EST) on Tuesday, January 14th, 2025.

To highlight three categories of prizes:

Horizon Prizes: recognize a group, team or collaboration who are opening up new directions and possibilities in their field, making discoveries and innovations that push the boundaries of science. Teams can be any size, from a small research group to a multi-institution, multi-national collaboration, and self-nomination is permitted.
Research & Innovation Prizes: recognize exceptional individuals who are advancing the chemical sciences, working in academia and industry. We have open prizes with no career-related eligibility criteria in multiple scientific fields. Alongside this we also have the Centenary Prizes for Chemistry and Communication (up to 3 prizes available), which recognize outstanding scientists who are also exceptional communicators.
Inclusion & Diversity Prize: recognises team or individual whose work is has had impact in improving the accessibility, inclusivity, and diversity of the chemical science community

Click here to search the 2025 RSC Prizes open for nominations outside of the UK and Ireland, and if you would like more information see the Guidance for Nominators and our FAQ.

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Congratulations to the RSC Poster Prize Winners at the 2024 Tri-Institutional Chemical Biology Symposium

16 Aug 2024

At the recently held 2024 Tri-Institutional Chemical Biology Symposium at The Rockefeller University on August 14th, 2024, the Royal Society of Chemistry was proud to offer our continued support through sponsoring several poster prizes for attendees. This year, three RSC journals contributed to the prize, sponsoring £50 book vouchers for four awardees. Congratulations to all the poster prize winners!

RSC Chemical Biology

SeCheol Oh (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

Ruijie Xiang (The Rockefeller University)

Chemical Science

Pooja Pandya (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry

Charlie Warren (Cornell University)

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2024 Nanoscale Emerging Investigators Collection

09 Aug 2024

The Nanoscale journal family is proud to present their themed collection highlighting 2024’s rising stars of nanoscience and nanotechnology research. The collection, which is prepared yearly, features the very best work from researchers in the early stages of their independent career. Each contributor was recommended by experts in their fields for carrying out work with the potential to influence future directions in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

We would especially like to recognize the over 30 researchers in the collection that are based in the Americas, including Fang Chen (Stanford University), Peter Schindler (Northeastern University), Ashley Ross (University of Cincinnati), and many more!

Click here to read profiles of all these outstanding early career researchers, and then click here to view the highlighted articles from these fantastic scientists.

Congratulations to all the featured researchers on their important work in the field so far!

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