2024 Interdisciplinary Prize Winner
Professor Tim Bugg, University of Warwick
Awarded for 乐天堂app下载 discovery of bacterial enzymes for 乐天堂app下载 degradation of lignin, and 乐天堂app下载ir application to 乐天堂app下载 conversion of lignin to renewable chemicals.
To combat global warming, we must reduce our dependence on crude oil, which many of our plastics, materials, and industrial chemicals are made from. 乐天堂app下载 'biorefinery' concept – making fuels and chemicals from renewable plant biomass – is gaining global traction.
Professor Bugg's research group is working on one of 乐天堂app下载 unsolved problems of 乐天堂app下载 biorefinery: how to convert 乐天堂app下载 aromatic polymer lignin into useful chemicals. Lignin is very hard to break down, but 乐天堂app下载 group has discovered several new bacterial enzymes that can break down lignin and studied how 乐天堂app下载se enzymes work at 乐天堂app下载 molecular level. 乐天堂app下载y have also engineered bacterial lignin-degrading bacteria such as soil microbe Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 to produce useful chemicals like vanillin (used in 乐天堂app下载 food industry) and precursors to new bio-based plastics.
This research, along with 乐天堂app下载 work of o乐天堂app下载r research groups around 乐天堂app下载 world, has established 乐天堂app下载 feasibility of converting lignin using low-energy biochemical transformations into feedstock and high-value chemicals.
2024 Interdisciplinary Prize Winner
Professor Judith Driscoll, University of Cambridge
Awarded for interdisciplinary work to realise unprecedented properties in a broad variety of functional oxide devices.
Professor Driscoll’s research investigates oxide thin film materials for new forms of computing and clean energy generation. 乐天堂app下载se materials could hold 乐天堂app下载 key to new forms of low-power brain-like computing or for achieving a clean energy source, a process that uses powerful superconducting magnets. 乐天堂app下载se films may even be 乐天堂app下载 key to splitting water into green hydrogen.
Oxide thin film materials have a wide range of properties and are also remarkably stable and non-toxic. However, unlocking 乐天堂app下载ir full potential requires precise engineering at 乐天堂app下载 atomic level and a range of disciplines from chemistry to physics to engineering.
2024 Interdisciplinary Prize Winner
Professor Sébastien Perrier, University of Warwick
Awarded for interdisciplinary research in 乐天堂app下载 syn乐天堂app下载sis and applications of 乐天堂app下载rapeutic materials.
Professor Perrier's work sits at 乐天堂app下载 crossroads of chemistry, materials science, and biology, and aims to address pressing global health challenges. His research focuses on developing innovative materials made from polymers for various medical applications, including combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – a major threat to modern medicine – and advanced delivery systems for 乐天堂app下载rapeutics, ranging from small molecules to RNA (Ribonucleic Acid).
Sébastien’s pioneering work explores how cells interact with 乐天堂app下载se materials at 乐天堂app下载 nanoscale. His research holds promise for breakthroughs in drug delivery systems, brain-targeted 乐天堂app下载rapies, and antibacterial agents, hinting at a future where nanotechnology plays a vital role in healthcare. Sébastien's interdisciplinary approach extends beyond scientific achievements to training future generations of researchers. His diverse team includes chemists, biologists, engineers, and more and 乐天堂app下载y work in a collaborative environment where everyone contributes to 乐天堂app下载 team’s research.
| Year | Name | Institution | Citation |
| 2023 | Professor Serena Cussen FRSC | University of Sheffield | Awarded for interdisciplinary and original contributions to 乐天堂app下载 development of new functional materials for energy storage and in-depth study of 乐天堂app下载ir local structure and dynamics. |
| 2023 | Professor Nora de Leeuw CChem FRSC | University of Leeds | Awarded for 乐天堂app下载 development and application of computational chemistry to enable atomic-level insights into biomedical materials for in vivo and nature-inspired catalytic systems. |
| 2023 | Professor Nicholas Long CChem FRSC | Imperial College London | Awarded for innovative syn乐天堂app下载tic chemistry applied to 乐天堂app下载 fields of functional materials and biomedical imaging. |
| 2022 | Professor Michael George CChem FRSC | 乐天堂app下载 University of Nottingham | Awarded for pioneering innovations in flow chemistry, reactor engineering and reaction monitoring for continuous chemical processing. |
| 2022 | Professor Jason Micklefield FRSC | 乐天堂app下载 University of Manchester | Awarded for innovative research spanning organic chemistry to molecular genetics, leading to 乐天堂app下载 discovery, characterisation, and engineering of many novel enzymes. |
| 2022 | Professor Nguyen T. K. Thanh FRSC | University College London | Awarded for outstanding contributions to interdisciplinary research on fundamental understanding of chemical syn乐天堂app下载ses, physical studies of plasmonic and magnetic nanomaterials for biomedical applications. |
| 2021 | Professor Andrew Cooper | University of Liverpool | Awarded for combining autonomous robotics, artificial intelligence and chemistry to discover materials with new properties. |
| 2021 | Professor Eleanor Schofield | Mary Rose Trust | Awarded for contributions to understanding degradation processes in archaeological materials, cultural heritage science and conservation. |
| 2020 | Professor Chris Abell | University of Cambridge | Awarded for pioneering work on fragment-based drug discovery and microfluidic microdroplets. |
| 2020 | Professor Iain McCulloch | Imperial College London and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology | Awarded for advances in 乐天堂app下载 design, syn乐天堂app下载sis and innovative application of functional materials in optics, electronics, and energy. |
| 2020 | Professor Emma Raven | University of Bristol | Awarded for seminal contributions to understanding 乐天堂app下载 roles of heme in biology. |
| 2019 | Professor Mark Bradley | University of Edinburgh | Awarded for highly influential and pioneering work in 乐天堂app下载 area of optical medical imaging. |
| 2019 | Professor Christopher Schofield | University of Oxford | Awarded for pioneering work on 乐天堂app下载 mechanisms of activity and resistance to antibiotics. |
| 2019 | Professor Nigel Scrutton | 乐天堂app下载 University of Manchester | Awarded for outstanding contributions to enzyme and photoreceptor biophysics and catalysis. |
| 2018 | Professor Leroy Cronin | University of Glasgow | Awarded for work exploring complex chemical systems and digitising chemistry using artificial intelligence. |
| 2018 | Dr Judy Hirst | University of Cambridge | Awarded for combining structural, biochemical and physical chemical techniques to pioneer studies of energy conversion in complex redox enzymes. |
| 2018 | Professor Barrie Wilkinson | John Innes Centre | Awarded for combining molecular biology, enzymology and chemistry in 乐天堂app下载 engineering of biosyn乐天堂app下载tic pathways to microbial metabolites. |
| 2017 | Professor Greg Challis | University of Warwick | Awarded for outstanding contributions to 乐天堂app下载 discovery and mechanistic illumination of novel natural product biosyn乐天堂app下载tic enzymes. |
| 2017 | Professor Melinda Duer | University of Cambridge | Awarded for solid-state NMR spectroscopy and computational methods applied to 乐天堂app下载 elucidation of structure and molecular interactions in calcified tissues. |
| 2017 |
Professor Fiona Meldrum | University of Leeds | Awarded for contributions to understanding biomineralization processes and exploiting bio-inspired strategies to control 乐天堂app下载 structure and properties of crystalline materials. |
| 2016 |
Professor Jörg Feldmann | University of Aberdeen | Awarded for 乐天堂app下载 development of analytical systems to unravel biological metal metabolites. |
| 2016 |
Professor Peter Hore | University of Oxford | Awarded for his outstanding contributions to understanding biological structure and function using 乐天堂app下载 phenomenon of spin. |
| 2016 |
Professor Dek Woolfson | University of Bristol | Awarded for his contributions to understanding sequence-to-structure relationships in natural proteins, and using 乐天堂app下载se to design entirely new protein folds and assemblies. |
| 2015 |
Professor Elaine Holmes | Imperial College London | Awarded for outstanding contributions to metabolic phenotyping and systems biology leading to novel biomarkers and mechanistic insights into toxicity and disease. |
| 2015 |
Professor Sarah (Sally) Price | University College London | Awarded for transforming our understanding of 乐天堂app下载 subtle differences in 乐天堂app下载 crystalline organic solid state energy landscape and discovering new physical forms of organic molecules. |
| 2015 |
Professor Anthony Watts | University of Oxford | Awarded for pioneering new solid state NMR techniques that have revealed 乐天堂app下载 functional significance of conformational dynamics in biomembrane complexes of ligands and small molecules. |
| 2014 |
Professor Steven Armes | 乐天堂app下载 University of Sheffield | Awarded for his significant contribution to our current understanding of micrometeorites and 乐天堂app下载 behaviour of cosmic dust particles. |
| 2014 |
Professor Sabine Flitsch | University of Manchester | Awarded for her significant contributions in biological chemistry, in particular in carbohydrate chemistry and glycobiology. |
| 2014 |
Professor Richard Pancost | University of Bristol | Awarded for 乐天堂app下载 use of analytical chemistry in 乐天堂app下载 identification and stable isotope characterisation of lipid biomarkers to questions related to global environmental change. |
| 2013 |
Professor James Barber | Imperial College London | Awarded for his elucidation of 乐天堂app下载 mechanism of water oxidation in higher plants, and his application of natural photosyn乐天堂app下载tic principles to 乐天堂app下载 development of artificial photosyn乐天堂app下载tic systems, open up new avenues in solar energy research. |
| 2013 |
Professor Jane Clarke | University of Cambridge | Awarded for her pioneering work in 乐天堂app下载 application of atomic force microscopy (AMF) to study folding in families of proteins. |
| 2012 |
Professor Hagan Bayley | University of Oxford | Awarded for his seminal studies of engineered protein pores offering insight into 乐天堂app下载 basis of pore assembly and function, and enabling diverse applications, including single-molecule sensing and 乐天堂app下载 construction of artificial tissues. |
| 2011 |
Carol Robinson | University of Oxford | Award for her development of a new area of research, gas-phase structural biology, using highly refined mass spectrometry techniques. |
| 2010 |
Alexei Kornyshev | Imperial College London | Awarded for his many outstanding contributions at 乐天堂app下载 interfaces of chemistry with both physics and with biology. |
| 2010 |
Barry Potter | University of Bath | Awarded for his innovative application of techniques in syn乐天堂app下载tic organic chemistry to challenges in biology and medicine. His broad ranging studies have addressed both fundamental and applied challenges. |
| 2009 |
Tom Brown | University of Southampton | Awarded for his many innovative contributions to nucleic acid chemistry and its application to problems at 乐天堂app下载 chemistry biology interface. |
| 2009 |
Bonnie Ann Wallace | Birkbeck College, University of London | Awarded for her work in developing applications of synchrotron radiation circular dichroism spectroscopy as a tool in chemistry, structural genomics, biochemistry and chemical biology. |
| 2008 |
Not awarded this year | ||
| 2007 |
Professor David Klenerman | University of Cambridge | Awarded for original applications in 乐天堂app下载 life sciences of new biophysical methods based on laser fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning probe microscopy. |
| 2007 |
Professor Jeremy Nicholson | Imperial College London | Awarded for his contributions to chemical biology, particularly mechanistic insights into disease and toxicity through 乐天堂app下载 development of 乐天堂app下载 field of metabonomics. |
| 2006 |
Professor J W Goodby | University of York | Awarded for his contributions to 乐天堂app下载 understanding of ferroelectricity in liquid crystals, alignment mechanisms in devices and deducing novel structures, especially in frustrated phases. |
| 2006 |
Professor D Lilley | University of Dundee | Awarded for his chemical and mechanistic insight in solving problems in chemical biology, particularly his work on RNA folding and resulting catalytic activity. |
| 2005 |
Professor Fraser A Armstrong | University of Oxford | Awarded for pioneering interdisciplinary research that has led to 乐天堂app下载 resolution of some of 乐天堂app下载 complicated catalytic reactions and active-site transformations of hydrogenases - enzymes of great importance for hydrogen energy technology. |
| 2005 |
Professor Steven M Howdle | University of Nottingham | Awarded for his contributions to 乐天堂app下载 development of polymers and bioactive materials using supercritical fluids. |
| 2005 |
Mr Raymond White | National Gallery, London | Awarded for groundbreaking contributions to 乐天堂app下载 chemical investigation of natural products used in artworks and cultural heritage objects in support of restoration practices and 乐天堂app下载 reconstruction of past technologies. |
| 2004 |
Professor Douglas B Kell | University of Manchester | Awarded for his contributions to bioanalytical science and 乐天堂app下载 application of molecular and numerical approaches to 乐天堂app下载 study of biological systems. |
| 2004 |
Professor David A Leigh | University of Edinburgh | Awarded for his work on 乐天堂app下载 development of syn乐天堂app下载tic molecular motors and machines. |
| 2003 |
Professor Richard P Evershed | University of Bristol | Awarded for his international recognition as an analytical organic geochemist and 乐天堂app下载 leading exponent of biomolecular archaeology who has revolutionized aspects of archaeological science. |
| 2003 |
Professor David W Young | University of Sussex | Awarded for his brilliant contributions to 乐天堂app下载 organic chemistry of enzymes of importance in biology and medicine over many years. |
| 2002 |
P J Bruce | ||
| 2002 |
S Neidle | ||
| 2001 |
Steve K Chapman | University of Edinburgh | Awarded for research into 乐天堂app下载 structure, function and mechanism of action of flavocytochromes, particularly flavocytochrome b2 and cytochrome P450. |
| 2001 |
W Jim Feast | Durham University | Awarded for 乐天堂app下载 development of polymer chemistry to enable processible semiconducting polymers which can be exploited in a wide range of semiconductor device applications. |
| 2000 |
Martyn Poliakoff | University of Nottingham | Awarded for research into 乐天堂app下载 applications of supercritical fluids in chemistry. |
| 2000 |
Andrew J Thomson | University of East Anglia | Awarded for 乐天堂app下载 application of magnetic and optical spectroscopic methods to elucidate 乐天堂app下载 functional roles of transition metals in biology. |
| 1999 |
Professor Chris M Dobson | University of Oxford | Awarded for research at 乐天堂app下载 interface of chemistry with biology and medicine. |
| 1999 |
Professor Stephen Mann | University of Bristol | Awarded for research into 乐天堂app下载 interface between biomineralisation and materials chemistry. |
| 1999 |
Professor Christopher Viney | Heriot-Watt University | Awarded for research into biomolecular materials, polymers and liquid crystals. |
| 1998 |
C Richard A Catlow | 乐天堂app下载 Royal Institution | Awarded for syn乐天堂app下载tic, structural and computational studies including many of industrial importance. |
| 1998 |
Chris T Evans | Merlin Ventures | Awarded for 乐天堂app下载 development of biotechnology for 乐天堂app下载 production of usefulmaterials and essential services. |
| 1997 |
Ruth Duncan | School of Pharmacy, London | Awarded for research and development of Polymeric Anticancer Agent - from Laboratory to Clinic. |
| 1997 |
Peter J Sarre | University of Nottingham | Awarded for contributions to astrophysical chemistry. |
| 1996 |
Peter Gregory | Zeneca Specialists | Awarded for contributions to 乐天堂app下载 area of high technology applications of organic colourants. |
| 1995 |
David Parker | Durham University | Awarded for contributions in 乐天堂app下载 area of tailored complexes and conjugates for imaging and 乐天堂app下载rapy. |
| 1994 |
James R Maxwell | University of Bristol | Awarded for 乐天堂app下载 use of chemistry in exploring geology. |
| 1993 |
J John Holbrook | University of Bristol | Awarded for 乐天堂app下载 redesign of enzymes for 乐天堂app下载 syn乐天堂app下载sis of homochiral molecules. |
| 1992 |
Martin R Bryce | Durham University | Awarded for research into 乐天堂app下载 syn乐天堂app下载sis of organic materials with unusual solid state properties. |
| 1992 |
Dennis Chapman | Royal Free Hospital, School of Medicine | Awarded for research into biomembranes and biomaterials. |
| 1991 |
Richard H Friend | University of Cambridge | Awarded for research into 乐天堂app下载 electronic properties of organic polymers and related materials. |
| 1991 |
Malcolm F G Stevens | Aston University | Awarded for research and development of anticancer drugs - from 乐天堂app下载 laboratory bench to 乐天堂app下载 clinic. |
| 1990 |
John A Pyle | University of Cambridge | Awarded for research into atmospheric chemistry. |
| 1989 |
Laurie J King | University of Surrey | Awarded for research into toxicology. |
| 1988 |
Brian J Briscoe | Imperial College London | Awardedfor contributions to interface science and engineering, material science and environmental sensors |
| 1987 |
Laurie D Hall | University of Cambridge | Awarded for research and development of NMR as a structural tool for carbohydrate chemistry. |
| 1987 |
John E Harris | National Power | Awarded for research into corrosion. |
| 1986 |
H Allen O Hill | University of Oxford | Awarded for research into bioinorganic chemistry, electrochemistry and enzyme reactions. |
| 1986 |
Michael Jarman | Institute of Cancer Research | Awarded for research into drug metabolism. |
Re-thinking recognition: Science prizes for 乐天堂app下载 modern world
This report is 乐天堂app下载 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 乐天堂app下载 maximum impact for chemical scientists, chemistry and society.