Technical Excellence Prizes

Guidelines for nominators

• Nominations open 18 October.
• Nominations close 18 January, 17:00 GMT.
• Reference deadline 25 January, 17:00 GMT.
• Both RSC members and non-members can nominate for this prize.
• Nominees may nominate themselves.
• We will not consider nominations of deceased individuals.
• Individuals named in any of the following roles during the nomination and judging period are not eligible to nominate, be nominated or provide a reference:
  
  • Judging panel members
  • RSC Subject Community Presidents
  • RSC Prize Committee members
  • Trustees of the Royal Society of Chemistry
  • Royal Society of Chemistry staff

• These prizes are open to individuals and teams based in the UK or Ireland.
• There are no career stage restrictions associated with this prize. Nominations are particularly encouraged from those whose career has spanned a break due to caring responsibilities or other personal circumstances, e.g. a period of parental/adoption leave, family commitments, illness, or other exceptional circumstances.
• Nominated individuals or teams should be working as technicians or in a technical role in the chemical sciences in any sector (industry, education, research institutions, etc.)
• When nominating previous RSC prize winners, please remember that a person cannot be awarded twice for substantially the same body of work.
• Nominated individuals or teams may contribute to the chemical sciences in their role(s) in a variety of ways, such as:
  • Developing and demonstrating specialist knowledge, pushing boundaries and stretching what techniques are capable of
  • Providing an essential service to colleagues, collaborators or customers
  • Contributing to/ensuring the success of a team or project through application of technical expertise
  • Maintenance of capability within an organisation, ensuring continuity and quality systems
  • Enabling high-quality work, collaboration and/or research
  • Driving sustainable laboratory practice
  • Raising the profile of technical skills, and/or supporting the sustainability of technical skills and careers through e.g. mentorship
• Nominees should only be nominated once for this prize in any given prize cycle. In cases where we receive more than one nomination for the same nominee, only one nomination will go forward to judging.
• Unsuccessful nominations for this prize will automatically rollover to the next prize cycle, unless the nominee’s circumstances have changed so as to make them ineligible, in relation to the eligibility criteria for the prize as outlined above. We encourage nominators to update their nomination between cycles when the nomination window is open. Nominations will be considered for two consecutive prize cycles.

To make a nomination, please use our online nominations system to submit the following information:

• Your name and contact details. The identity of nominators is not made known to our judging panels. The RSC reserves the right to amend nominations if necessary to ensure the anonymity of the nominator.
• Your nominee's name(s), and contact details, either for your nominee (individual) or a member of your nominated team.
• A short citation describing what the nominee should be awarded for. This must be no longer than 250 characters (including spaces) and no longer than one sentence.
• A supporting statement (up to 750 words) addressing the selection criteria. Our guidance for nominators page has more information on writing this supporting statement.
• The name and contact details of one referee. For a team nomination, the reference should be for the team as a whole.
  • The reference should be a maximum of 750 words. Referees will be asked to state their relationship (if any) with the nominee and note any conflicts of interest.
  • All references must be submitted through the online system by the reference deadline, 25 January, 17:00 GMT. Nominations will not go forward to judging without a completed reference. Please ensure you submit your referee's details in plenty of time, to allow them sufficient opportunity to provide their reference.
  • As soon you submit your referee’s details, they will receive an automated e-mail with a link to submit their reference. Please contact awards@rsc.org as soon as possible if you experience any issues with this.
  • It is the nominator’s responsibility to ensure that the referee is aware of the nomination, that they should expect an e-mail invitation to submit their reference, and that they are aware of what is required to ensure that the reference is submitted before the deadline.
  • All referees will receive one e-mail reminder from RSC staff in the week before the reference deadline. 

The RSC reserves the right to rescind any prize if there are reasonable grounds to do so. All nominators will be asked to confirm that to the best of their knowledge there is no impediment, relating to professional conduct, to their nominee receiving this prize. All prize winners will be asked to sign the RSC’s Code of Conduct Declaration for Recognition.

Selection Criteria and Judging Panel

The selection committee will primarily consider the impact that nominees have had in their workplace, and/or on the wider technical landscape. Supporting statements should focus on this.

Nominees may have demonstrated impact in a number of ways, including but not limited to the following. Nominees do not have to demonstrate all of these to be considered for the prize.

• Application of knowledge and understanding – developing technical skills and knowledge that informs decisions, supports work and solves problems
• Professionalism – working with autonomy, accountability, integrity, organisation and attention to detail
• Communication skills and teamwork
• Contributing to a sustainable future

Technical Excellence Prizes Committee

• Paul Brewer, National Physical Laboratory (Chair)
• Ian Ball, Johnson Matthey
• Berceste Beyribey Price, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
• Oscar Kelly, BYK Additives
• Katty O'Brien-Quilty, AWE

History of the prize

Our Technical Excellence Prizes were established in 2023, as part of a series of changes introduced following an independent review of the Royal Society of Chemistry's recognition programmes.