·¬ÇÑÉçÇø

General information

• The prizes are open to groups, teams and collaborations of any form or size.
• Any form of discovery or advance in the field of materials chemistry can be nominated. It can be fundamental or applied, or be multidisciplinary and involve other disciplines.
• Please remember that the ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø will not award more than one prize for substantially the same body of work.
• All unsuccessful nominations from the previous cycle will be retained on our nomination system ahead of the next cycle. To be considered again, nominators must log in, update details, and resubmit the nomination for the following cycle. Please note that reconsideration is no longer automatic. 
  • ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø staff will write to nominators and nominees to confirm when the nomination window has re-opened. Nominators will receive instructions on how to log in and update the nomination.

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

• Your name, contact details, and membership number (please contact the ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø Membership team if you do not know your membership details). Your ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø membership must be confirmed at the point of nomination – it is not sufficient to have a membership application in process. The identity of nominators is not made known to our judging panels. The ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø reserves the right to amend nominations if necessary to ensure the anonymity of the nominator.
• If not a self-nomination, details of a contact for the team. The ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø will correspond with this individual regarding the nomination and the outcome, and will work with them regarding acceptance of the prize if the nomination is successful.
• A list of all individuals who contributed to the discovery or advance including, but not limited to, all named authors or inventors listed on outputs. The primary contact for the team will be asked to confirm the list after the nomination deadline and, if necessary, add additional team members, e.g. technical staff and researchers not named on outputs.
• Full details of up to three outputs e.g. journal article, a granted patent, a protocol, a piece of software or research tool. The outputs should typically be from the last five years, measured by e.g. publication date, patent acceptance date, release date.
• A short citation describing what the prize should be awarded for. This must be no longer than 250 characters (including spaces) and no longer than one sentence.
• Supporting statements, written for a general scientific audience, addressing the selection criteria below:
  • Quality of discovery/advance: A summary/description of the discovery/advance (300 words)
  • Originality: Description of the originality of the work (150 words)
  • Significance to the field: Summary of the significance of the discovery/advance to the field, and why it should be recognised (300 words)
• A description of how the work was collaborative, and details of how the team’s combined contributions and distributed leadership strengthened the outcomes (150 words).

Our guidance for nominators page has more information on writing these supporting statements.

The ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø 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 ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø’s Code of Conduct Declaration for Recognition.

Our selection committees base their evaluations on the overall quality of relevant contributions and achievements by nominees, in relation to the selection criteria listed below.

The scientific content of any supporting publications, as described in the supporting statement, is much more important than publication metrics or the identity of the journal in which it is published.

The selection committee will consider the following aspects of nominations for this prize:

• Quality of discovery/advance
• Originality
• Significance to the field

These prizes were created in 2020, as part of a series of changes introduced following an independent review of the ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø of Chemistry's recognition programmes. 

These prizes belong to our new family of Horizon Prizes, which highlight the most exciting, contemporary chemical science at the cutting edge of research and innovation. These prizes are for teams or collaborations who are opening up new directions and possibilities in their field, through ground-breaking scientific developments.

Winning teams will be named Stephanie L Kwolek Prize winners.