The Applied Catalysis Award is held every two years, for individuals who have contributed significantly in the field of applied catalysis, and is not limited to one field in catalysis. Applications are welcomed from all fields including but not limited to homogeneous, heterogeneous, bio, pharma, photo and process catalysis in an applied context.
The Applied Catalysis Group is one of the RSC Interest Groups and exists to bring together and cover the interests of all members who have a professional interest in applied catalysis.
We are looking for nominations for this award in 2024 from our wider catalysis community. Nominations are now open for the 2024 award
Criteria for this award
The award aims to recognise the impact of significant contributions to the field of applied catalysis typically where research and development has potential or actual commercial application. The award is not limited to senior researchers on the basis of their whole distinguished career, and the committee welcome nominations from mid/early career researchers where the criteria are met.
| Criteria | Guidance and Interpretation |
|---|---|
| a) Significance of the work in applied catalysis | A brief summary of the work and how it furthers the knowledge and scientific understanding in the application of catalysis. |
| a) Originality of the work | How does this work fundamentally change the current state of the technology or deliver transformative aspects to a process. |
| a) The ‘applied’ nature of work | A summary of how this work is ‘applied’ and examples of its potential or existing application. The applied nature of this award is a key aspect, and nominees should ensure they provide clear evidence for the application of the work. |
| a) Publications including patents, articles, and press releases, where the research has been applied | The judges do not require a full list of all publications, nominations should focus on the key publications that support the nomination. This includes patents where a catalysis development has been protected and/or used in an applied process. |
| a) Sustainable or Green credentials | Any examples where this supports sustainable or improved environmental impacts as a result of the work. For clarity, this should focus on the nominee’s contribution rather than the technology/process. |
| a) Overall contribution to Catalysis | For this award, individuals & nominators are asked to submit a short section describing how their nominee has contributed more broadly to the scientific and/or applied catalysis community. |
Nomination process for this award
Nominations are welcomed for the award by email to the ACG secretary.
We welcome nominations of colleagues as well as self-nominations for the award. In either case the process is the same:
- One brief one page CV
- A supporting/nomination statement of up to 1,000 words providing the details and context of why they are deserving of the award and how the nominee meets the criteria. It should also state any other recent RSC awards received as a result of the same/overlapping research
- Details of two referees - the referees will be contacted by the secretary for a short citation (up to 500 words) to support the nomination
Any documentation submitted beyond the criteria set out above will not be considered by the judging panel.
We welcome nominations from all fields of applied catalysis, and career stages who meet the criteria. A nominator may support multiple nominations.
Nominations may be rolled over from the previous award process for a maximum of two awards – and will be arranged by the secretary with the nominee, inviting them to update any information.
Former winners of this award
| Year | Name | Institution | Citation for Recognition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Dr Peter Johnston | Johnson Matthey | For his contributions in gold catalysis chemistry, including the replacement of mercury catalysts in the commercial production of vinyl chloride from acetylene hydrochlorination and the vinyl acetate monomer process. |
| 2020 | Dr Carin Seechurn | Johnson Matthey | For diligent and passionate work to develop and commercialize precious metal complexes to promote homogeneous catalysis for real world industrial applications |
| 2018 | Prof. Ying Zheng | University of Edinburgh | For the development and application of recyclable, heterogeneous nanocatalyst |
| 2016 | Dr David Johnson | Lucite International |
|
| 2014 | Prof. Douglas Stephan | University of Toronto | For the development of new commercially viable, transition-metal based and metal-free catalyst technologies for polymerization, hydrogenation and metathesis |
| 2012 | Dr Thomas Colacot | Johnson Matthey | For exceptional contributions to the development and availability of ligands and catalysts crucial for the advancement of metal-catalysed synthetic organic chemistry |
| 2010 | Dr Martyn Twigg | Johnson Matthey | For his pivotal and innovative role in creating new catalysts and catalytic processes for use in the automotive industry |
Further information
For full details, please download the award guidelines. To nominate, contact the ACG secretary by email.