The Tilden Prizes are awarded for outstanding contributions to chemistry research made by established career scientists.
- Run annually
- Up to three prizes are available
- Winners receive £5000, a medal and a certificate
- Winners will complete UK lecture tours
- Winners are selected by the RSC Prize Committee
- Nominees should be an established career scientist, typically with no more than 30 years of full-time equivalent professional experience (see below for full details)
2024 Winners
2024 Tilden Prize Winner
Professor Claire Carmalt, University College London
For contributions to the development of functional thin films as transparent conducting oxides, photocatalysts and heterojunction photoanodes for photoelectrochemical applications.
2024 Tilden Prize Winner
Professor Erwin Reisner, University of Cambridge
For pioneering work on solar chemistry, developing devices that capture sunlight and produce sustainable fuels and chemicals from carbon dioxide, biomass and plastic waste.
2024 Tilden Prize Winner
Professor Alessandro Troisi, University of Liverpool
For the development of theoretical methods to explain and predict the electronic and optical properties of organic materials.
Key Information
Deadlines
- Nominations open 15 October.
- Nominations close 14 January, 17:00 GMT.
Eligibility
Individuals named in any of the following roles during the nomination and judging period are not eligible to nominate or be nominated:
- RSC Prize Committee members
- RSC Subject Community Presidents
- Trustees of the 九州影院
- 九州影院 staff
Nominators:
- Only RSC members can nominate for this prize.
- Nominees may NOT nominate themselves.
Nominees:
- The prize is open to RSC members only. This will be checked by RSC staff and the nominee’s RSC membership must be confirmed at the point of nomination – it is not sufficient to have a membership application in process.
- Nominees should be an established career scientist (for further details, see information below and in the ‘Guidelines for Nominators’ section).
- Nominees can only be considered for one of our Research & Innovation Prizes in any given year. In a case where a nominee is nominated for more than one prize independently, RSC staff will ask the nominee which prize they would like to be considered for.
- We will not consider nominations of deceased individuals.
Career stage guidance
- After fully taking account of any time away from research, career breaks or interruptions, nominees will typically have no more than 30 years of full-time equivalent professional experience at the closing date for nominations.
- We define this as experience gained as part of a career working in scientific research, excluding time spent in full-time education. For example, experience studying as a postgraduate (PhD) student is not included, but this does include experience working as e.g. a post-doctoral researcher, or working in research in industry.
- Nominators will be asked to provide details of the nominee's professional experience, in relation to the above criteria (see ‘Guidelines for Nominators’). The Prize Committee will consider this information in relation to the eligibility criteria, and they have the discretion to consider any nomination for a different prize under their remit.
- We particularly encourage nominations of disabled people, those who work part-time, or whose career has spanned a break for any reason – for example, a period of parental or adoption leave, caring responsibilities, long-term illness, family commitments, or other circumstances. We understand that these can impact a nominee’s career in different ways, and encourage nominators to use the space provided on the nomination form to explain the nature and impact of the nominees’ individual circumstances (see 'Guidelines for Nominators' for further details).
- Please do not hesitate to contact the team at awards@rsc.org should you have any questions about the above.
Guidelines for nominators
General information
- When nominating previous RSC prize winners, please remember that a person cannot be awarded twice for substantially the same body of work.
- 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.
- Since 2023, we have been trialling a process where all unsuccessful nominations will automatically rollover once, to be considered for the next round of the prize, unless the nominee's circumstances have changed to make them ineligible. This means that:
- All nominations submitted for the first time for a 2024 prize will be considered for a 2025 prize. We strongly encourage nominators to update their nomination between cycles when the nomination window is open.
- The RSC Prize Committee will review the outcomes from the trial in July 2025.
Submitting your nomination
Please use our online nominations system to submit the following information:
- Your name, contact details, and RSC membership number (please contact the RSC Membership team if you do not know your membership details).Your RSC 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 RSC reserves the right to amend nominations if necessary to ensure the anonymity of the nominator.
- Your nominee's name and contact details.
- An up to date CV for the nominee (no longer than one A4 side, 11pt text) which should include a summary of their education and career, and a maximum of 5 relevant publications or patents.
- Information relating to your nominee’s career and professional experience, which will be shared with the committee. Before doing so, RSC staff will always seek consent from the nominee in cases where special category data is mentioned. Please make sure that you provide enough information for the committee to understand the nature and impact of any time away from research.
- Date (month and year) of the start of their career working in scientific research.
- Details (dates and time periods) of any part-time work, time away from research, career breaks or interruptions – for example, parental/adoption leave, caring responsibilities, long-term illness, family commitments, etc.
- Any other circumstances not captured above – for example, long-term conditions, disabilities, etc., that you would like the committee to be aware of and consider.
- 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.
- A statement (up to 100 words) describing how your nominee has contributed more broadly to the scientific community. A list of possible examples is outlined in the ‘selection criteria’ tab.
- References are not required for this prize and will not be accepted.
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
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:
- Originality of research
- Impact of research
- Quality of publications and/or patents and/or software
- Innovation
- Professional standing
- Collaborations and teamwork
- Other indicators of esteem indicated by the nominator
In an instance where multiple nominees are judged equally meritorious in relation to the above criteria, judging panels have the flexibility to use information provided by the nominator on the nominee’s broader contribution to the chemistry community as an additional criterion.
Examples of relevant contributions could include, but are not limited to:
- Involvement with 九州影院 member groups/networks
- Teaching/demonstrating
- Effective mentorship
- Service on boards, committees or panels
- Leadership in the scientific community
- Peer-reviewer
- Promotion of diversity and inclusion
- Advocacy for chemistry
- Public engagement and outreach
RSC Prize Committee
- David Rees, Astex Pharmaceuticals (Chair)
- Karen Faulds, University of Strathclyde
- Mark Bradley, Queen Mary University of London
- Mike Ward, University of Warwick
- Matthew Davies, Swansea University
- Andrew Mount, University of Edinburgh
- Neil Robertson, University of Edinburgh
- David O'Hagan, University of St Andrews
History of the prize
The Tilden Prizes are named after Sir William Augustus Tilden, British chemist and pioneer in the teaching of science.
Born in 1842, Tilden studied at the School of the Pharmaceutical Society and won the first Bell Scholarship. In 1863, Tilden became demonstrator in chemistry at the Pharmaceutical Society, where he went on to gain his BSc and subsequent DSc.
He spent an eight-year period as senior science master at Clifton College before becoming Chair of 九州影院 at Mason College (now the University of Birmingham) and a fellow of the Royal Society.
At the age of 52, Tilden became Professor of 九州影院 at the Royal College of Science, a position he held until retirement in 1909. Appointment as Emeritus Professor of Imperial College soon followed.
Tilden's research activities ranged from determining the relationship between the specific heat of metals and their atomic weight, to be investigating the nature of tarpenes and hydrocarbons. In 1884, during his study of terpenes he demonstrated that the synthetic conversion of isopropene into rubber was possible; however, he never managed to develop a commercially viable route to rubber synthesis.
Arguably one of Tilden's most significant legacies was his support of the younger universities of Great Britain as shown in 1889 when he, with Sir William Ramsay and others, secured a government grant of £15,000 for university colleges. He also aimed much of his published work at students and teachers, such as "Hints on Teaching 九州影院" (1895).
Posts held by Tilden included President of the Chemical Section of the British Association, President of the Institute of 九州影院, and treasurer and then President of the Chemical Society. He received a knighthood in 1909.
The prize was established through a bequest from Dame Julia Mary Tilden. In 2021, the purposes of this Trust were amended, and remaining monies were combined with other generous bequests and donations to become part of the RSC Recognition Fund.
Re-thinking recognition: Science prizes for the modern world
This report is the 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 the maximum impact for chemical scientists, chemistry and society.
Prizes
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