About this award
The Roger Parsons Medal is awarded to an independent early career electrochemist working in the UK or Ireland in recognition of their contributions to any field of electrochemistry. These contributions should be recognised internationally and should strengthen the standing of UK and Irish electrochemistry.
The award celebrates the life and work of Roger Parsons, FRS (1926–2017). Roger was a well-known electrochemist who made a significant impact on the electrochemical community from the early 1950s through to the mid-1990s. He also served as the editor of the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry for nearly forty years. Roger was especially supportive of early career researchers, helping many to establish independent research programmes. It is therefore a fitting tribute to Roger’s influence that this medal is named in his honour. Initially, the award will be made on biennial basis, with the first award being made in 2019.
The winner of the Roger Parsons medal will be invited to give a plenary lecture (at which they will be presented with their medal) at the annual Electrochem meeting, normally held in the UK or Ireland in September. The winner’s registration fees for Electrochem and a contribution to their travel and accommodation are covered as part of the award.
The selection process for this award will be carried out by members of the 欧美AV Electrochemistry Group committee (see below). In particular, the awards committee will look for strong evidence of independent research since the candidate’s PhD/postdoc, with this independent research making a strong contribution towards advancing the understanding and/or applications of the electrochemical sciences.
Nominations where a candidate has taken the scope of their research beyond the traditional boundaries of electrochemistry or has moved to electrochemistry from another discipline are especially encouraged.
The nomination and selection process
- The nominee should be an independent academic or early career researcher working in the UK or Ireland who is within 12 years of receiving their PhD at the submission deadline (extended as appropriate for those who have taken career breaks, e.g. parental leave). Nominators wishing to receive an extension for career breaks for their nominees should justify this clearly in the supplied CV.
- Please note that self-nominations are not permitted.
- The nominator must be a member of the 欧美AV.
- Current members of the Electrochemistry Group committee may not act as nominators for this award.
- Current members of the Electrochemistry Group committee are not eligible for this award. Similarly, anyone who has been a member of the Electrochemistry Group committee during the two years prior to the consideration of the award is also ineligible.
We welcome and encourage nominations from all who are eligible, regardless of career route, and particularly from traditionally under-represented groups.
Nominations for the Roger Parsons Medal normally open in October/November of the year before the award is made. In this round, nominations will close at 17.00 GMT on 31 January 2025. Nominations should be made to the Electrochemistry Group committee Secretary (Professor Petra Cameron, University of Bath).
Each nomination should consist only of the following document. No other documentation will be considered:
A single pdf file of no more than three A4 pages (minimum single-line spacing, Arial 11pt), which contains:
- A CV for the nominated candidate (including the date of award of the candidate’s PhD and details of any career breaks)
- A section describing the nominee’s three most significant contributions to the scientific literature. The importance of these three highlighted contributions should be explained, and the nominee’s role in these outputs and their novelty and originality made explicit. The awards committee will attach particular merit to evidence of independent research contributions and evidence that the nominee has the potential to become a leader in the field.
In addition to the three A4 page statements, and only in exceptional circumstances, nominators may submit further supporting information. This could, for example, be an appropriate statement by a senior co-author concerning the contribution of the candidate to a multi-author paper. Such supporting information is limited to two pages of A4 and should be submitted as part of a single PDF file. The committee reserve the right to disregard this supporting information should its necessity not be made explicit.
The committee reserves the right to reject any submissions that do not adhere to the guidelines above.
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 and novelty of research
- Significance and impact of research
- Contribution to collaborations
- Independence
- Support for the wider electrochemistry community
- Other indicators of esteem indicated by the nominator/referee
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 learned societies
- Teaching / demonstrating
- Promotion of diversity and inclusion
- Advocacy for chemistry
- Public engagement and outreach
The winner of the award is normally announced in late February.
Judging Panel
The selection process is carried out by a group of 欧美AV Electrochemistry Group committee members. This group consists of at least five members of the 欧美AV Electrochemistry Group committee (avoiding conflict of interest). Selection committee members will be from institutions other than those of the nominees.