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What are Horizon Prizes?

Horizon Prizes are awarded to groups, teams and collaborations, of any form or size and from any sector, to recognise recent discoveries or advances in the chemical sciences.

Horizon Prizes recognise each and every individual who contributed to the advance or initiative, reflecting the way that research is carried out in the modern day, and the diversity of expertise and contributions that make discoveries possible.

Horizon Prizes are the newest addition to our prize family. We launched them in late 2020, as an important part of our journey to make sure that the ways we reward and recognise scientific excellence are fit for today’s needs, as described in our Re-thinking recognition report.

What can be nominated?

Any kind of discovery or advance can be nominated. Your team might have uncovered something that enhances our understanding of a fundamental principle of chemistry. Or, you might have applied chemical technology to try and solve a challenge.

Nominations could be multidisciplinary, and involve other disciplines outside of chemistry.

Teams or groups can be working in any sector – in industry, academia or both. We’d particularly like to encourage more nominations from industry-led teams.

Teams, groups or collaborations can be of any size, big or small, can be based at a single or multiple locations, and can be working across different countries. At least one member of the team must be a current UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ member.

Watch our Horizon Prize winners' work

What do winners receive?

Winners receive a trophy – or trophies if spread across multiple locations or sites – and the opportunity to work with professional science communicators on a short video about the prize-winning work, just like those above.

You’ll develop the film in partnership, to make sure it’s tailored to how you’d like to use it. It’s a great way to celebrate your team’s achievements and raise the visibility of your work.

What prizes are available?

Our Horizon Prizes span the breadth of the chemical sciences, with prizes on offer in each of the areas represented by our Subject Communities:

What do I need to do to make a nomination?

You can either nominate a team you are part of yourself (self-nomination), or you can nominate another team. You’ll need to be an UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ member to make a nomination.

To make a nomination, you’ll simply need to submit:

• Details of up to three outputs that support of the nominated work. Our prize selection committees will consider a broad range of outputs – research tools, reports, software, publications, patents, protocols.
• A list of those who contributed. You can include additional names beyond those named on the outputs above. Don’t worry if you are in a rush; if your nomination is successful, we’ll work with you to make sure you’ve not missed anyone who should be there.
• Three short supporting statements on:
  • What the discovery or advance is (300 words)
  • The originality of the work – what is unique about it, and how does it advance previous work in this area (150 words)
  • The significance of the discovery/advance, and why it should be recognised (300 words)

And that’s it!

What makes a good Horizon Prize nomination?

Three key tips for writing a good Horizon Prize nomination are:

1. Write for a general audience. Not everyone on the prize selection committee will have specialised knowledge in the area of your work. Try to explain concepts as clearly as possible.
2. Use the space wisely. You have a limited amount of space on the nomination form, and committees will make their decisions solely on the information they have available to them. So aim to make every word count!
3. Address the selection criteria. We’ve designed the nomination form to support you to do this – the three supporting statements align with the selection criteria – but make sure that you stick to them and give the selection committee the information they need.