Royal Society Hauksbee Award

Hauksbee award winner 2023

The Royal Society Hauksbee award 2023 is awarded to over 100 technicians who are part of the 'Technicians: We Make the Difference' campaign, for their tireless efforts in tackling the critical technician skills shortage and their invaluable contributions to various industries.

Over 100 technicians have collectively been awarded the Royal Society Hauksbee Award 2023, which recognises them for generously offering their time, support and input to Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery at the Science Museum and Gatsby Foundation’s Technicians: We Make the Difference campaign.

The Technicians Gallery and the campaign aim to inspire the next generation of the technical workforce and address the critical skills shortage and every one of the technicians involved have played their part in putting technician careers, from a wide variety of sectors, in the spotlight, and in turn, working towards addressing the nation’s huge technical skills shortage. 

The award

The Royal Society Hauksbee Award is awarded for outstanding achievements in science to an individual or team whose work is mostly ‘behind the scenes’ or in support, including technicians, research office staff or other contributors who might not normally be recognised,. 

The award is named after Francis Hauksbee who was Isaac Newton's laboratory assistant at the Royal Society. During his time as President, Newton appointed Hauksbee as curator and instrument maker, and Hauksbee later became a Fellow in his own right in 1705. 

The award winner or winners will be presented with a medal of silver gilt and a gift of £2000.

The terms and conditions (PDF) for the Royal Society Hauksbee Award should be read before submitting a nomination. 

Nominations

Nominations for this award will open in November 2023.

Eligibility

The Royal Society Hauksbee Award is open to UK/Commonwealth/Republic of Ireland citizens or those who have been residents for three or more years. There are no restrictions on career stage and nominations will remain valid and shall be considered by the award selection committee throughout three nomination cycles. Teams or groups may be nominated for this award.

Past winners

Mr Neil Barnes was awarded the Royal Society Hauksbee Award 2022 for his outstanding skills as a research technician which have supported generations of physical chemists, and his continued inspiring of future scientists by popularising chemistry online, attracting thousands of fans worldwide.