Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture

The Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture 2023 winner 

Professor Karen Johnson

The Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture 2023 winner is Professor Karen Johnson for her achievements in environmental engineering and her impactful project explaining the importance and of soil health and how and why it should be conserved.

The award

The Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture is awarded for a project to promote women in STEM by an individual with an established track record of very high standing in any area of STEM. The award is supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is named in honour of the biophysicist Rosalind Franklin, who made critical contributions to the understanding of the fine molecular structures of DNA. The first award was made in 2003. The lectureship is accompanied by a medal of silver gilt, a grant of £40,000 and a gift of £1,000. The recipient of the award is expected to spend a proportion of the grant on implementing a project to raise the profile of women in STEM.

The guidance notes (pdf) and terms and conditions of the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture (pdf) should be read before submitting a nomination.

Eligibility

The Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture is open to those who have been UK residents for three or more years. It is restricted to early career scientists with no more than 20 years since achieving their PhD (not including career breaks) and nominations will remain valid and shall be considered by the award selection committee throughout three nomination cycles.  

Nominations

Nominations for this award will open in November 2023.

Past winners

Professor Diane Saunders was awarded the Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture 2022 for her innovative mentoring and training project to support and empower undergraduates and early-career female researchers in plant sciences at postgraduate and postdoctoral levels.

Dr Suzanne Imber was awarded the Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture 2021 for her achievements in the field of planetary science and her well-considered project proposal with a potential for a high impact. 

Professor Julia Gog was awarded the Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture 2020 for her achievements in the field of mathematics and her impactful project proposal with its potential for a long-term legacy.

Professor Nguyễn Thị Kim Thanh was awarded the Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture 2019 for her achievements in the field of nanomaterials and her impactful project proposal. 

See full list of all past winners of the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture.