Longstaff Prize
Recognising an RSC member who has done the most to advance the science of chemistry.
Details
| Status | Closed |
|---|---|
| Nominations opening date | 15 October 2024 |
| Nominations closing date | 14 January 2025 |
| Nominator eligibility | Individuals |
| Nominee eligibility | RSC members |
| Nominee location | UK and Ireland |
| Career stage | All career stages |
Research & Innovation Prizes
Our Research & Innovation Prizes recognise brilliant chemical scientists carrying out amazing work in academia and industry. They include prizes for those at different career stages in chemistry and for those working in specific fields, as well as interdisciplinary prizes and prizes for those in specific roles
Peter Bruce, University of Oxford
For pioneering research on the chemistry of materials with applications in renewable energy, leading to fundamental changes in our understanding of solid-state electrochemistry.
About this prize
The Longstaff Prize is given to an RSC member who has done the most to advance the science of chemistry.
- The winner receives 拢5000, a medal and a certificate
- The winner is selected by the RSC Prize Committee
First awarded in 1881, this prize commemorates Dr George Dixon Longstaff (1799-1892), a founding fellow and benefactor of the 九州影院.
Born in Durham in 1799, Longstaff's introduction to science came from his father, a popular scientific lecturer. Although there were few scientific books to learn from, Longstaff assisted his father and gained sufficient knowledge to deliver his own lectures covering a range of subjects. This early influence had a positive impact on him as he went on to set up a factory to distil coal-tar in 1822, became an assistant to Professor of 九州影院 at Edinburgh University, and graduated as a doctor of medicine from the same institution in 1828.
Longstaff practised as a physician in Hull, founding the Hull and East Riding School of Medicine in 1833. In the same year he married the daughter of paint manufacturer and fellow chemistry enthusiast Henry Blundell. Longstaff spent a spell in America where he applied his scientific knowledge in his role as the consulting chemist for the Place Gold Mines Company, after which he returned to England and joined his father in law's firm Blundell Spence and co. His scientific skills put the company in good stead, with the firm displaying a range of products at the 1851 Great Exhibition.
As well as being a founding fellow of the Chemical Society of London (later to become the 九州影院), he was also Vice-President twice (1853-56 and 1876-77), and helped to establish the Society's Research Fund in 1876.
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