Three Strathclyders have received prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) annual Research and Innovation Prizes for outstanding work in their fields.
Professor Duncan Graham has been awarded the 2025 Interdisciplinary Prize for collaborations that demonstrate the power of Raman spectroscopy – a technique that uses light to identify and analyse materials – as an enabling capability in the life sciences.
He receives £5,000 and a medal, and the opportunity to undertake a UK lecture tour.
Professor Damion Corrigan has been awarded the Analytical Science mid-career Prize for 2025 for his innovative contributions to electrochemical sensors for biomedical applications.
Early career
Dr Rebecca Beveridge, from Pure & Applied Chemistry, has received the RSC 2025 Joseph Black prize. The analytical science early career prize recognises the impact of an individual's work and their innovation and professional standing.
Both additional winners receive £3,000, medals, and the opportunity to undertake a UK lecture tour.
Professor Graham is Associate Principal and Executive Dean of Science at Strathclyde, as well as Distinguished Professor, Pure and Applied Chemistry, and Director of the Centre for Molecular Nanometrology.
He said: “Chemistry enables us to cross traditional boundaries and collaborate widely across disciplines. It also allows us to train researchers with this mindset, drawing in talent from non-chemistry backgrounds to build truly interdisciplinary research from the ground up.
“This award recognises all the collaborators and researchers we’ve worked with over the years.”
Professor Corrigan leads the Centre for Advanced Management and Health Translation – a joint initiative with the National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC), the University of Strathclyde and NHS Lanarkshire. The Centre, based in the heart of Glasgow City Innovation District, brings together academia, the private sector and government to accelerate creation of new public health and well-being approaches.
Global healthcare
He is also dedicated to translating his research in electrochemical biosensors into real-world applications and has developed several pieces of commercially valuable Intellectual Property at Strathclyde.
Professor Corrigan is also co-founder of two innovative spin-out companies, Aureum Diagnostics and Microplate Dx, addressing global healthcare challenges.
Professor Corrigan said: “From my perspective, being acknowledged by one’s peers is a real highlight and is an endorsement of the research and translation work carried out in the Centre.
“The research we undertake is interdisciplinary and highly collaborative meaning we interact with other academic groups, companies and clinicians and so it’s important I acknowledge and thank the many students, post-docs and group leaders who’ve contributed to our projects down the years.”
Cancer treatments
Dr Beveridge has led advances in developing new cancer treatments by finding innovative ways to study specific proteins linked to the disease, which are hard to analyse because they constantly change shape.
Dr Beveridge said: “I’m really delighted to receive this award, and extremely grateful to everyone who’s supported me. This includes my mentors over the years and the brilliant individuals who have joined my research group and helped bring my ideas to life.”
The Royal Society of Chemistry’s prizes have recognised excellence in the chemical sciences for more than 150 years. This year’s winners join a prestigious list of past recipients in the RSC’s prize portfolio, 60 of whom have gone on to win Nobel Prizes for their work, including 2022 Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi and 2019 Nobel laureate John B Goodenough.
Dr Helen Pain, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: “Our prize winners come from a vast array of backgrounds, all contributing in different ways to our knowledge base, and bringing fresh ideas and innovations. Their passion, dedication and brilliance are an inspiration. I extend my warmest congratulations to them all.”