RSC FIRST Award
The RSC FIRST Award provides support and recognition to outstanding early-career researchers in the field of chemistry and related areas. One award will be presented at every RSC FIRST conference, honouring a scientist working in the field where that year’s conference focuses on. The awardee will receive a cash prize of RMB 10,000 and an award certificate, and will be invited to receive the award in person and deliver an award lecture at the associated RSC FIRST conference.
The 2026 award is now open for applications to all delegates who have successfully registered in the RSC FIRST conference by 1st September 2026.
This year’s award will be conferred on an up-and-coming scientist who have demonstrated sustained excellence and achieved outstanding breakthroughs in advancing innovation in AI for chemistry.
To be eligible for this year’s award, candidates should meet the following criteria:
Hold a PhD and either:
-
Be 35 years of age or younger in the year of application, or
-
Have no more than 8 years of post-PhD research experience, accounting for any career breaks
All eligible candidates will be assessed by a judging panel made up of experts of the conference steering committee, scientific committee and relevant communities in the field. Any members with a conflict of interest will be ineligible for the judging panel.
Award decisions will be based on the candidate’s scientific excellence, research independence and their potential to shape the future of chemistry. Moreover, the judging panel will use information provided on the candidate’s broader contribution to the chemistry community as an additional criterion.
The awardee will be selected from eligible candidates who meet the following criteria:
-
successfully register for the conference and complete the payment of the registration fee
-
submitted an abstract for a scientific talk as well as the completed <official application form>
-
confirmed in-person attendance at the conference to accept the award and deliver the scheduled talk
To submit your application, please log into your Conference Personal Dashboard and navigate to the "RSC FIRST Award" tab:
{{ 'en' == 'cn' ? item.name : item.name_en }}
{{ 'en' == 'cn' ? item.desc : item.desc_en }}
