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9 Rising UK Scientific Stars Honored with 2019 Blavatnik Award

Learn more about the ceremony that celebrated this year’s Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom.

The 2019 honorees of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK
2019 Blavatnik Awards Laureate Professor Konstantinos Nikolopoulos Professor of Physics at the University of Birmingham
Back Row (Left to right) The 2019 Finalists: Kathy Niakan, Igor Larrosa, Rachel O’Reilly, Gustav Holzegel, Máire O’Neill, Timothy Behrens; Front Row (Left to right) The 2019 Laureates: Philipp Kukura, Ewa Paluch and Konstantinos Nikolopoulos
2019 Blavatnik Awards Laureate in Chemistry, Prof. Philipp Kukura, University of Oxford
2019 Blavatnik Awards Laureate in Life Sciences, Prof. Ewa Paluch of UCL and University of Cambridge with Sir Leonard Blavatnik

The Blavatnik Family Foundation hosted its annual ceremony celebrating the honorees of the 2019 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London.

The Ceremony was attended by members of the UK’s scientific elite as well as key figures within the fields of government, academia, business and entertainment. Neuroscientist and 2014 Nobel Laureate Professor John O’Keefe of University College London, served as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.

“The Blavatnik Awards are given not just for exceptional work already done, but in support of world-changing work that we believe is yet to be done by these young scientists,” says O’Keefe.

Academy President and CEO Ellis Rubinstein also gave remarks thanking the support of the scientific community within the United Kingdom and complimenting the outstanding group of scientists that make up the Blavatnik Awards’ UK Jury and Scientific Advisory Council.

Among the Most Dedicated and Original Thinkers in their Spheres

In commenting on the caliber of the nine honorees, Prof. O’Keefe mentioned “the young scientists and engineers are among the most dedicated and original thinkers in their spheres in the United Kingdom…They are making headlines across medical and tech communities for discoveries and innovations in human development and cognition; from novel ways to synthesize drugs and sustainable polymers, to advances in cybersecurity and radical breakthroughs in fundamental physics.”

In each scientific category (Chemistry, Physical Sciences & Engineering, Life Sciences), two Finalists were each awarded prizes of US$30,000, and one Laureate in each category was awarded US$100,000. The Awards’ founder, Sir Leonard Blavatnik, presented medals to the three Laureates and six Finalists at the ceremony.

Throughout the course of the evening, the audience watched three films featuring the honorees from the three Award categories. The ceremony concluded with a fireside chat and the Blavatnik Awards tradition of making a “Toast to Science.”

Learn more about the 2019 Blavatnik Awards ceremony in the UK here.


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Academy Communications Department
This article was written by a member of the Academy Communications team.