Lancaster’s Chemistry Department recently played host to the Royal Society of Chemistry’s (RSC) annual Organic Chemistry Northwest Regional Meeting, welcoming chemists from across the region to share and celebrate their research.

The meeting saw around 100 chemists from universities and industries across the Northwest gather on Lancaster’s campus to share their most recent research insights, network with fellow organic chemists, and celebrate the awarding of Professor Donna Blackmond (of Scripps Research, currently on a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship at the University of Liverpool) with the prestigious 2025 Centenary Prize for Chemistry and Communication medal.

The day consisted of a range of short talks spanning the depth and breadth of the field of organic chemistry, covering everything from the application of synthetic-based methodology, to utilising AI and chemical biology to explore how diseases work. The meeting also included posters delivered by current PhD students and Research Associates, stands from industrial sponsors, and Professor Blackmond’s greatly-anticipated plenary lecture entitled: “Mechanistic Understanding of Complex Catalytic Reactions Through a Temperature Scanning Protocol”. Professor Blackmond – who hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is predominantly based at Scripps Research in San Diego, California – was awarded the Centenary Prize for Chemistry and Communication medal for her pioneering work in the area of organic chemical catalysis, and invited to tour the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry annual meetings. The Centenary Prize is awarded each year to an international chemist on the basis of their research merit and exceptional communicative skills, with the prize winner speaking at each of the RSC’s meetings over the course of the year.

With Lancaster being the final stop along her tour, Dr Maria Paz Munoz-Herranz, Lead of Lancaster’s Organic Chemistry Research Group, had the honour of presenting Professor Blackmond with her prize medal. After the medal presentation, the day concluded with the awarding of the poster prizes for the PhD posters. With prizes from £75 to £200 presented by sponsors RSC Organic Community Council and RSC Lancashire local section, and industrial partners CEM and Shimadzu, the winners of the PhD poster element of the day were as follows:

• 1^st Place: Joe Morris
• 1^st Runner up: Khaleel Zareen
• 2^nd Runner up: Debayan Roy

On the success of the day, Dr Munoz-Herranz commented: “It was a pleasure hosting the RSC Organic Chemistry Community Northwest Regional Meeting 2026 this year at Lancaster University. The meeting was a real display of the quality and variety of organic chemistry in the Northwest. Thanks to the RSC OCC for supporting these regional meetings and to the huge amount of sponsors support, which made it possible to offer a fantastic experience to the attendees.”

Head of Department Dr Nick Evans added: “I’m delighted we had the opportunity to host the RSC Organic Community Northwest Meeting once again here at Lancaster. Attendees had an excellent day hearing about excellent organic chemistry research undertaken across the Northwest of England.”

Sponsors for the RSC Organic Chemistry Northwest Regional Meeting