Emma Pajak was awarded the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Sue Gibson Award for Best Presentation.

The Department of Chemical Engineering’s second year PhD student, Emma Pajak, showcased her cutting edge research at the MRes Advanced Molecular Synthesis Annual Symposium, hosted by neighbouring department, the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London.

The symposium featured the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry Sue Gibson Award for Best Presentation, which Emma was awarded for her innovative research on tracing carbon atoms through chemical values chains, a collaboration with BASF.

On this tremendous achievement, Emma said: “I am delighted and honoured to receive this recognition of my work. I’m excited to continue advancing industrially relevant research, focusing on sustainability and digitalisation within chemical value chains, through my PhD.”

The award honours Professor Sue Gibson who was the first female president of the RSC's Organic Division.

Emma faced stiff competition from like-minded students, eventually being awarded best presentation by eminent judges Maria Southall, Executive Editor at the Royal Society of Chemistry and Professor Sophia Yaliraki, Director of I-X.