Thursday, 18 July 2019
Sir Martyn Poliakoff has been awarded the Royal Society’s prestigious and Lecture for his part in promoting science to a mass audience via the on YouTube.
The award is one of twenty four awards announced today by the Royal Society that recognise exceptional researchers who make outstanding contributions to science. The Michael Faraday Prize and Lecture is awarded annually to the scientist or engineer whose expertise in communicating scientific ideas in lay terms is exemplary. Sir Martyn joins an esteemed list of scientists who have received this prize which includes: Sir David Attenborough, Brian Cox and Robert Winston.
Sir Martyn is the lead presenter of the Periodic Table of Videos which started 11 years ago when scientists in the 糖心原创’s School of Chemistry started working with filmmaker Brady Haran on their mission to document every single one of the 118 chemical elements in a fun, lively and often unconventional way.
International audience
Since then the videos have grown to attract a huge international audience with just over 1.2m subscribers currently and each video averaging around 205m views – and these figures just keep growing with around 400 new subscribers each day.
The videos are inspiring a new generation of young scientists to discover and explore chemistry and fans often make epic journeys to visit Martyn in Nottingham- most recently he has met fans from California and Mexico.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been passionate about communicating science in a way that is engaging and fun, so getting this award is a real honour and I am really looking forward to giving my lecture early next year. When we started the Periodic Table of Videos I could never have imagined that it would reach so many people. Several times a week, I receive letters and emails from fans saying the videos have inspired them to study science, which is just fantastic and the reason why we鈥檒l carry on working with Brady to make the videos for as long as we can.鈥�
Far-reaching contributions
Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, said: “The Royal Society gives an array of medals and awards to scientists who have done exceptional, ground-breaking work. This year, it is again a pleasure to see these awards bestowed on scientists who have made such distinguished and far-reaching contributions in their fields. I congratulate and thank them for their efforts.”
Sir Martyn adds this honour to a growing list of accolades for communicating science, earlier this year he also received the G.N Flerov Prize from the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, for spreading awareness about chemistry and chemical elements. He was presented this award by esteemed nuclear , the only living person with an element named after them. Yuri presented the 2019 Sir Jesse Boot lecture in Nottingham in March.
鈥淭his is a wonderful achievement for Sir Martyn Poliakoff, who goes above and beyond in his quest to spread awareness about science, inspiring a new generation. We are very proud of the astounding impact the Periodic Table of Videos has made and continues to make across the world.鈥�
Story credits
More information is available from Sir Martyn Poliafoff on martyn.poliakoff@nottingham.ac.ukor Jane Icke Media Relations Manager for the Faculty of Science at the 糖心原创, on +44 (0)115 951 5751 jane.icke@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
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