The British Science Association (BSA) is pleased to announce the winners of its prestigious Award Lecture series for 2023. The seven Award Lecturers will share their work at the annual British Science Festival, which is being hosted by the University of Exeter, 7 – 10 September.

Find out more about the British Science Festival

The Award Lecturers are a cohort of UK-based, early career researchers who are being recognised for cutting-edge work in their field and their commitment to public engagement efforts, furthering the reach of their work.

The BSA has acknowledged promising early career scientists for over 30 years. Previous Award Lecturers include Brian Cox, Richard Wiseman and Maggie Aderin-Pocock.

Congratulations to:

• Pooja Swali, PhD student at the Francis Crick Institute for the Agricultural, Biological and Medical Sciences Award Lecture.
• Angela Thornton, PhD candidate at the Horizon Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Nottingham for the Digital Innovation Award Lecture.
• Sophie Morse, Research Fellow at Imperial College London for the Engineering, Technology and Industry Award Lecture.
• Alexandra Amon, Senior Kavli Fellow at Cambridge University for the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Award Lecture.
• Bérengère Digard, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Edinburgh for the Social Sciences Award Lecture.
• Tomos Jones, PhD student at the University of Reading and Wales Resilient Ecological Network (WaREN) Project Manager at North Wales Wildlife Trust for the Environmental Sciences Award Lecture.
• Alice Thickett, PhD Researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University and MA Sciart Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University for the Science and the Arts Award Lecture.

Pooja Swali will deliver this year’s Agricultural, Biological and Medical Sciences Award Lecture. Pooja will reveal how studying ancient DNA is furthering our knowledge of the genomes of modern organisms.

Angela Thornton will explore ‘Mind Uploading’, the use of brain scans to reproduce or ‘emulate’ your mind digitally, in the Digital Innovation Award Lecture. Angela will show the audience how her unique research enables more people to learn about this, inviting them to share their thoughts about this technology’s potential impact on mankind.

Sophie Morse is working on a way to allow drugs to temporarily bypass the blood-brain-barrier, to reach brain regions that currently cannot be reached efficiently. This year’s Engineering, Technology and Industry Award Lecture reveals potentially revolutionary developments in the medical field.

Alexandra Amon demystifies the mysteries of dark matter. In the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Award Lecture, she tells us why dark matter is important, and how we peer deep into the universe to learn more.

Bérengère Digard’s Social Sciences Award Lecture will elucidate why language learning for autistic people should be encouraged. Bérengère’s work with the autistic community has shown that developing skills in a new language is beneficial, challenging existing preconceptions.

Tomos Jones will deliver the Environmental Sciences Award Lecture. Tomos will make references to the novel, ‘The Day of the Triffids' by John Wyndham, to help explain why we should be paying more attention to invasive species, with a focus on those which have escaped gardens. He will also offer solutions for how we can reduce their impact on nature.

Alice Thickett is the Science and the Arts Award Lecturer for 2023. Alice is a collage artist who uses collage to ‘build’ human and non-human-animal hybrids, enabling the audience to consider their opinions of future hybrid creatures, and perspectives on what it means to be a human animal in the age of bioengineering.

More details about the British Science Festival 2023 programme will be released in the coming months.

Stay up to date via Twitter @BritishSciFest to find out when ticket booking opens.

Visit the British Science Festival website