Seven researchers win 2015 Early Career Researcher UK Awards

Seven researchers receive Early Career Researcher UK Awards in recognition of their contributions to science and society

The UK is a world-leader in breakthrough scientific discoveries, and seven of the early career researchers leading this field have been recognised for their contributions to areas including malaria elimination, securing water supplies for future generations and empowering patients in the management of their own health care.

Katherine Battle, a doctoral student at the University of Oxford, received the Scopus Young Researcher UK Award in Medicine, following her work which mapped the global clinical burden of Plasmodium vivax malaria, a neglected species of the disease. This fed directly into the control and elimination strategies developed by Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN) and the World Health Organization.

Dr Chris Sweetapple was the recipient of the 2015 Scopus Young Researcher UK Award in Environmental Science. As an associate research fellow at the University of Exeter's Centre for Water Systems, Chris' current work looks at how we can sustainably and reliably address the emerging challenges around water supplies.

The full list of 2015 Early Career Researcher UK Award winners:

• Environmental Science: Dr Chris Sweetapple, University of Exeter
• Medicine: Katherine Battle, University of Oxford
• Social Sciences: Dr Jonathan Fisher, University of Birmingham
• Physical Sciences: Dr Jack Alexander-Webber, University of Cambridge
• Biochemistry, Genetics, Molecular Biology: Dr Michael Booth, University of Oxford
• Arts and Humanities: Dr Sagar Jilka, Imperial College London
• Researchers' Choice Communication Award: Matthew Allen, Cardiff University

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, and the US-UK Fulbright Commission honoured the early career researchers for their outstanding contribution to UK science at an awards ceremony attended by over 70 senior figures from government, academia and industry. The keynote speech was delivered by Gareth Davies, Director General for Knowledge and Innovation, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills who said "All the winners should be very proud of their achievements. The UK research base is one of our country's great success stories and punches well above its weight, so to be at the front of this field is no mean feat. I wish them every success for the future."

Working closely with the research community, Elsevier recognises and rewards researchers for their vital role in advancing science. The Scopus Young Researcher UK Award program began in 2011 to highlight the work of early career researchers through six awards across a variety of subject disciplines, based on citation and publication information from Elsevier's Scopus database. This year an additional award category, the Researchers' Choice Communication Award, was introduced to recognise the importance of researcher communication and engagement with the public.

Congratulating the Award winners, Ron Mobed, CEO of Elsevier said, "Investing in young researchers is essential to securing the future of scientific discovery. These awards aim to motivate and support researchers early in their careers to deliver ground-breaking research. We're delighted to celebrate their achievements and, through raising their visibility, help them to engage the wider public in the great work they do to advance science and society."

Young researchers face varied pressures when they embark on their careers, and the new Researchers' Choice Communication Award recognises that communication skills are vital both to career development and advancing public engagement with science. The Award engaged the research community in the nomination and voting process through the Mendeley social network platform, and those nominated displayed creativity and initiative to communicate the purpose, meaning and impact of their research to the wider public. Matthew Allen, a doctoral student at Cardiff University, was selected by an expert jury for the creativity, personality and empathy for the audience demonstrated in his translation of astrophysics research into engaging content.