The Geochemistry Group offers a number of awards and medals for early career researchers (ECRs). Below we outline each opportunity, and the frequency which they are considered. Application forms are available below. Contact Marie Laure Bagard (mlb63@cam.ac.uk) if you have any queries.
Geochemistry Group Postdoctoral Medal
The GG Medal is awarded each year to a postdoctoral researcher employed on a temporary contract at an institution in GB/Ireland who has published outstanding research in a peer-reviewed journal within the broad field of geochemistry. The 2025 awardee was Dr Aled Evans (University of Southampton) for his paper entitled: “Ocean crustal veins record dynamic interplay between plate- cooling-induced cracking and ocean chemistry” published in EPSL.
The GG Medal aims to promote the work of post-doctoral researchers who are not yet independent research fellows by recognising their outstanding research contribution. One recipient will win the medal each year, based on the publication’s innovation, novelty and significance to its field. Medal winners will also be invited to give a keynote lecture at the Geochemistry Group’s annual Research in Progress (GGRiP) meeting.
Nominations for the GG Medal can be submitted at any time throughout the year and will be reviewed at the January committee meeting (deadline 15th Jan for previous year’s publication). Download the application form here.
The publications of recent awardees have spanned a range of geochemistry-related topics:
Dr. Rayssa Martins (2024) – Nucleosynthetic isotope anomalies of zinc in meteorites constrain the origin of Earth’s volatiles. Science. doi.org/10.1126/science.abn1021
Dr. Carrie Soderman (2023) – Global trends in novel stable isotopes in basalts: Theory and observations. GCA. doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.12.008
Dr. Arola Moreras Marti (2022) – Quadruple sulfur isotope biosignatures from terrestrial Mars analogue systems. GCA. doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.06.007
Dr Matthew Warke (2021) – The Great Oxidation Event preceded a Paleoproterozoic “snowball Earth”. PNAS. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003090117
Dr Chris Standish (2020) – The effect of matrix interferences on in situ boron isotope analysis by laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8432
Dr Nikitha Saji (2019) – Hadean geodynamics inferred from time-varying 142Nd/144Nd in the early Earth rock record. Geochemical Perspectives Letters. doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.1818
Dr Alex McCoy-West (2018) – The neodymium stable isotope composition of the silicate Earth and chondrites. EPSL. doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.10.004
Dr Marie-Laure Pons (2017) – Zinc isotope evidence for sulfate-rich fluid transfer across subduction zones. Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13794
Dr Myriam Lambelet (2016) – Neodymium isotopic composition and concentration in the western North Atlantic Ocean: Results from the GEOTRACES GA02 section. GCA. doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2015.12.019
Early Career Researcher Prominent Lecture Series
Early in your career it can sometimes be difficult to get the exposure for you and your research necessary to make the next big step in academia. We seek to assist this process by awarding one individual each year funding to deliver a tour of Great Britain and Ireland, presenting in a number prestigious institutions. You must currently hold a Ph.D and be registered as working at an institution within GB/Ireland.
In 2025-2026, due to the particularly high quality of applications, we awarded two ECR Prominent Lecture awards, to Dr Rebekah Moore (Imperial College) and Dr Savannah Worne (Loughborough University). See details here if you would like to host Rebekah and Savannah on their tours.
There is one deadline for the ECR prominent lecture series each year: January 15th. Download the application form here.
Other recent awardees include Dr Kate Kiseeva (2016 – Oxford, now at UCC), Dr David Wilson (2017 – Imperial, now at UCL), Dr Rosalie Tostevin (2018 – Oxford, now at University of Cape Town), Dr Rich Taylor (2019 – Cambridge, now at Zeiss), Dr Emily Stevenson (2020 – Cambridge), Dr Martin Mangler (2021 – Durham), Dr. Jacqueline Campbell (2022; University of Oxford), Dr. Elliot Carter (2023; Trinity College Dublin) and Dr. Ross Whiteford (2024; Royal Holloway).
Report from Ross Whiteford (our 2024-2025 award winner)
Between September 2024 and May 2025, I visited 9 Universities – 6 of which I’d visited before for one reason or another, and 3 of which were completely new to me. I started at Southampton, where I did both my Undergraduate and PhD. This was the first time I’ve been able to go back since I left (due to moving abroad, followed by the pandemic). It was nice to be back at the Oceanography Centre – and I was happy to see you can still find me in a couple of pictures on the walls if you know where to look (spot me if you can).
In October I visited Cambridge, where I gave two talks. One to the department, another for students organised by the Sedgwick Club who kindly hosted me to chat after. I was delighted to bump into current chair of the Geochemisty Group, Paul Savage while visiting Cambridge as well!
After a Christmas hiatus, I visited Bristol in January. I was treated to some beautiful views from Cabot Tower, and chance to visit some family who live nearby. I gave two related talks, which really gave an opportunity to go into depth about my research and have productive conversations with colleagues at Bristol.
March was a busy month, with talks at three Universities. First Royal Hollway (my current institution), then Cardiff. In Cardiff, I spent some time in the morning walking the Bay Trail, which took about 3 hours – a little longer than I expected and I was nearly late! All was well in the end, and I had a wonderful time discussing many collaborative projects.
The day after Cardiff I visited UCL, where I had some insightful questions about my work and some really helpful discussions with colleagues.
The final leg of the tour started with a visit to St Andrews (my previous institution) to give a talk for the COASTgroup. I happened to visit on an opportune day, as in the evening I got to join the potato party! Where there were a myriad of baked potato toppings to try.
From St Andrews I went straight to Leeds, a city I’ve never visited before. The sun was shining, and I got to meet several new people and catch up with many others. I went straight from Leeds for a holiday in the Yorkshire Dales, which happened to coincide with a solar eclipse!
The culmination of the tour was naturally GGRiP, this year in Birmingham. It was a fantastic conference, both academically and now with included social events, which were spectacular. I had a wonderful time, and was honoured to receive Early Career Researcher Prominent Lecture Series award.
I’ve had many joyous times on the tour, both personal and professional. There’s only one thing more I’d like to say, and that’s thank you. Thank you to everyone who took time to host me, and thank you to the Geochemistry Group whose funding and support made this tour possible.
Report from Elliot Carter (our 2023 award winner)
I started my tour close to home turf at University College Dublin followed by a lovely visit to Leeds where, as well as my seminar, I had lots of engaging discussions about IODP Expedition 399 which carried on well into the evening. Next up I headed to Cambridge and experienced the strange feeling of speaking in the lecture theatre where I had (and sometimes fell asleep in) many of my undergraduate lectures. Following a great day of meetings and discussion I was very kindly invited by Marian Holness to high table at Trinity College, which was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. What should have been the end of the tour, a keynote at GGRiP in Durham, was nonetheless a real highlight and a lot of fun. For various reasons, including moving countries to start a lectureship at Keele University, the series ended up spilling into summer and autumn, first with a great trip up to St Andrews and then down to Southampton which also provided a perfect opportunity to catch up with colleagues from a research cruise. Altogether, the prominent lecturer series has been a fantastic and invaluable experience, allowing me to connect and talk science with a huge range of people I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Thanks very much to the Geochemistry Group for making it possible.
Geochemistry Group 