Pembroke Alumna Kirsty Penkman receives prestigious Blavatnik Award

Congratulations to Pembroke Alumna Dr Kirsty Penkman (1996, Chemistry) who was recently the successful Chemistry Laureate in the 2020 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, and received a prize worth £75,000 as a result!

Dr Penkman leads a research programme that has made significant advances in the ability of scientists to accurately date ancient fossils. Previously, accurately dating fossils that are beyond 50,000 years old had proven to be particularly challenging. Through Dr Penkman’s innovations, fossils over 3 million years old have now been successfully dated, opening up huge possibilities for scientists to better understand human evolution as well as climate change.

Discussing the nature and challenges of her work, Kirsty commented: “Working with fossil material is very challenging – the molecules that you are interested in are incredibly low in concentration, they are often very degraded, and there are all sorts of other molecules in there as well, both organic and inorganic, original and contamination, that will complicate the analysis. So the trick is being able to isolate the part you want to look at, without altering it in the process. But it is that challenge that makes it so interesting from my point of view as an analytical chemist, and so supremely satisfying when you do eventually get great data out of it!"

"I am tremendously honoured by the Blavatnik award, and it is thanks to my wonderful colleagues and collaborators who have been integral to this research. Working closely with earth scientists and archaeologists has helped push the analytical science forward, whilst advancing our understanding of our earth's history.”

The annual Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists provide the largest unrestricted cash prizes available to scientists in the UK under the age of 42. Of the 80 nominees put forward for this year’s event, there were three overall winners (Laureates), in addition to a total of £135,000 awarded to six other finalists in the categories of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering and Chemistry.

The winners will officially be honoured at a dinner and ceremony in London on 4th March 2020, and will present their research in a series of short, interactive lectures the following day.