Wednesday, 22 October 2025
A chemist at the University of Nottingham has been awarded a prestigious 2025 Philip Leverhulme Prize for his research.
The winners of the 2025 Philip Leverhulme Prizes were chosen from over 350 nominations. The Trust offered five prizes in Archaeology, Chemistry, Economics, Engineering, Geography, and Languages and Literatures.
Dr Mattia Silvi, Associate Professor School of Chemistry, has received one of the Leverhulme Trust’s prizes in recognition of his work on the development of novel synthetic chemistry reactions and methods with particular emphasis in photochemical methods.
Mattia Silvi’s research group explores how visible light can drive chemical reactions in organic chemistry. When organic molecules absorb light, they generate free radicals—highly reactive intermediates capable of rapidly forming new chemical bonds. Building on this concept, Mattia Silvi’s team has developed innovative methods in synthetic chemistry, including controllable approaches for constructing molecules through sequential single-carbon insertions, practical strategies for coupling complex chemical building blocks, and techniques to access products traditionally considered “forbidden” to classical chemical reactions.
These advances enable the transformation of readily available materials into valuable compounds, opening new avenues for the creation of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and advanced functional materials.
I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious recognition and would like to thank all my team members for their outstanding enthusiasm, resilience, and motivation. I am also sincerely grateful to our funders for their valuable support, including the Leverhulme Trust, the UKRI, the Royal Society, the University of Nottingham, and our partners at AstraZeneca.
Professor Anna Vignoles, Director of the Leverhulme Trust, said: “We continue our centenary celebrations with the announcement of this year’s prize winners. The Trust is delighted to support them through the next stage of their careers. The breadth of topics covered by their research is impressive, from landscape archaeology to biomolecular mass spectrometry, applied microeconomics to adaptable wearable robotics, and pyrogeography to critical applied linguistics. Selecting the winners becomes increasingly challenging year-on-year due to the extraordinarily high calibre of those nominated. We are immensely grateful to the reviewers and panel members who help us in our decision-making.”
The Philip Leverhulme Prize is aimed at researchers at an early stage of their careers whose work has had international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising.
The Prizes have been offered since 2001 in commemoration of the contribution to the work of the Trust made by Philip Leverhulme, the Third Viscount Leverhulme and grandson of William Hesketh Lever, the founder of the Trust.
Dr Silvi has been awarded the £100,000 prize which can be used over two to three years to advance his study into this area of research.
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More information is available from Dr Mattia Silvi on mattia.silvi@nottingham.ac.uk
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About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 97 in the world and 17th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the third most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2024 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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