Thursday, 10 July 2025
A team of scientists from the University of Nottingham have been recognised for their innovative teaching of green and sustainable chemistry.
Dr James Bennett and Professors Mike George, Pete Licence and Sir Martyn Poliakoff from the School of Chemistry shared a prized for their outstanding contribution to the incorporation of sustainability into chemical education from the American Chemical Society Committee of the Environment and Sustainability (ACS-CES).
The sustainable chemistry module teaches students about green and sustainable chemistry across all years of the BSc/MSci undergraduate chemistry courses. Students are taught how the chemicals and materials that we all need can be manufactured in cleaner and more environmentally acceptable ways which are economically feasible.
Green chemistry has been an optional part of the course at Nottingham since 2002. The Award is the culmination of seven years’ work which began when Mike George was at a conference in Vienna. He explains: “One of the speakers said that no university in the world taught a compulsory undergraduate course on Green Chemistry, I returned to Nottingham and told the others “We must change this!”
The key was to refresh the course focussing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and an opportunity came to do this when a new module was needed for the second-year chemistry students. Mike, Pete and Martyn worked together to create the Sustainable Chemistry module. The following year, they worked with James to produce video recordings for a distance-learning module.
The video lectures were invaluable during the Covid lockdown and opened-up the possibility of “Flipped Classrooms” where the students watch the lectures in their own time and then come together as a class to discuss the content.
The feedback for this approach was excellent with students saying they felt free to express their thoughts on the topics and topical items, such as floods or chemical accidents, that could be discussed as soon as they happened. The flipped classrooms have continued to this day and are still proving popular.
As a result of the success of this course, from 2026 modules in sustainable chemistry will become compulsory at the University of Nottingham, ensuring all Chemistry students have the skills and knowledge to embed greener thinking and techniques into their work.
The team are delighted to receive this award. Dr Bennett said: “I’m honoured to have received this award, particularly as it is recognition that reaffirms the importance of empowering the next generation to create a more sustainable future. It strengthens my commitment to making sustainability an integral part of scientific education.”
Professor Licence added: “I have been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in Green Chemistry for most of my professional career. It is gratifying that the excellence of our teaching has been recognised only a few weeks after we won a European prize for the excellence both of our teaching and research.”
Sir Martyn also expressed his pleasure: “When I started teaching Green Chemistry over 20 years ago, none of my colleagues took the subject seriously. So it is wonderful that it has now attracted international recognition.”
I am thrilled that our efforts have attracted this prestigious prize. I am particularly pleased that the award ceremony coincided with the University’s decision to make modules in Sustainable Chemistry compulsory in our Chemistry degree course beginning in 2026. Our vision has finally come true!
Story credits
More information is available from Jane Icke, Media Relations Manager for the Faculty of Science at the University of Nottingham jane.icke@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
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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