Danckwerts Pergamon 2026 award announced

Dr Anna Scheeder has been awarded the 2026 Danckwerts Pergamon Prize for the best PhD thesis in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB).

The Danckwerts Pergamon Prize is awarded annually for the best PhD thesis submitted within CEB. Named in honour of Professor Peter Danckwerts, one of the department's most influential figures, the prize recognises doctoral research that demonstrates exceptional scientific quality, originality and impact.

Anna completed her PhD in Professor Clemens Kaminski's Laser Analytics research group and worked in close collaboration with Dr Ioanna Mela in the Department of Pharmacology. She received the prize for her research developing tiny drug-carrying particles (called nanocarriers) designed to make antibiotics more effective. She studied how they interact at the molecular level with bacterial targets using super resolution microscopy.

Anna has since moved to a postdoctoral position at University College London, where she is studying the nanoscale organisation of the bacterial envelope using atomic force microscopy.

She said: "I got the email from Clemens and I was so shocked with what it said – I'm very proud.”

Professor Clemens Kaminski, Head of Department, said: "Anna's thesis is an outstanding piece of work that reflects both scientific excellence and the collaborative spirit of research at CEB. She brought together expertise from different disciplines and built strong partnerships to address a challenging problem.

“I am delighted to see her achievements recognised through the Danckwerts Pergamon Prize. It is a thoroughly deserved honour and a fitting acknowledgement of the quality and impact of her work."

Anna added: “I knew I'd been nominated, but I did not expect to win.

“To know that other people think it's good work is very validating for me. When you're doing your PhD, you don't often get feedback from outside your field and so this award is the biggest sign that other people can understand my work and that it translates well to a scientific audience, which is very important to me."

Anna worked closely with Dr Ioanna Mela in the Department of Pharmacology, and the final paper resulting from her PhD was co-authored with Jon Ostolaza-Paraiso, then a PhD student in Professor David Fairen-Jimenez's Adsorption and Advanced Materials group, with Professor Ljiljana Fruk also contributing to the project.

"It’s very multidisciplinary work, working with nanotechnology, DNA and MOFs. And I don't know if I could have done it anywhere else, the facilities are fantastic at CEB. I had the flexibility and the equipment to do what I needed to do," she said.

"I am the co-author on the paper and it was really exciting to have the mutual support of a partner to work alongside."

Anna highlighted the department's collaborative environment as she said: "I got lots of opportunities to work with academics and experts from different scientific backgrounds and it was invaluable to me, I'm really grateful for this.”

Looking back on her PhD, she added: "I enjoyed my PhD and I will remember it with great pride and hard work and the joy of working with very kind and very smart people."

Anna also thanked those who supported her throughout the project, including Dr Edward Ward, Dr Jon Ostolaza-Paraiso, Professor Kaminski and Dr Mela as well as Dr Andrew Baker.

"Jon, without whom the collaboration wouldn't have existed and the joy we shared together. I’m also grateful to Clemens and Ioanna for always being encouraging."