Careers and artistic endeavours celebrated at RSB’s Biology Week Awards Ceremony 2025

The Royal Society of Biology hosted its annual Biology Week Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 15 October, attended by over 85 guests in the Churchill Room at the House of Commons, London. The cornerstone event of Biology Week, guests and awardees attended from across the UK and around the world to receive their awards and connect with others within the bioscience community.

Welcome speech from the event sponsor

The welcome talk was given by the Viscount Stansgate, Stephen Benn, who stated that Biology Week, now in its 14th year, is a fully embedded element in the parliamentary calendar. He was pleased that this year’s Biology Week included several RSB events this year, over 100 external events, and a great array of resources, reaching thousands of current and aspiring biologists.

Speech from the Minister for Nature

The next speech was given by the Minister for Nature, Mary Creagh MP CBE. Mary explained the work that CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) does and that this year marks its 50th anniversary. CITES was one of the world’s first environmental agreements, with the UK being one of the first signatories. While a lot has been achieved in the last 50 years, all eyes are on the next 50 years now, and looking to how we can best engage the next generation of young people and biologists.

Creative awards presentation

The creative awards – with this year’s theme being nature and climate – were presented by Professor Sir Ian Boyd FRSB, President of the RSB, starting with the Photography Competition awards. Alexander Carson won Young Photographer of the Year with his underwater image of an anemonefish, and Matthias Rueger won Photographer of the Year for his image of jellyfish in a lake in Indonesia.

Next, the BioArtAttack 2D awards were presented, with nearly all of the winners in attendance to receive a prize bundle provided by Defra to mark the 50th anniversary of CITES. Following on from this, the Nancy Rothwell specimen drawing awards were given, with one of the awardees – Sangyu Joel Sun, for the 7-11 category – having come all the way from Singapore to collect their award.

All of the art award winners also received an invitation to take part in an experience day event at the Royal Veterinary College in London. Ian concluded by thanking all the winners, runners up, and all who entered into our highly competitive competitions this year.

Career awards presentation

Dr Doug Brown FRSB, the RSB’s Chief Executive, then took to the podium to give a speech for his first Biology Week Awards Ceremony as the RSB’s new Chief Executive and present the career awards.

The first award was for School Biology Teacher of the Year, which recognises the very best and most inspiring secondary school and college teachers in the UK. The winner was Sarah Girasoli (image at top) from St Luke’s High School in Glasgow who inspired young people with her enthusiasm and passion for science.

The Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year Award was next, which seeks to identify the UK's leading bioscience higher education (HE) teachers, recognising the invaluable role they play in educating and inspiring the next generation of biologists. Although not able to attend in person, the award was given to Dr Sobia Kauser, Associate Professor in Biomedical Science at the University of Bradford.

The next presentation of awards was for the RSB's Apprentice of the Year. This award celebrates and recognises apprentices' contributions to their teams and the wider bioscience community. The award also forms part of the RSB's Technician Action Plan to support the Technician Commitment. There were two categories for this, split by FHEQ level.

Congratulations to the Group 1 runner up, Rebecca Stokes, and winner Tamara Martinez AMRSB, and to the Group 2 runner up Pia Boeber, and winner Rebecca Bojarski.

President’s Medals

The President’s Medals for 2025 were then awarded. This award is given to individuals who have supported the Royal Society of Biology in an exceptional way, going above and beyond the normal volunteer role, and having a significant impact on the organisation.

Mark Leach, the RSB’s Director of Membership Services and Events, presented the first of the medals to Emeritus Professor Claire Wathes FRSB. From 2017, Claire has been an RSB Trustee and served as the RSB’s Honorary Secretary from 2022-25. Her significant experience in academia supported the RSB in growing impact and improving the governance structures and processes that are so essential to delivering membership benefit. Claire consistently supported and advised the Society, and her dedication and commitment to the work of the RSB made her an extremely deserving recipient of the President’s Medal.

The second of the medals was presented by the RSB’s Director of Accreditation and Professional Affairs, Paul Trimmer, to Fraser Darling CBiol FRSB. As Chair of the RSB’s Accreditation Board, Fraser forged strong links with many legislative authorities, including the Home Office, the Animals in Science Regulation Unit, and the Training and Accreditation Stakeholder Group. Additionally, his role involved close liaison not only with UK bodies, but also with the EU, and his highly sought after expertise has been instrumental in planning and organising training workshops, meetings, and working groups involving all three national Accreditation Boards thus making him an exceptionally deserving recipient of the President’s Medal.

Closing speech

Laura Dance, Chief Operating Officer of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), gave the final speech of the evening. Laura expressed that while still being new to the role, there are lots of synergies between BBSRC and the RSB, and that joining the RSB has been helpful for shedding light on education and outreach within the biosciences. Laura said she is looking forward to further ongoing collaboration to create a healthy, sustainable, and resilient future for the biosciences.

Doug wrapped up the formal part of the evening by thanking all for attending and getting involved with Biology Week. He stated that, on behalf of all at the RSB, he was highly impressed by the creativity of the art and photography competition winners, and inspired by the work of the careers awards finalists and winners. Doug highlighted that we are, together, advancing the science, education, and practice of biology, encouraging others to get involved, and aiming for a world that values biology's contribution to understanding and improving life for all.

The evening concluded with networking over canapés and drinks.

The Biology Week calendar outlines what is coming up in the remainder of the week.