Honorary Fellow Charlotte Williams awarded Royal Society prize

Trinity Honorary Fellow Professor Charlotte Williams OBE FRS has been awarded the Royal Society Armourers & Brasiers’ Company Prize 2026, in recognition of her pioneering research into sustainable polymer materials.

The Royal Society awarded Professor Williams the prize for her innovative materials science developing sustainable oxygenated polymers for applications including plastics, thermoplastic elastomers, ionomers and polyelectrolyte binders.

The Armourers & Brasiers’ Company Prize recognises outstanding ‘use-inspired’ research into structural or functional materials – fundamental scientific research motivated by practical applications and the potential to benefit society. Established in 1985, the prize is awarded biennially and includes a silver-gilt medal and £2,000.

Professor Williams is the University of Oxford’s Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and leads research into sustainable chemistry and materials. Her work focuses on discovering new polymers and developing better ways to make, use and recycle them, combining fundamental scientific discovery with technology development and translation. She also directs the EPSRC Sustainable Chemicals and Materials Manufacturing Hub and the UK Catalysis Hub.

Professor Williams joined Trinity as a Tutorial Fellow in 2016 and later became a Professorial Fellow. Following her appointment to the University’s Professorship of Inorganic Chemistry in 2024, she was elected an Honorary Fellow of Trinity, continuing her close association with the College.

Her work has received numerous national and international honours. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, received an OBE for services to chemistry in 2020, and was awarded the Royal Society’s Leverhulme Medal in 2022 for her pioneering research into carbon dioxide utilisation catalysts and next-generation plastic materials.

Congratulations to Professor Williams on this latest recognition of her outstanding contribution to sustainable chemistry and materials science.

Find out more about the Royal Society Armourers & Brasiers’ Company Prize