Redistributing the Power (List)

Nominations for The Analytical Scientist Power List 2020 are now open – and, not for the first time, we’ve added a twist. In short, we want to take you on an analytical tour of the globe: “Around the World in 70 Analysts.”

Please forgive the conspicuous paraphrasing of Phileas Fogg’s fictitious 80-day journey; you see, we want to share the stories of 10 leading scientists from each of our planet’s major continents. And yes, that includes Antarctica (ambitious, we know, but it felt wrong to exclude any colleagues working at the South Pole!)

In previous years, the Lists have been heavily skewed towards a certain demographic – and readers have (rightly) not hesitated to point out the inequality. The disparity is a symptom of wider societal issues – which appear to afflict the field of chemistry quite profoundly. An RSC article exploring the data behind the Nobel prizes paints a vivid picture of the problem (1): “The average chemistry Nobel laureate is an American man, probably called Richard, John or Paul. He is 57 or 58 years old and works at an institution in California (UC, Stanford or Caltech).”

Other facts: only five of the 183 winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry have been women, and no Nobel prize winners in any science have been black.

We hope that the fresh format of this year’s List will allow us to celebrate more diversity than ever before. And, in that spirit, we hope you will consider the great and the good across the globe when submitting your nominations. Likewise, please don’t forget your colleagues in industry.

To nominate an analytical scientist who is making a real difference, please complete the short form here. And if you’ve not already guessed from the (daring) inclusion of Antarctica, the nominees’ place of work rather than place of birth will determine the continent represented.

I sincerely look forward to browsing through your nomination comments before handing the list over to our judging panel. As always, I am available at [email protected] should you have any questions – or suggestions – ahead of publication in October.