Finalists of the Dream Chemistry Award 2026 selected

Warsaw

Call for Dream Chemistry Award 2026 nominations

Nominations are now open for the Dream Chemistry Award 2026. Nominators must hold a PhD and have at least ten years of experience since the publication of their first scientific paper. Nominations are open until June 30.

Prague

Dream Chemistry Award 2025 goes to a project combining left- and right-handed molecules with ultrafast laser pulses for more efficient quantum computers

Ideas bold enough to push the limits of human imagination lie at the heart of the Dream Chemistry Award – a joint initiative of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague) and the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IChF PAS). Success in this prestigious competition is not measured by publication counts or impact factors; instead, proposals are judged by an international scientific committee for their originality, vision, and potential to redefine the field.

Prague

Dream Chemistry Award 2025 Final – Schedule

The Scientific Committee has selected the most outstanding projects from this year’s submissions and five excellent young scientists from Singapore, Austria, Israel, the Netherlands, and Czechia will now have the opportunity to present their visions in person during the contest’s final, which will take place at IOCB Prague on 1–2 December 2025, and compete for the cash prize of EUR 10,000 and an iconic trophy.

Prague

Finalists of the Dream Chemistry Award 2025 selected

The Scientific Committee of the Dream Chemistry Award has selected the most outstanding projects from this year’s submissions. Five finalists will now have the opportunity to present their visions in person during the contest’s final, which will take place at IOCB Prague on 1–2 December 2025.

Warsaw

Call for Dream Chemistry Award 2025 nominations

We are now accepting nominations for the Dream Chemistry Award 2025. Nominators must hold a PhD and have at least ten years of experience since publishing their first scientific paper. Nominations are open until June 30.

Dream Chemistry Award 2024 Finals: a visionary winner has been selected

We now know the results of the Dream Chemistry Award (DCA) 2024 finals. The winner of DCA 2024 is Dr. Richard Liu from Harvard University, USA.

Warsaw

Dream Chemistry Award 2024 Final – Schedule

Five finalists, selected by the DCA Scientific Committee, have been invited to present their dream projects and compete for the Dream Chemistry Award 2024. The final event will take place on December 2–3 at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.

Warsaw

IChF tribute to the chemical imagination

The Dream Chemistry Award is a one-of-a-kind competition dedicated to recognizing young scientists who dream of tackling fundamental problems in chemistry and related disciplines with visionary ideas. Established in 2013 by the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IChF), the award aims to support emerging talents in realizing their scientific dreams. Since 2017, it has been organized jointly with IOCB Prague, with the finals alternating between Prague and Warsaw.

Warsaw

Finalists of the Dream Chemistry Award 2024 selected

The DCA Scientific Committee has selected the top projects from this year’s submissions. Five finalists have been invited to present their projects in person during the contest’s final event, which will take place from December 1–3, 2024, in Warsaw, Poland.

Warsaw

Call for Dream Chemistry Award 2024 nominations

We accept nominations for the Dream Chemistry Award 2024. Nominators must hold a PhD and have at least ten years of experience since the publication of their first scientific paper. The nominations are open until June 30.

Prague

This year's winner of the Dream Chemistry Award competition is organic chemist Mark Levin with his vision for revolutionizing the synthesis of functional molecules

The Dream Chemistry Award, a unique competition that does not count scientific articles in prestigious journals or affiliations with renowned universities, knows its winner for this year. Its contestants are young scientists within seven years of having received their doctorate. To be true to its name, it rewards ideas so novel that their realization is akin to fulfilling a bold human dream. The 2023 award has been given to Mark Levin from the University of Chicago, whose aim is to simplify the design of pharmaceutically active substances.

Prague

Finalists of the Dream Chemistry Award 2023 selected

The DCA Scientific Committee has selected the top projects from this year’s submissions. Five finalists are invited to present their projects in person during the contest’s final, which will be held at IOCB Prague on 4–5 December 2023.

Prague

Call for Dream Chemistry Award 2023 nominations

We accept nominations for the Dream Chemistry Award 2023. Nominators must hold a PhD and have at least ten years of experience since the publication of their first scientific paper. The nominations are open until June 30.

Warsaw

From capturing energy to capturing the Dream Chemistry Award 2022

Today is a big day for science. Young minds were awarded in the contest like no other. The scientists, visionaries, and dreamers, not hesitating to ask "What if?" achieved the prizes in the Dream Chemistry Award competition in Warsaw, Poland. This award is not about scientific achievements but about vision. This unique international contest promotes young researchers who want to step forward with innovative dreams. The Dream Chemistry Award was established in 2013 by Robert Hołyst from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ICF), Warsaw, Poland. Since 2017 the contest has been co-organized with the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague), Prague, Czech Republic.

Warsaw

Dream Chemistry Award 2022 is coming

Nothing is better than dreaming about progress, innovation, and the future. All scientists have a dream, but not everyone dares to dream loudly, crossing schematic boundaries and jumping into the deep water. There are many grants supporting research and awards appreciating curious minds; however, there is only one unique award worldwide for visionary research projects in chemistry or a chemistry-related discipline. It is the Dream Chemistry Award.

Warsaw

Dream Chemistry Award 2022 Final – Schedule

Five finalists, selected by the DCA Scientific Committee were invited to present their dream projects and compete for the Dream Chemistry Award 2022. The final will take place on 5–6 December at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.

Warsaw

Finalists of the Dream Chemistry Award 2022 selected

The DCA Scientific Committee has selected the top projects from this year’s submissions. Five finalists are invited to present their projects in person during the contest’s final, which will be held on December 5–6 in Warsaw, Poland.

Prague

The organizers and the winner on the Dream Chemistry Award 2021

We asked Jarad Mason, the winner of the 2021 Dream Chemistry Award, about his impressions of the competition and his future research plans; as well as the main organizers of the Dream Chemistry Award, Pavel Jungwirth and Robert Hołyst, what they think about this year's competition and its development in recent years.

Prague

Treating hypoxia with microporous water – the 2021 Dream Chemistry Award goes to Jarad Mason of Harvard University

The winners of the 2021 Dream Chemistry Award and the TOP 5 Prize have been decided. This year’s Dream Chemistry Award and the financial prize of EUR 10,000 goes to Jarad Mason of Harvard University for his project on treating hypoxia with microporous water.

Prague

Dream Chemistry Award 2021 Final – Live stream

The final of the Dream Chemistry Award 2021, which takes place on 6–7 December 2021 in Prague, will see five finalists who will present their dream projects.

Prague

Finalists of Dream Chemistry Award 2021 selected

The DCA Scientific Committee has selected the top projects from this year’s submissions. Five finalists are invited to present their projects in person during the contest’s final, which will be held at IOCB Prague on 6–7 December 2021.

Warsaw

Dreaming big about the smallest things: Dream Chemistry Award 2020

On the 1 December, the jury has announced the winner of this year's Dream Chemistry Award. Because of the pandemic restrictions, the whole event has been carried online.

Yujia Qing: “The DCA gave me a unique opportunity to distill my abstract thoughts, which emerged during daily research, into a systematic plan.”

An interview with Yujia Qing (University of Oxford, UK), the winner of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “Sequencing Life”.

Hannes Mikula: “The Dream Chemistry Award was an amazing experience.”

An interview with Hannes Mikula (Vienna University of Technology, Austria), the TOP 5 finalist of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “Double-targeted In Vivo Synthesis of Drugs at the Site of Disease”.

Yoeri van de Burgt: “Imagination and the ability to dream is essential. Most other logical and reasonable ideas have already been tried.”

An interview with Yoeri van de Burgt (Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands), the TOP 5 finalist of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “Brain-Inspired Organic Modular Lab-on-a-Chip for Cell Classification”.

Jeffrey Martell: “We need to think expansively to identify research goals that others haven't thought of.”

An interview with Jeffrey D. Martell (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA), the TOP 5 finalist of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “DNA Nano-Scaffolds for Rapid Discovery of Enzyme-Mimicking Catalysts”.

Emiliano Cortés: “To have big dreams you need to imagine that things can be different and that you can contribute towards that.”

An interview with Emiliano Cortés (Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany), the TOP 5 finalist of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “Lighting Up Chemical Reaction Pathways”.

Prague

Dream Chemistry Award 2019 goes to Yujia Qing of University of Oxford

Yujia Qing of University of Oxford has won the 2019 Dream Chemistry Award, an international competition for young scientists that took place on 2-3 December 2019, at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague). In addition to the Dream Chemistry Award statuette, the winner also received two monetary prizes totaling €11,000.

Warsaw

Dr. Eric Daniel Glowacki with the Dream Chemistry Award 2018

The winner of the global Dream Chemistry Award competition this year is Dr. Eric Daniel Glowacki from the Linköping University. The Scientific Committee awarding the prize praised the laureate's project on catalysts for the production of clean energy from the hydrogen peroxide.

Warsaw

Dream Chemistry Award 2018 knows its Finalists

This year’s edition of the Dream Chemistry Award knows its finalists. The Scientific Committee selected top 5 candidates and their projects and invited the authors to Warsaw, Poland, to the finale of the contest which will be held on 3-4 December 2018.

Prague

Winning project of the DCA 2017 focuses on new perspectives for cancer treatment

On 4-5 December 2017, the finale of the international scientific contest Dream Chemistry Award was held in Prague, organized by the leading chemistry institutes of the Czech and Polish Academy of Sciences.