School of Chemistry Lecturer Awarded RSC’s 2025 Excellence in Higher Education Prize

Dr Ben Arenas, Lecturer in Physical Chemistry Education in the School of Chemistry, has been awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry's 2025 Early Career Prize for Excellence in Higher Education.

Dr Ben Arenas 2025 RSC Early Career Prize for Excellence in Higher Education

The RSC prize recognises inspirational, innovative, and dedicated people in the first five years of their career in higher education, and the prize was awarded to Ben for wide-ranging impact in teaching and support, assessments for practical chemistry, and in mentoring of students and colleagues through Advance HE accreditation programmes.

The RSC named Dr Arenas as one of nine Excellence in Education Prize winners this year and credited him for developing inclusive practices in teaching and support, introducing innovative and diverse assessments for practical chemistry, and mentoring of students and colleagues through Advance HE accreditation programmes.

In recognition of his efforts, Dr Arenas will receive £3,000, a medal and a certificate, as well as joining an illustrious body of prize winners. A total of 60 Nobel Prize laureates count among previous winners of RSC awards over the 150 years in which the learned society has honoured scientific excellence.

Recognition from the UK’s professional body and learned society for chemistry marks the latest milestone in a colourful career thus far. After studying for his undergraduate degree at Edinburgh, he worked in the German cities of Hamburg and Kiel before returning to the UK to teach at Durham. Moving back to Edinburgh for a lectureship in 2023, he sees the opportunity to teach chemistry to undergraduates as ‘a proper full-circle moment.’

Commenting on his award Ben said;

I am honoured, proud, and excited to have been awarded this prize! The award appreciates the work that I have been involved in across all different parts of my role – teaching, student support, teaching assistant development, and chemistry education research. As an early career academic, it is also a very special recognition, both internally from my own colleagues and externally from colleagues across the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Ben teaches physical and analytical chemistry across our undergraduate and postgraduate taught degrees, organises the physical chemistry laboratory courses for our second- and third-year students, supports students as an Academic Cohort Lead, and has an emerging chemistry education research portfolio.

Commenting on Ben’s RSC Early Career Prize for Excellence in Higher Education, Head of School, Prof Jason Love said;

We are incredibly proud of Ben and everything he has achieved. This RSC award demonstrates the exceptional depth of talent we are lucky to have at the School of Chemistry in our early career researchers. Ben adds so much value to the School, our students and staff community and he thoroughly deserves this award! We look forward to continuing to support Ben on his impressive career as he progresses.

As well as including plaudits for his teaching and for introducing smart online worksheets and oral assessments in practical chemistry courses, the prize citation also recognises the work Ben has done to support the development of PhD students as teaching assistants. He has mentored numerous PhD demonstrators and other staff members across the university through Advance HE accreditation programmes towards associate or full fellowship status, which are internationally recognised markers of high-quality teaching and student support practices in the university setting.

Ben's research portfolio covers laboratory education and assessment, including enquiry-based learning and diverse and authentic assessments in practical courses, and evaluation of learning activities and educational environments, particularly through the lens of inclusivity. This work is performed with final-year project students in chemistry education and education-focussed colleagues in the school, as well as with a university-wide and national network of discipline-based education researchers.

Ben’s full prize interview can be found alongside those of the other RSC Excellence in Education Prize winners on the RSC website.

The Excellence in Education Prizes are awarded annually across the primary education, secondary and further education, and higher education categories. Other RSC prize categories announced throughout the year include those for Research and Innovation, Volunteer Recognition, the Inclusion & Diversity Prize, and the Horizon Prizes, which celebrate discoveries and innovations that push the boundaries of science.

For more information about the RSC’s prizes portfolio, visit rsc.li/prizes.

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