Bright Sparks and Big Ideas: Jamie Awards 2025 celebrate innovation with purpose
24th June 2025
Celebrating student ingenuity with real-world purpose, the 2025 Jamie Ferguson Innovation Awards spotlighted Oxford’s next generation of problem-solvers - recognising research that not only breaks scientific ground but aims to change lives.
Innovation lit up the room at this year’s Jamie Ferguson Innovation Awards, as students from across Oxford’s scientific community gathered to showcase bold ideas aimed at real-world impact.
Hosted by Oxford University Innovation (OUI) in collaboration with the University’s Department of Chemistry and Department of Materials, the Jamie Awards are now in their fourth year. The event continues to honour the memory of Jamie Ferguson – a much-loved OUI colleague and tireless advocate for student entrepreneurship and creativity – who passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s winners captured the spirit of innovation that Jamie championed: curiosity with direction and research driven by a desire to solve hard problems.
The 2025 Jamie Award Winners
Sebastian Golojuch
DPhil, Chemical Biology
While mRNA technology became a household name during the pandemic, its potential is far from tapped. Sebastian’s work unlocks new ways to improve how mRNA behaves in the body – by chemically modifying it using “click chemistry” after it’s been assembled by enzymes. This modular platform could make mRNA therapies more stable, more targeted, and more effective – paving the way for tailored treatments in everything from cancer to rare diseases.
Yiyi Wang
DPhil, Engineering Science
Yiyi’s research focuses on developing tiny glowing materials known as LG-MOFs, where light-emitting dyes are encapsulated inside metal-organic frameworks. These materials could help improve medical imaging or fight document fraud with anti-forgery inks. Crucially, Yiyi has devised a faster and greener method of producing LG-MOFs – cutting reaction times by over 90%.
Aleksy Kwiatkowski
DPhil, Synthesis for Biology and Medicine CDT
Messy, incomplete lab notes slow down experimental and computational science. Aleksy’s project re-imagines how experimental data is captured, using speech rather than scribbled notes, to improve accuracy, reproducibility and collaboration. By improving how data is logged and shared, it boosts reproducibility and transparency – a modern answer to one of science’s oldest headaches.
Haozhe Xiao
DPhil, Clinical Medicine
Haozhe’s project rethinks how we treat obesity – one of the most pressing and difficult health challenges of our time. Obesity drives major diseases but remains hard to treat due to limited drug targets and side effects. Haozhe’s approach offers a safer, longer-lasting strategy for obesity treatment and a path toward first-in-class therapeutics.
Leo Simon
Undergraduate, Engineering Science
The aim of the project was to challenge the foundation of modern infrastructure. Leo developed a carbon negative, bioengineered alternative to Portland cement, replacing a 200-year-old process with one that self-repairs, resists decay and sequesters carbon. Alongside offering a 460% improvement in flexural strength and a tenfold increase in toughness, it is projected to offset the carbon emissions of greater than 600 million people whilst reducing global infrastructure maintenance costs by up to 40%. The platform promises not just sustainable construction but a systemic shift in how we build.
Building on Jamie’s Legacy
This year’s Jamie Awards didn’t just highlight brilliant research – they told a story of determination, ingenuity, and the kind of thinking that takes science beyond the lab.
Cath Spence, Deputy Head of Licensing & Ventures at OUI and one of the judges, reflected on what made this year’s winners stand out:
“We weren’t just impressed by the science – though that was exceptional. What really stood out was the thought each person gave to why their work matters and how it might make a difference. That blend of technical rigour and human insight is exactly what Jamie encouraged in others. These projects are a beautiful continuation of that spirit.”
The Jamie Ferguson Innovation Awards remain a testament to what happens when bright ideas are nurtured, challenged, and celebrated.
