Outstanding ED&I Champion Student Award

Congratulations to Ollie Thomas, who has been awarded an MPLS ED&I award for his sustained commitment, and generosity in engaging in initiatives by national societies and within the University, helping to erode taboos surrounding mental health and encouraging people to engage with STEM subjects.

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Ollie has demonstrated a sustained commitment to EDI. As secretary of Enable Science he has worked to improve the visibility of disabled scientists, helping to produce, and featuring in, their disabled scientist spotlight series of posters designed for schools. He has also published a column in Chemistry World discussing his own experience of disability and how important a sense of community and belonging is. He featured in the RSC taboos and tricky topics webinar series in an episode spotlighting mental health.  

Ollie also actively works to remove barriers which might result in people being or feeling excluded. He volunteers as a committee member on the RSC chemist’s community fund, funding initiatives to support EDI such as the RSC I&D fund and directly supporting those experiencing hardship. He volunteered with the RNIB to produce audio transcriptions of books as well as working for the university DAS supporting students with disabilities.

Ollie’s continued commitment to and passion for EDI led to him taking on the role of an EDI Fellow. In this role he sits on divisional and departmental EDI committees and contributes to a broad range of issues from support for victims of sexual harassment to organising departmental quizzes to help people de-stress. Ollie developed, organised, and hosted a Festival of Failure event, to highlight the impact of failure in our lives and how this may affect different people differently, as well as reflecting on how we might manage failure. Due to the success of this event two further festivals are planned for the next year.