Professor Phil Bartlett, Head of Electrochemistry at the University has been awarded two significant scientific awards for outstanding achievements over his career in his branch of Chemistry. He will receive the Volta Medal and the Galvani Medal, both named after Italian pioneers in electrochemistry.
“I am delighted to be recognised by my fellow electrochemists in Europe,” says Phil who moved to Southampton in 1992 after academic posts in Warwick, Bath and Imperial College.
Phil is only the second British chemist to have been awarded the Volta Medal by the Europe section of The Electrochemical Society. The Galvani Medal is awarded by the Italian Chemical Society to recognise the work of non-Italian scientists; the first winner in 1986 was Professor Roger Parsons from Southampton.
Alessandro Volta is known for the invention of the earliest electrochemical cell or battery in 1800; the electrical unit of measurement the volt is named after him. Luigi Galvani, experimenting with frog’s legs, discovered that electrical currents caused animal muscles to twitch.