Grace Frankland Memorial Lecture 

The Grace Frankland Lecture recognises an outstanding contribution to expanding the reach of microbiology to society.

With this lecture, we celebrate the memory of the pioneering microbiologist Grace Frankland (1858 – 1946), who worked at our University between 1894 and 1918. Grace Frankland was an advocate for equality in science and authored multiple studies on the link between bacteria and public health. She also published the book ‘Bacteria in Daily Life’ (1903), which is arguably one of the earliest examples of science outreach in the field of microbiology. 

The award is intended to recognise an outstanding contribution to expanding the reach of microbiology to society. The awardee’s achievements may have been in supporting equality and diversity in science and/or communicating science to the wider public. This reflects Grace Frankland’s position as a talented female microbiologist (in an era before women were allowed to vote!), as someone who campaigned for recognition of women by the scientific community.

Previous speakers have been: