RSC Advances presents an annual award series to recognise the hard work of students within the chemistry community. All research articles published in RSC Advances in 2023 were considered. To be eligible for this award, the first author or co-first author must have been a student at the time of carrying out the research. With the support of corresponding authors, over 700 nominations were received, highlighting the incredible talent and potential within the next generation of chemists. It is particularly inspiring to learn about the exceptional work from a diverse range of research fields and countries, a testament to the quality of research and curiosity throughout the community. The nominations were shortlisted based on a number of criteria, and the winning papers were then selected by the Editorial Board and Associate Editors.