LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 5, 2026) — A mounting record of research accomplishments in organic electronics reached new heights this week as Alexandra (Zan) Paterson, Ph.D., earned international recognition as the 2026 Nature Awards Inspiring Women in Science winner in the Scientific Achievement category. Paterson accepted the award at a Nov. 3 ceremony in London, England.
Presented in partnership with The Estée Lauder Companies, the award celebrates women making significant contributions to scientific discovery while also recognizing efforts to encourage girls and young women to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics and remain in STEM careers. Paterson will receive a $50,000 prize, mentoring opportunities through The Estée Lauder Companies and an opportunity to present her work to the company’s scientists.
For Paterson, the recognition came as a surprise.
“I was shocked,” Paterson said. “This award is huge, and huge for my group and our team. I love the work that we do, and this is confirmation that our work is valuable. This recognition is incredibly encouraging.”
The milestone reflects a research program that has thrived since Paterson arrived at the University of Kentucky.
Paterson is an assistant professor of materials engineering, with a joint appointment in electrical engineering, and a Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Scholar in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering. Her Organic Materials and Devices Laboratory is based at the UK Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER). Paterson’s research focuses on organic electronic materials and devices, including organic semiconductors, bioelectronics, printed sensors, flexible electronics and smart agricultural tools.
Her team studies soft, carbon-based semiconductor materials to understand the fundamental physics governing how they work — including the functional stability of soft mixed conductors and transistors. The long-term goal is to translate that understanding into technologies ranging from low-energy computing to bioelectronics and low-cost healthcare.
“Stability is a critical requirement for any commercialized technology,” Paterson said. “We have found a way to make soft mixed conductors and their transistor counterparts much more stable. That’s one of our innovative scientific findings.”
The work builds on a research trajectory supported early in Paterson’s UK career through Kentucky NSF EPSCoR. That support provided equipment and resources that helped her laboratory grow and compete successfully for subsequent funding. Her research has since earned major early-career honors, including the U.S. National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Young Faculty Award.
This Nature award is yet another chapter in an incredible trajectory for the Paterson lab, but she is quick to point out they are not alone in their success.
“These awards don’t happen because of one person. Working in industry taught me the true value of teamwork,” she said. “The organic electronics research community is highly collaborative. We’ve got a strong organic electronics group here at UK which includes the John Anthony, Chad Risko and Ken Graham labs. My group also has excellent collaborations with my colleagues from all over the world. Another integral part of this research success comes from my strong academic mentors, Professor Thomas Anthopoulos at the University of Manchester, Professor Iain McCulloch at Princeton University and Professor John Anthony at UK.”
She also credits CAER with providing the environment needed to turn early ideas into a growing research program.
“UK CAER is another fundamental component of why we’ve been successful,” Paterson said. “The equipment that we have here, the staff support, the facilities, our wonderful lab — we have great students. This is a great environment, and it’s incredibly professional, but it’s also very supportive.”
Rodney Andrews, Ph.D., the UK Center for Applied Energy Research director, describes Paterson’s work as closely aligned with CAER’s mission to translate research into technologies that can help the Commonwealth and beyond.
“The Paterson laboratory and her research collaborators are engaged in projects that hold great promise in improving devices we use every day — from healthcare devices to products that will be more energy efficient and effective,” Andrews said. “We are proud to support the Paterson laboratory, and congratulations to Dr. Paterson on this prestigious award.”
As Paterson’s research success has blossomed, so has her commitment to supporting the women following in her footsteps. Paterson knows what it is like to begin a scientific career without many women around her.
As a 23-year-old beginning her industry career, Paterson recalled being the only woman in a group of 55 researchers. But she had grown up surrounded by inspiring women.
“I’ve had inspirations throughout my life, starting with my family. My mum, my auntie, my grandma — there’s a lot of strong women in my family,” Paterson said. “That is then combined with my dad and mum inspiring my passion for physics at a very young age.”
Those experiences shaped the type of mentor and collaborator Paterson is today. She sees as much meaning in her students’ personal growth as she does in their research progress.
“I’m really passionate about women in science,” said Paterson. “The girls in my research group, for example, seeing them grow from a first-year student to when they get to the end of it and then they graduate with a Ph.D.,” Paterson said. “That’s something that’s really important for me, to pass down that knowledge and that passion and that feeling that was given to me.”
Her advice to young women scientists is straightforward.
“For young women in research, I always say that the proof is in the pudding,” Paterson said. “Lead by example, just do you, and show people how capable you are by doing, not by talking.”
Leading by example has another meaning for Paterson.
“I think it’s really important for the students here to know that I have children as well as a career because I want them to see that you can do both,” Paterson said.
The road to having both hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it.
“I am extremely happy that the science is doing so well that I’ve been recognized at this level, and to have a wonderful 4-year-old and a 7-year-old to enjoy all this with. They both want to be scientists as well.”
Paterson accepting the award in London, England. | Photo by Ian Alderman.
Zan Paterson working in her Organic Electronics Lab at the Center for Applied Energy Research. Photo provided by Pigman College of Engineering.
Panel discussion at the Nature Awards. | Photo by Ian Alderman.
Paterson’s team studies soft, carbon-based semiconductor materials to understand the fundamental physics governing how they work. Photo provided by Pigman College of Engineering.
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