The Ben Barrs Spotlight Award's mission is to highlight researchers from minorities in STEM fields and researchers from low income countries. This award is only open to authors of eLife articles. Dr Nicky Creux was one of two South Africans awarded this funding for 2023. As part of the award, the awardee is asked to host an online event with a Q and A session (so watch this space!). The funding provided by this award will enable Nicky and a PhD student to attend the next International Sunflower Conference in China in 2024. This is an important event in the Sunflower research community and our participation will improve representation from Africa. The article in eLife co-authored by Dr Creux is titled: "The circadian clock controls temporal and spatial patterns of floral development in sunflower"