Kaya Burgess

Explaining complex and often controversial concepts in a clear and engaging way is crucial for both of Kaya Burgess’s patches at The Times, as Science Reporter and Religious Affairs Correspondent. In his science brief, he covers breaking news, investigations, colourful interviews and features, including exclusives this year on the chaos that led the Science Secretary to libel a top academic and his trip to have a robotic “third thumb” added to examine the future of prosthetic technology.

For over six years, Kaya has led The Times’s coverage of the contaminated blood scandal, the biggest disaster in NHS history, covering the Infected Blood Inquiry from its start in 2018. He broke stories including HIV diagnoses being withheld from patients and Department of Health officials being aware of contamination risks years before drugs were withdrawn. At every step, Kaya explained the science - including how the manufacturing process for haemophilia drugs increased the infection risk. All his 51 articles on the scandal are at http://bit.ly/timeskayablood. Over months ahead of the inquiry’s final report, Kaya used his years spent building expertise and contacts to compose an in-depth exploration of the scandal. He interviewed victims and relatives who shared powerful testimony about losing friends or parents and the impact of their own diagnoses. He tracked down key ministers, visiting Lord Owen at his home and speaking to Lord Clarke, to quiz them on how they failed to avert the tragedy. Kaya led the front-page coverage of the inquiry report. He was thanked for The Times’s “awesome” reporting by campaigners, with another adding: “Thank you for continuing to cover our fight for justice.”

Kaya broke the story revealing that James Webb Space Telescope was turning its gaze on a planet orbiting a distant star to investigate one of the strongest hints of alien life. He exclusively interviewed the astrophysicist who revealed he had “sleepless nights” after detecting a gas which suggests planet K2-18b could host algae-like life. Kaya explained the complex science behind analysing the chemical make-up of starlight that has travelled trillions of miles, directing the composition of graphics and timelines to illustrate the missions hunting for alien life, conveying the excitement in the quest to answer the universe’s biggest question. The story was followed by the Daily Mail, LBC Radio, Economic Times and many others.

Kaya also boldly went where no reporter has gone before, to report from the surface of the Moon (or the next best thing). He had the exclusive among UK journalists, travelling to the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne to reveal the geology and physics behind the most sophisticated recreation of the lunar surface ever built before its opening. Donning a helmet and spacesuit-like coveralls, Kaya showed the power of first-person journalism to capture the awe of scientific endeavour - much-needed amid the grim tales in the news. He interviewed astronauts about how the facility could help put the first European on the Moon, capturing his own photos and videos for use in composing graphics and maps.