Julia Robinson
Science correspondent, Chemistry World
I joined the Chemistry World team as Science Correspondent in May 2023. Previously I spent eight years leading the clinical and science content at The Pharmaceutical Journal, the official journal of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, a membership body for pharmacists.
With a grounding in biology and a masters in science communication I may not be a chemist by trade but I hope to bring a wealth of knowledge about the pharmaceutical industry, drug development, pharmacology and health to the Chemistry World team.
As well as being passionate about all aspects of science I am also committed to producing journalism that is of the highest quality and accuracy and which holds those in power to account.
Testament to this, my work has led me to be shortlisted for several specialist journalism awards. And, I was lucky enough to be awarded Best Writer at the British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) Talent Awards two years running (2022 and 2023); for B2B and news writing.
NewsUniversity of Leicester chemistry department could lose at least nine staff under merger proposals
Staff warn cuts would leave the department without the resources to teach Leicester’s growing student population
News‘AI will have a very large impact on chemistry’: £100 million AI materials hub to be built in Liverpool
Aim-Hi project to speed use of AI in materials science and accelerate discovery science
ResearchCryo-EM snapshots reveal insight into how opioids activate their receptor
Insights from structural images could help design new opioids and antidotes to them
News’Chemistry is incredibly complicated’: The interface between chemistry and art
Liverpool PhD student Emma Brass talks to Chemistry World about her AI-powered art installation
NewsFormal sign off agreed on Swiss participation in EU research programmes
Switzerland is once more officially part of Horizon Europe, Digital Europe and Euratom research and training programmes
NewsGeneticist James Watson who co-discovered the structure of DNA dies at 97
Famed for his work on DNA’s structure, but Watson courted controversy throughout his career
NewsUK’s inability to retain science companies has reached ‘crisis point’, warns new report
Lords science committee says promising technology companies are moving overseas
NewsGlobal cooperation essential to cut carbon emissions in lithium-ion battery supply chain
Emissions could be cut a third by 2060
NewsFlame retardants no longer required in many UK baby and children’s products
Move should reduce exposure of children to chemicals that have come in for criticism for their persistence and bioaccumulation
ResearchCivet coffee kopi luwak’s reputedly superior flavour may have chemical basis
Coffee beans that have passed through the gut of Asian palm civet have more compounds associated with intense tastes
NewsCardiff University scales back proposed cuts to chemistry department following consultation
Department still set to merge with two others but there will be no compulsory redundancies
NewsUKRI announces changes to simplify and improve efficiency of fellowships
Changes introduced to make fellowships easier to manage and understand
FeatureHow the pioneers of metal-organic frameworks won the Nobel prize
From wooden models to thousands and thousands of structures, Julia Robinson tells the story of how Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi won the 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry
NewsThe chemistry community should ban drawing chemical structures with generative AI, chemists warn
AIs like Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT still make serious errors rendering structural formulae
News2025 chemistry Nobel prize goes to the scientists behind metal–organic frameworks
Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi take top prize for discovery and development of versatile materials with a huge surface area
NewsMedicine Nobel prize recognises discovery of protective ‘security guard’ regulatory T cells
Research explained how body protects itself from the immune system, offering new ways to treat autoimmune disease
ResearchNext generation gene editors engineered to significantly reduce error rate
Introducing mutations into DNA-snipping ‘molecular scissors’ can result in 60-fold reduction in errors
ResearchHow does Clarivate pick its potential Nobel prize winners?
Chemistry World talks to the head of research analysis at the Institute for Science Information on how they decide which researchers are producing Nobel-worthy research
ResearchTransforming plastic waste into an efficient CO2 capturing material
Upcycled amide can efficiently capture carbon dioxide from flue gases, as well as air
NewsAI helps identify over 1000 dubious open-access journals from screen of 15,000 titles
Program compares favourably with human integrity experts