We need to build the data that chemistry deserves - here’s how we can do it
Creating a purpose-built repository of standardised reaction data is a tall order, but the reward would be huge
Giving companies room to grow
Can shopping centres and offices become urban lab spaces for innovative companies to grow and scale-up?
Take two polls to help Iupac define molecular machines
An Iupac committee wants your input to guide its recommendations for key terms in the field
‘Equality means more than passing laws’
How to make chemistry spaces inclusive of all genders
Multi-disciplinary scientists are ready to solve global chemical pollution
Are governments ready to act?
New materials for sustainable fabrics
Textiles based on agricultural waste, algae and fungi are being developed to improve the environmental impact of the fashion industry
My summer writing for Chemistry World
Rupo Mapanga on being a science writer intern at the Royal Society of Chemistry
Why the chemistry community needs to engage with curriculum reviews
A-level grade boundaries are one source of dissatisfaction for chemistry educators
Our columnists
Philip Ball is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster who explores the history and philosophy of chemistry
‘Ageing’ cellular blobs could be linked to neurodegenerative diseases
Over time biomolecular condensates’ redox activity drops and tangled aggregates linked to conditions like Alzheimer’s build-up
Raychelle Burks is an associate professor in the US and an award-winning science communicator and broadcaster.
I can’t believe it’s not…
The analytical techniques revealing the true identity of what you spread on your bread
Nessa Carson is a synthetic organic research chemist based in Macclesfield, UK
The value of good software extends beyond its cost
Whether third-party or built in-house, thoughtful design and implementation can improve workflows and make science more inclusive
Chemjobber is a US-based industry insider, telling tales of tank reactors and organic obstacles
Are you fooling yourself?
Charles Piller’s Doctored and the reality of falsehoods in science
Derek Lowe is a medicinal chemist in the US, sharing wit and wisdom from a life spent in preclinical drug discovery
Welcome to the MegaPharm target selection and project resourcing meeting
Overheard recently in a seminar room near you…
Alice Motion is an associate professor in Australia interested in citizen science, public outreach and education
‘Equality means more than passing laws’
How to make chemistry spaces inclusive of all genders
Chris Nawrat (aka BRSM) is a process chemist at a major pharmaceutical company in the US
(–)-Scabrolide B (again!)
Proverbially, comparison may not bring joy – but it can be educational
Vanessa Seifert explores philosophical issues from the novel perspective of chemistry
Classifications, racial discrimination and Covid-19
Lessons with philosophical significance for how we group people and objects
Andrea Sella is a professor of inorganic chemistry in the UK with a passion for unravelling the unlikely origins of scientific kit
Paneth’s mirrors and the isolation of methyl radicals
Laying the groundwork for the study of combustion and photochemical reactions
Research landscape
‘Real danger in this moment’ for America’s research enterprise
There are stark warnings for the US amid science agency cuts, terminated research grants and detained graduate students
Chemists amid coronavirus five years on: Krystle McLaughlin
An assistant chemistry professor at a small college in New York gets her career back on track, thanks to a tenure clock extension and teaching release
Chemists amid coronavirus five years on: Liang Zhang
Lockdown gave a young chemistry professor in China the space and time to consider the most worthwhile projects, and that has benefited his team
Putting research on the chopping block risks mortgaging countries’ futures
Many countries in the global north are taking a short-sighted approach to their science budgets
Forming bonds through Covid-19
How studying chemistry helped ward off loneliness during the pandemic
The right level of trust in the scientific literature
An overreliance on what’s gone before can hinder innovation
The value of research is measured in many ways
Academia is a broad church
Industry landscape
Giving companies room to grow
Can shopping centres and offices become urban lab spaces for innovative companies to grow and scale-up?
Giving companies room to grow
Can shopping centres and offices become urban lab spaces for innovative companies to grow and scale-up?
Polymorphs matter – especially when they might disappear
Disappearing polymorphs offer a fascinating example of the dark arts of crystallisation
Acceptable levels of (epi)genetic engineering
Amplifying or silencing genes may be preferable to permanently changing genetic code
Letters: April 2025
Readers highlight Serbian opposition to lithium mining, the need for more practical chemistry, and the influence of the Greek alphabet
Profiles
Willie May: ‘We need to find and support the “missing millions”’
The analytical chemist on growing up Black in Alabama in the 1950s and 1960s and his journey through NIST, academia and the AAAS presidency
From professional ballet dancer to quantum chemist
Creativity has been central to James Shee’s career across both art and science
Paul Alivisatos: ‘Physical chemistry brought me back into the fold’
The nanomaterials pioneer talks about coming from a family of immigrants, wandering as an undergraduate and finding his compass
Paul Alivisatos: ‘Physical chemistry brought me back into the fold’
The nanomaterials pioneer talks about coming from a family of immigrants, wandering as an undergraduate and finding his compass
Hidden from view: being a scientific advisor for the emergency services
Stephen Yao’s expertise helps the emergency services deal with chemical incidents
Jon-Paul Griffiths: ‘Starting a small company is a phenomenal experience’
The chief technology officer of Oxeco on spinning out, supporting entrepreneurs and the difficulties of identifying a market
This nanotechnology expert works with both plant and brain cells
Could Markita Landry’s research group be any more interdisciplinary?
Donna Nelson: ‘Being the science advisor to Breaking Bad was so much fun’
The well-known organic chemist on growing up in a small Oklahoma town, asking demographic questions and advising a hit television series
Take two polls to help Iupac define molecular machines
By Ivan Aprahamian, Dean Astumian, Carson Bruns, Stephen Goldup, Pierangelo Metrangolo and Daisy Pooler
An Iupac committee wants your input to guide its recommendations for key terms in the field
Multi-disciplinary scientists are ready to solve global chemical pollution
By Camilla Alexander-White and Tom Welton
Are governments ready to act?