Profiles
Profiles of people and organisations from across the chemical sciences
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CareersHow Robert Crapnell carved out a new role between technician and academic
The research technical manager at Manchester Metropolitan University was awarded this year’s RSC Technical Excellence Prize
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BusinessCombining AI with experiments to solve real-world materials problems
CuspAI’s Materials Foundry partner network includes 45 technology, data and materials chemistry companies to make and test its predictions
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BusinessPfizer’s green chemistry team turns 25
What began as a grassroots initiative has become embedded across Pfizer’s research and manufacturing operations, helping reshape processes from Viagra to Paxlovid
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Feature150 years of Gibbs’ phase rule
In 1876, Josiah Willard Gibbs published an equation that would transform chemistry – yet barely anyone noticed at the time. The story of his phase rule is one of delayed recognition, mathematical abstraction and enduring scientific legacy
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CareersFrom baseball to chemistry, and back again
With a lifelong passion for baseball and love of science, Jake Bruml began his career in biotech but transitioned to direct scouting for the Boston Red Sox
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BusinessRewriting genetic medicine
Scribe Therapeutics will soon begin clinical trials for its epigenetic treatment to tackle ‘bad’ cholesterol
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ResearchWatching unpaired electrons at work
From building the Centre for Pulse EPR at Imperial to probing electron transfer in real time, Maxie Rößler is pushing an overlooked technique into the spotlight
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OpinionBen Zhong Tang: ‘If you have to do something, try to do it well’
The polymer chemist on finding love for a subject, working with others and staying optimistic
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CareersA career journey where nothing is lost and everything is transformed
What Lavoisier can teach you about career development
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BusinessDetecting airborne pathogens by DNA sequencing
UK spin-out Agnos Biosciences turned a ‘wacky idea’ into a sensor with applications from agriculture to hospitals
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ResearchUsing light to push stereochemistry uphill
While chemistry usually follows the downhill pull of thermodynamics, Alison Wendlandt is creating higher‑energy stereoisomers in the final stages of synthesis
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BusinessBursting bubbles break down PFAS
Mantisonix is using ultrasound to destroy fluorochemical pollutants in water
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OpinionSteve Liddle: ‘Try and do something different to what everyone else is doing’
The organometallic chemist on working with the f-elements, following your instinct and remaining grounded
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ResearchBreaking bonds and bringing disciplines together to replace one of chemistry’s most controversial molecules
Rebecca Trager meets an organic chemist catalysing the search for BPA replacements by connecting synthetic chemists, data scientists, toxicologists and polymer chemists
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CareersHow Thuc-Quyen Nguyen’s dreams of capturing the sun led her to organic electronics
Organic solar cell windows will enable the buildings of the future to be energy-neutral, she says
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OpinionVeronica Vaida: ‘Some Harvard faculty expressed puzzlement at having a woman colleague’
The renowned physical chemist and environmental scientist on growing up in Romania and forging her career as a woman in the US in the 1970s
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ResearchEmbodying polymer chemistry with a purpose by upcycling plastics and trapping PFAS
For Frank Leibfarth, focussing on reactivity and selectivity helps him bridge the gap between fundamental and applied research
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BusinessRethinking hydrogen peroxide production
Hydro-Oxy and Addible both aim to transform how industry produces and uses a ubiquitous oxidant.
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CareersAbigail Mortimer’s career in glassblowing
Since starting as a trainee 17 years ago, her collaborative creations have underpinned teaching and research at the University of York’s chemistry department
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OpinionAlexandra Navrotsky: ‘I don’t think you attract people to science by big initiatives’
The nanogeoscientist on the importance of people to good science, the recent turnaround on diversity, equity and inclusion and why she will never be a professional artist