Victoria Atkinson
Following on from two generations of chemists, perhaps my choice to pursue the same path was inevitable. My childhood was full of home experiments, from the classic bicarb volcano to growing copper sulphate crystals on the window ledge!
I studied chemistry at the University of Oxford and completed my fourth-year master’s project working on catalytic methodology with Darren Dixon (which excitingly led to my first publication). Having caught the research bug, I decided to continue on to do a PhD, this time joining Jeremy Robertson to work on a total synthesis project, employing enzymatic methodology to produce agrochemical products.
Towards the end of my PhD, I found that I was enjoying talking about science much more than actually doing it and I became heavily involved in science outreach. Here I could share my enthusiasm for science with younger students through practical workshops and school visits, something which I always found very fulfilling. Later, I focused on developing new outreach material and have since made the transition to science journalism.
ResearchPolymer shows some backbone as it becomes first with extended metal spine
Construction process for 21-atom-long one-dimensional nickel wires could find use in nanoelectronics
- Research
Chemical analysis of Tartan questions cultural perceptions of 18th century Scotland
Anita Quye explains why the sciences and the humanities aren’t as disparate as we might think
- Research
’Photoredox catalysis goes asymmetric’: counterion strategy a breakthrough in reaction control
Ion-pairing enables chemists to reach previously inaccessible enantiomers
- Research
Streamlined synthesis of quinine showcases sustainable organic strategy
Five pot synthesis delivers highest yield of antimalarial to date
- Business
UK antibiotics supply chain stretched by surge in Strep A infections
Government enacts protocols to enable substitute treatments and recommends preventive prescriptions in severe cases
- Feature
Fashion to dye for
Can colouring clothing be environmentally sustainable? Victoria Atkinson looks at how dyes have come full circle from their natural origins
- Research
Water-splitting device solves puzzle of producing hydrogen direct from seawater
System offers scalable way to turn oceans into energy source
- Research
New lease of life for waste PVC chlorinating aromatics
Electrochemical process could tackle hard to recycle plastic
- Business
Europe gears up for streamlined patent system
Delayed Unified Patent Court set to begin operating in April
- Research
Controversy surrounds corrected chemical structures
Researchers used machine learning-powered NMR prediction to correct improbable structures – but some of their revisions have been challenged
- Research
Diverse pharmaceutical building blocks prepared with evolved enzymes
Computation guides enzyme evolution to produce high-value drug compounds
- Research
Waste plastics unzipped into useful pieces
Chemical recycling of polyethylene produces feedstock usually obtained from crude oil.
- Research
Designer catalyst with enzyme-like cavity splits water almost as fast as plants
Catalytic cleft offers new strategy to speed up hydrogen synthesis
- Research
Surface reactions can be controlled by bulk stoichiometry
Computational models demonstrate how the elastic properties of a solid can influence surface chemistry
- Research
Artificial active transport offers new way to prepare complex oligorotaxanes
Novel class of molecular pump is driven by transamidation
- Opinion
Angela Russell: ‘We have to not be afraid of failing’
The medicinal chemist on thinking like a scientist and knowing where you want to go
