Collections
Research culture
In this collection we explore fostering a positive research culture and scientific practices, covering topics such as reproducibility, open science, diversity and inclusion, leadership and mentorship, career instability, discrimination, misconduct and the evolving landscape of research ethics and integrity.
Leadership
What’s wrong with research culture?
A knotty mess of problems affects people doing academic research in the UK. Rachel Brazil tries to untie the tangle
How to improve research culture
Five ways to make chemistry departments better places to work
How EPSRC fosters inclusion
The pandemic has provided valuable lessons for funders to rethink research culture
Support and wellbeing
Act now to support early-career researchers
The Covid-19 pandemic has further highlighted long-existing issues that leaders need to take a stance on
Mental wellbeing in academia
Not enough has been done to support students during the pandemic
Science and research ‘are dead’ in Afghanistan
Afghan researchers and scholars flee or go into hiding as the Taliban’s return to power sees the science academy and universities closed
UKRI response to Black female academics on funding decisions called inadequate
Pledge to improve understanding and monitoring of inequality comes a year after open letter was first published
Diverse cultures
In situ with Tebello Nyokong
The influential chemist on nurturing confidence in students and taking inspiration from the humanities
The science of team science
Researchers and funders are exploring ways to make large collaborative projects more successful
Science faction
Taking inspiration from nerd culture
Science as a product of culture
The role of background beliefs and assumptions in the development of science
Change at the top
Improving research culture requires effort – but it’s worth it
Impact of Covid-19
Let it go
We have to accept that we can’t catch up on time lost in lockdown
How Covid-19 has changed us
While the pandemic has introduced more efficient and global ways of working, researchers and educators still have challenges to overcome
Pandemic continues to disrupt and depress UK researchers, survey finds
Researchers reported spending more time on peer-review activities, teaching and writing
Leading a lab through pandemic-induced uncertainty
Emphathy is vital to support mentees effectively
Publishing
Depositing hope for the future
The rise of ChemRxiv might mean that chemists can tackle thornier cultural problems
Australian Research Council’s ban on preprints in grants prompts outcry
Move derided as ‘hopelessly outdated’ and a setback for open science by researchers
Chemists react to UK umbrella funding body’s new open access mandate
Agency aligns itself with principles of Plan S by insisting on immediate open access
Four years of chemistry preprints
Nina Notman takes stock of how preprint severs have settled into the chemistry community
FeatureThe new signs bringing greater understanding to organic chemistry
Rebecca Trager speaks to a US team developing a sign language lexicon for chemistry concepts that combines form with meaning to make the field more accessible for everyone
OpinionThriving as a Deaf chemistry PhD student
Asma Sheikh talks about growing up, discovering her passion for chemistry and being a teaching assistant
CareersFinancial challenges affect the health of UK chemistry
Maintaining a healthy chemistry pipeline requires affordable education and training routes
OpinionDo chemists die young?
Death notices for chemists suggest perhaps not, despite the hazards found in many labs
CareersFor chemistry to thrive, it needs to become less cliquey
We need to help more people break through the barriers of tight networks
FeatureThe health of chemistry across the pipeline
More students in the UK are studying chemistry at A-level than 20 years ago, but how does that translate to universities?
OpinionMy assistance dog gave me the confidence to start a PhD
When anxiety threatens, Phoenix is on hand to help
OpinionLangley’s bolometer and the importance of ‘stamp collecting’
Mapping a spectrum of developments
WebinarOnscreen chemistry: The portrayal of chemical science in film and TV
Join us 14 February 2025 to discover the real-life chemistry that inspires the art of the silver screen
OpinionPaul Anastas: ‘I’m proudest of being part of a global green chemistry community’
The father of green chemistry on his love of the environment, striving for unattainable perfection and breathing life into an old town library
CareersThe benefits of following a PhD with an MBA
The chemists who have achieved professional success by getting business and management degrees
OpinionThe chemical industry is falling short on supporting women
Unless barriers are broken down, the future of the industry is unsustainable
OpinionDid AI just win the Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry?
The importance of the expert eye in scientific progress
NewsNobel prize winners far more likely to come from wealthy families highlighting inequality in the sciences
Winners today come, on average, from less wealthy families than when the prize began but there is still a long way to go
NewsNobel prize-winning scientists mobilise for Kamala Harris
82 Nobel laureates warn of the threat Donald Trump poses to science, climate and living standards
OpinionYvonne Perrie: ‘Good research culture is about being able to learn and fail without judgment’
The drug delivery expert and multidisciplinary researcher on the importance of learning from failure and how a summer in a margarine factory influenced her career
NewsOnline archive of Humphry Davy’s notebooks opens to the public
Historic collection is the result of a five-year long citizen science project
NewsWomen stay in science far longer than thought, study of OECD countries suggests
Analysis of publications reveals that, on average, women ‘survive’ as long as men across 16 scientific disciplines
FeatureHow AI protein structure prediction and design won the Nobel prize
David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper won this year’s Nobel prize in chemistry. Jamie Durrani investigates the origins of a biochemistry revolution
OpinionThe CaSE for engagement in research
Discussions shed light on how the public would like to contribute to R&D
NewsCern to end cooperation agreements with Russian-based researchers
From November, 500 scientists affiliated with Russian institutions will be cut off from Cern research facilities due to ongoing war in Ukraine
NewsThe 2024 Nobel prize in chemistry as it happens – live
Join us as we follow all the developments in the run-up to the awarding of chemistry’s biggest prize