Susumu Kitagawa: ‘I tell my students three words: luck, stubbornness and perseverance’
The winner of the 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry on books, porous materials and his mantra for success
Autocatalytic networks could lie at the beginning of evolution
New modelling suggests how compartmentalised cross-catalysing networks can evolve adaptations that are passed on through chemical states
From preservative to poison
New concerns have arisen about a chemical’s deliberate misuse
Ineos temporarily closes UK acetyls plants
Owing to high high gas prices, the plants are uncompetitive, despite their high efficiency
Feeding AI’s appetite for data
Tapping companies’ archives makes for better predictions of how proteins bind drugs, but any data inputs need to be transparent and attributed
The current academic system doesn’t incentivise risk-taking
But playing it safe can have negative consequences for a field
The evolving landscape of pain drug discovery
Harnessing the power of human-relevant in vitro models
The scientific career clock in China
Age limits on funding and recruitment programmes place unhelpful pressures on early-career researchers
Our columnists
Philip Ball is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster who explores the history and philosophy of chemistry
Autocatalytic networks could lie at the beginning of evolution
New modelling suggests how compartmentalised cross-catalysing networks can evolve adaptations that are passed on through chemical states
Raychelle Burks is an associate professor in the US and an award-winning science communicator and broadcaster.
From preservative to poison
New concerns have arisen about a chemical’s deliberate misuse
Nessa Carson is a synthetic organic research chemist based in Macclesfield, UK
Implementing ideas in industry
An initial thought can take on a life of its own as different stakeholders contribute their expertise
Chemjobber is a US-based industry insider, telling tales of tank reactors and organic obstacles
Early lessons from the Garden Grove chemical incident
A runaway polymerisation raises questions about safety measures and their backups
Derek Lowe is a medicinal chemist in the US, sharing wit and wisdom from a life spent in preclinical drug discovery
Chemistry contains multitudes
There’s room (and need) for all the various subspecies of chemical scientists
Chris Nawrat (aka BRSM) is a process chemist at a major pharmaceutical company in the US
(±)-Conidiogenone B
A beautiful synthesis that measures up to an ideal
Vanessa Seifert explores philosophical issues from the novel perspective of chemistry
Do isolated molecules have structure?
If quantum mechanically described superposition states exist, can a molecule truly have a shape?
Andrea Sella is a professor of inorganic chemistry in the UK with a passion for unravelling the unlikely origins of scientific kit
Alfred Wilm and the hardening of metals
How do you prepare for a so-called accidental discovery?
Research landscape
Why I think it’s time to change how we teach the inductive effect
New evidence challenges the idea of long‑range inductive transmission, highlighting that some textbook explanations of inductive effects are oversimplified and, in key cases, completely wrong
Africa should treat entrepreneurial science as a lifeline, not a luxury
Synchronised action from universities, policymakers and scientists is needed to bridge the gap from ideas to impact
The current academic system doesn’t incentivise risk-taking
But playing it safe can have negative consequences for a field
The scientific career clock in China
Age limits on funding and recruitment programmes place unhelpful pressures on early-career researchers
As a first-generation student, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing
And that brought challenges and unexpected opportunites
The chemist anthropologist
What new species remain to be discovered in the lab?
Some voices conspicuously silent when it comes to Trump’s science policies
Research-intensive universities have been targeted in an unprecedented and unrelenting manner since Donald Trump retook the White House
Industry landscape
Ineos temporarily closes UK acetyls plants
Owing to high high gas prices, the plants are uncompetitive, despite their high efficiency
Ineos temporarily closes UK acetyls plants
Owing to high high gas prices, the plants are uncompetitive, despite their high efficiency
Feeding AI’s appetite for data
Tapping companies’ archives makes for better predictions of how proteins bind drugs, but any data inputs need to be transparent and attributed
‘Molecular glues’ are sticking it to cancer
Compounds that enhance selected protein–protein interactions to interfere with signalling or send proteins to be destroyed are making it possible to influence processes that were previously considered ‘undruggable’
Letters: September 2026
Including a call for you to share your low-stakes mistakes
Profiles
Susumu Kitagawa: ‘I tell my students three words: luck, stubbornness and perseverance’
The winner of the 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry on books, porous materials and his mantra for success
Screening therapeutic peptides for ‘undruggable’ proteins
Revolver Therapeutics targets transcription factors that are hard to reach with conventional drugs and antibodies
Avtar Singh Matharu: ‘Being a visible role model is really important’
The green chemist on being authentic, having good mentors and being proud of your culture
Avtar Singh Matharu: ‘Being a visible role model is really important’
The green chemist on being authentic, having good mentors and being proud of your culture
‘Lots of researchers were doing very unusual things – I created an awards ceremony to celebrate them’
Marc Abrahams, founder of the Ig Nobel prizes, on how the annual parody science award show began and how it’s changing
How 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
Combining 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
Pfizer’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
It’s time for consensus on science’s place in government
By Patrick Walter
The latest shake-up of UK science policy oversight brings uncertainty to a sector that needs stability to succeed
What do university chemistry practicals really test?
By Nitheeshan Gunanantham
In Nitheeshan Gunanantham’s experience, stamina can become a stand-in for skill