Some great news from William Cullerne Bown, the original founder of Research Professional News, which is slated to shut on 31 Dec. He's planning to launch something v similar on 1 Jan william.cullernebown.uk/a-new-beginn...
A new beginning
Research Professional News is to close on 31 December. This is the announcement of a new, independent publication coming on 1 January
william.cullernebown.uk
Lovely to speak to Prof Kitagawa about his new concept - moving from a digging to a separating civilisation. What a nice guy.
Chemistry World@chemistryworld.com · last wk.Nobel laureate Susumu Kitagawa told delegates at the EuChemS Chemistry congress in Antwerp that that we need to focus on mining the ‘invisible gold’ all around us – air. @patdwalter.bsky.social #ChemSky www.chemistryworld.com/news/chemist...
Maite Maguregui Hernando, a researcher in Spain who has developed bio-based gels to clean cultural heritage items independent of this work, says vinegar syndrome is ‘one of the most urgent threats in motion picture film preservation’. @patdwalter.bsky.social www.chemistryworld.com/news/polymer...
Polymer sponge could save stars of the silver screen from ‘vinegar syndrome’ destruction
Material that mops up acetic acid could slow degradation of old movie reels
chemistryworld.com
Chemistry World’s Patrick Walter speaks to former industry scientist at PFAS manufacturer 3M, Rudy Dams, about the future of these forever chemicals following his address at the 10th EuChemS Chemistry Congress. Read 👇 #ChemSky @patdwalter.bsky.social www.chemistryworld.com/news/can-we-...
Can we have a world without PFAS?
Chemistry World spoke to Rudy Dams, a former 3M scientist, about our uneasy relationship with PFAS, proposed bans and the search for alternatives
chemistryworld.com
We are looking for a talented organic chemist to join our team at Moltech-Anjou (CNRS, University of Angers, France) for a 1-year postdoctoral position funded by EUR LUMOMAT. 📅 Starting date: January 2027 🧪 PhD obtained less than 2 years before the start of the contract
@theguardian.com It seems the weekend crossword isn't working on the app this weekend...
Some thoughts on the planned closure of @resprofnews.bsky.social . And what the lack of media coverage on the planned closure of Research Professional News tells us about what life might look like without a functioning trade media.
Research Professional News has become the story…. | Cash for Questions: Research funding, policy and development
socialscienceresearchfunding.co.uk
Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · last mo.A message from our publisher. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...
Awful news that RPN is closing🧪 @smclondon.bsky.social has blog on its huge value to research www.sciencemediacentre.org/in-praise-of... I'd add I'm hugely grateful to (then) Research Fortnight for my first journalism job. So many of us got a great education there: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Researc...
In praise of Research Fortnight | Science Media Centre
sciencemediacentre.org
John Morgan@johnmorgan3.bsky.social · last mo.Very sad to be sharing this news: Research Professional News to discontinue publication at end of 2026. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...
Scientific American Union Rally June 30, 2026•05:00 PM Springer Nature Offices (NYC) • 1 New York Plaza, NY, NY actionnetwork.org/events/scien... Come hear what happened to Scientific American. Nice weather at Battery Park. Check out the fancy digs that research grant money buys.
Scientific American Union Rally 6/30
On Tuesday, the international scientific publisher Springer Nature sold Scientific American, the iconic 181-year old publication famous for its authoritative coverage of science to LabX Media Group. L...
actionnetwork.org
Love this bit on Ai from the Royal Society. A classic case of the probability engine getting itself in a mess and revealing its complete lack of understanding
Not being dramatic, but this probably signals the effective end of Chemistry in English Universities. An *efficient* Department loses something like £2k per Chemistry student per year; this change will roughly double that loss. Universities would be mad to keep teaching Chemistry.
Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 2mo agoBreaking: Government set to cut strategic priorities grant. The government is on the cusp of cutting public funding for higher education teaching, the head of Universities UK has told MPs, placing institutions under even more financial pressure. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
UKRI are recruiting for a new Exec Chair for Research England (£160k-£170k). It is a crucial role including QR funding and the REF. I hope they get a great field. But I worry a bit. It's hard to find on their website (see link below) fa-evzn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
UKRI Careers
fa-evzn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com
More than half of all retracted papers list academic institutions in China — my latest for @chemistryworld.com: www.chemistryworld.com/news/more-th... @malte.the100.ci
More than half of all retracted papers are from China, analysis finds
Study examined rates and reasons for 46,000 retractions across 10 publishers in Retraction Watch Database
chemistryworld.com
Where is the edge of an atom? My article for @chemistryworld.com on efforts to figure out the size of atoms, and why it matters. www.chemistryworld.com/news/the-que...
The quest to understand where atoms end
Atomic size measurements like van der Waals and covalent radii are central to chemistry, but are they grounded in reality?
chemistryworld.com
Neil Withers and Mason Wakley join podcast host Mariana Kneppers this week – first up is a discussion about the new deep learning model AlphaGenome, followed by the question to end them all: how did life on Earth begin? Plus the latest headlines.
AlphaGenome & the RNA world hypothesis
In this episode, we discuss Google DeepMind's latest deep learning model AlphaGenome, dissect the origins of life from chemicals to complex lifeforms, and hear the latest headlines.
chemistryworld.com
It hasn't been plain sailing for the world's first Crispr therapy for sickle cell disease and thalassaemia that's being rolled out in the UK. But we mustn't throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to Crispr therapies, writes @patdwalter.bsky.social
Crispr therapies will change medicine but there will be challenges along the way
The first treatments making use of Crispr gene editing may suffer some early hiccups
chemistryworld.com
Oh dear, this look ahead for the year in science sounds rather bleaker than I hoped it might. Sorry about that. And it's not all gloom. www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
2026: the year of the American basketcase
In the coming 12 months, one thing is for certain – the American war on science will only get worse
thenewworld.co.uk
The 2025 #NobelPrize in Chemistry was awarded today for the development of metal-organic frameworks, molecular sponges with applications in gas storage, water purification and more: www.compoundchem.com/2025/10/08/2... #ChemSky 🧪
Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi win 2025 chemistry Nobel prize for work on metal–organic frameworks. Huge congrats to them, I feel this prize has been coming for some time! www.chemistryworld.com/news/the-202...
The 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry as it happens – live
Join us as we provide analysis and commentary in the run up to the announcement of the biggest prize in chemistry
chemistryworld.com
Morning all. An exciting day in the chemistry calendar. The #NobelPrize in chemistry will be announced in a little over an hour. We're keeping track of all the developments as they happen at Chemistry World #chemnobel www.chemistryworld.com/news/the-202...
The 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry as it happens – live
Join us as we provide analysis and commentary in the run up to the announcement of the biggest prize in chemistry
chemistryworld.com
it's actually not two Nobels for Josephson junctions, just one that tunnelled over a gap of 52 years
'The UK is facing a drought,' writes @patdwalter.bsky.social. Not only in terms of rainfall, but also in 'the way in which undergraduate chemistry provision across the country is starting to dry up.' #ChemSky
Chemistry ‘deserts’ threaten to push poorer undergraduates out
Course and departmental closures in the UK are creating 'cold spots', leaving students high and dry
chemistryworld.com
Meta scientists talk about ‘pivot penalty’ which hampers career progression. This World View argues that scientists who are not tied down by fixed research agendas can pivot nimbly to work where they are most needed. They need to be supported #AcademicSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Fund scholars who tackle urgent issues — from misinformation to error spotting
Scientists who are not tied down by fixed research agendas can pivot nimbly to work where they are most needed. It’s time to build career paths with these researchers in mind.
nature.com
UK chemistry industry professionals Please fill in this short survey to help CAMS help us all by modernizing what graduates are taught with respect to data handling. Which can be as simple as organizing yourself and naming files sensibly! #chemsky forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...
Microsoft Forms
forms.office.com
URichmond is hiring two tenure-track faculty. One in biochemistry/chemical biology and the other in experimental physical chemistry. This is a terrific place to work - our focus is on our talented undergraduates and we have robust research resources. chemistryjobs.acs.org/job/assistan...
'Straitened times call for difficult choices,' writes @patdwalter.bsky.social. 'You can be sure that university leaders and groups are already lobbying the government hard on behalf of higher education. The government now needs to listen. #ChemSky #EduSky #ScienceSky
If the UK wants growth fuelled by R&D, universities need relief now
The spending review has left universities struggling with deficits with few options but to hope for good news
chemistryworld.com
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