2025 news
Cooking curries and other spicy foods can contribute to indoor air pollution and occupant health.
Congratulations to all Chemistry@York individuals and teams highlighted at this year’s University of York Inclusive Impact Awards.
A sunscreen molecule that encounters metal ions can absorb light in a very different way.
De-icing fluids are typically sprayed on aircraft to remove ice, while anti-icing agents prevent the build-up of ice, providing so-called ‘holdover protection’. Such fluids play a vital role in the safe operation of aircraft in low-temperature conditions. They are based on glycol/water solvent mixtures, with anti-icing fluids having polymer additives that generate a barrier to inhibit ice formation.
Recent global regulations have significantly reduced sulfur emissions from ships, something that has been confirmed by a new study led by researchers from the Department of Chemistry at the University of York and National Centre for Atmospheric Science.
Lucy Carpenter, in her role as a Co-Chair of the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol, presented key items for discussion at the Thirty-Seventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP37) at the UN complex in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Green Chemistry Sustainability Team are continuing their Operation SHINE project by launching a dynamic awareness campaign to promote green chemistry and lab sustainability.
A team of scientists from the Department of Chemistry in York have been recognised for their innovative work to decolonise the chemistry curriculum.
The discovery of fundamental rules informs the rational selection of catalysts to minimise energy input and maximise performance in the chemical recycling of polymers into pure monomers.
A new bioinformatics-driven approach called signal-strapping, supported by spectroscopy and crystallography, uncovers previously unknown metalloproteins essential for bacterial metal uptake.
Researchers in the Departments of Chemistry and Biology have made a fluorinated inhibitor that reduces bacterial motility by potentially disrupting the biosynthesis of a sugar essential for flagella formation.
Hexagonal-boron nitride (hex-BN) fibres can outperform carbon fibres in the extreme environments that are often encountered in land, air, and space transportation. In contrast to established synthetic routes, which are difficult to scale and use specialised techniques, new collaborative work from York and Oxford reports a straightforward synthetic approach to hex-BN fibres. This uses catalytic methods for the controlled synthesis of BN-based inorganic polymers, that are then used to fabricate hex-BN fibres. The easy fabrication of these BN materials could be transformative for their use in next generation technologies.
Students explore previously inaccessible topics in atmospheric chemistry and air-quality in a newly-developed undergraduate lab activity.
Celebrating outstanding research achievements by our final-year PhD students in the Department of Chemistry
The Department of Chemistry has placed 4th in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026 for the subject of Chemistry. The ranking recognises the quality of our courses, and the experiences and opportunities they provide to our students.
2025 marks 60 years since the first students enrolled in Chemistry at York. To celebrate we held an event for alumni and current and former staff on Saturday 13 September.
Dr Martin A. Fascione has been awarded the prestigious 2025 RSC Dextra Carbohydrate Chemistry Award, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the field of carbohydrate chemistry and chemical glycobiology.
A new synthetic approach to fragment based drug discovery has been developed which will speed up the discovery of new 3-D shaped drugs
We celebrate the excellent science our Department’s PhD, PDRA and technical co-workers do by recognising the prizes and awards they have won in the first half of 2025.
A multinational team reports their new Ace-SABRE hyperpolarisation platform enables safe and rapid magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of pyruvate, which is an important metabolic component in many disease pathways, including cancer. The ability to create hyperpolarised pyruvate in a safe and effective way, avoiding the use of toxic solvents, will enable the use of Ace-SABRE in biological or clinical settings.
Professor Andrew Weller has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant worth €2.5 million over 5 years to study in crystallo organometallic synthesis and catalysis
Sulfur-modified Starbons enable platinum-group metals to be fished out of complex mixtures.
The Chemistry Analytical Facility (CAF) within the Department of Chemistry at York held its first showcase event on 22nd July funded by the ITSS Technology Specialists Network.
The latest edition of our twice-yearly magazine brings recent news from the Department celebrating the achievements of our colleagues, students and alumni.
A Royal Society of Chemistry Horizon Prize film celebrates pioneering work on microbial sulfur recycling by researchers in the department and international collaborators. Discover how microbes power ecosystems and climate via organosulfur metabolism.
The discovery of fundamental rules allows the efficient and selective separation of polymer mixtures by chemical recycling into pure monomers.
The results of the 2025 National Student Survey have revealed the strengths of the Department of Chemistry which has excelled in ‘Assessment and Feedback’, ‘Academic Support’ and ‘Learning Resources’.
Scientists have shed new light on the rhino family tree after recovering a protein sequence from a fossilised tooth from more than 20 million years ago.
Chemists at the University of York are partners on a new Innovate UK Smart Grant funded project with Eutechtics, a pioneering startup company developing low-carbon routes to essential industrial chemicals.
A major government annual review has featured research by a Professor from our Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence.
Harmful air pollutants on UK pavements generated by diesel cars could be slashed by a third if car exhausts were positioned on the right, according to a new study.
Dr Sarah Moller and Professor Ally Lewis contributed their ideas on how to create air pollution policy fit for the future to a recently published report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).
Researchers in the department are exploring the market for their new, user-friendly method for deuterating complex molecules.
York is ranked 6th in the UK for Chemistry in the latest release of the Complete University Guide league tables (2026).
Emeritus Professor Pratibha Gai discusses her pioneering breakthroughs in electron microscopy on the BBC Radio 4 program the Life Scientific
Scientists have successfully extracted ancient proteins from two-million-year-old teeth, a breakthrough providing previously unobtainable details on the biological sex and genetic makeup of an extinct human relative.
A publication from the Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory on the kinetics of a reaction governing the air-sea exchange of ozone has been recognised as a runner up in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP) journal annual awards.
Scientists from the Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories and National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) in York have been investigating how sustainable aviation fuel could reduce pollutants from aircraft by working together on a collaborative “chase” experiment, the first of its kind in the UK.
The Chemistry Analytical Facility has recently launched a new website, offering an overview of the services available and a streamlined process for engaging with industry.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the discovery of the ozone hole, Professor Lucy Carpenter from University of York joined Jon Shanklin, who was part of the discovery team, and Professor John Pyle from University of Cambridge, to give a series of public lectures and a panel discussion, discussing the story of the discovery from initial observations, to international policy change, to the ozone hole today.
The Spicer group in the Department of Chemistry have recently reported the design of new reagents for selectively labelling the N-termini of proteins. These N-termini are a high value target, and labelling them effectively has potential applications in protein analysis or the development of protein-based therapeutics.
A team from the Department of Chemistry at the University of York, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and The University of Central Lancashire, funded by Cancer Research UK, has shown that ultrafast 2-dimensional infra-red (2D-IR) spectroscopy could form the basis of a simple blood-based test that reveals the risk of relapse for patients with melanoma.
Scientists have analysed amino acids locked in snail shells to establish a new age for the world’s oldest complete wooden hunting weapons.
A new study has revealed a significant shift in the sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution in central London, with gas boilers used for heating now identified as the primary contributor.
Sara Bonfante has achieved a remarkable feat, winning two prestigious prizes in the same week for her outstanding PhD work. She has been awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry Main Group PhD Lectureship Prize and the Division de Chimie de Coordination Thesis Prize.
A collaboration between chemistry and biology has developed innovative biocompatible gels with precise chemical patterning – the patterned gels direct and control the growth of mesenchymal stem cells, encouraging them to differentiate into bone cells with spatial resolution.
The Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) visited the University of York to find out more about its leading research programmes and how universities are playing a vital role in driving regional economic growth.
The RAFT project, a groundbreaking international collaboration, has been awarded a prestigious grant exceeding € 1 million to address the growing crisis of antifungal resistance—a global healthcare challenge exacerbated by climate change, antifungal overuse, and a lack of innovative treatments.