The Department of Chemistry is a thriving, growing department embracing interdisciplinary research to overcome society's major challenges.

Supported by world-leading facilities, we produce fundamental and applied research of an exceptional standard, with a focus on interdisciplinary, problem-solving research.

We strive for our diverse research community to meet its full potential. We were the first chemistry department in the UK to receive an Athena SWAN Gold award for our gender equality practice, which was recently renewed in recognition of our commitment and achievements. And we provide expertise and advise policymakers as well as collaborating with industrial partners.

The Research Excellence Framework 2021

We’re a top ten department - according to the Times Higher Education’s ranking of the latest REF results (2021) - with the majority of our research and impact rated as a world-leading 4* - REF’s highest rating.

Research strengths

• Atmospheric Chemistry
• Catalysis for a Cleaner Future
• Chemical and Structural Biology
• Digital Chemistry
• Green and Sustainable Chemistry
• Molecular Materials
• Technologies for Molecular Measurement

University research themes

Centres

We are home to a number of specialist research centres:

• Centre for Hyperpolarisation in Magnetic Resonance (CHyM)
• Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry (CoEMS)
• Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence (GCCE)
• Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories (WACL)
• York JEOL Nanocentre
• York Structural Biology Laboratory (YSBL)

Facilities

We offer state-of-the-art equipment and analytical services to help external organisations deal with chemical problems:

• Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
• Electron Microscopy
• Mass Spectrometry
• Chromatography
• X-ray diffraction
• Microanalysis
• Thermal analysis
• North East amino acid racemization facility (NEaar)
• High throughput 2D-IR spectroscopy
• Electron Paramagentic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy
• Raman spectroscopy
• Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC)
• Surface area and pore size distribution analysis
• Automated Robotics for Chemistry (ARC)