MIT Department of Chemistry

Many members of the Department of Chemistry’s Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Researcher teaching community were selected to be honored for their outstanding contributions to Teaching, Graduate Grading, Research, and Leadership. The winners were chosen from a pool of nominations submitted by members of the Department of Chemistry’s faculty and instructional staff, and will be honore…

Xiao Wang, the Thomas D. and Virginia Cabot Associate Professor of Chemistry and Core Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, has been selected as the recipient of the 2027 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry. Administered by the Division of Biological Chemistry (BIOL) of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and sponsored by […]

Professor Alexander T. Radosevich and Professor Alison Wendlandt have each been named 2026 Arthur C. Cope Scholars by the American Chemical Society (ACS). These awards are presented annually by the ACS to recognize and encourage excellence in organic chemistry. Radosevich, who joined the Department of Chemistry in 2016, was honored for discovering new reaction pathways […]

Ammonia is one of the most important chemicals produced in the world, ranking second only to sulfuric acid in the total volume produced each year. It is used mostly to make fertilizer, which is essential to feeding the world’s population. Yet its production accounts for up to 2 percent of the world’s energy consumption and […]

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has selected MIT to establish and lead a new Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) focused on materials technologies for medical imaging, sustainable metals production, and next-generation semiconductors, according to an NSF announcement released July 30. Expected to provide $18 million in research funding over six years, the award brings …

Molecules are among the smallest building blocks available for making next-generation devices. Their unique, customizable properties enable promising applications in emerging computing, sensing, optical, and quantum technologies. But integrating molecules into functional devices at scale remains a challenge. Traditional semiconductor manufacturing processes can damage small and fragile molecular …

Nitrogen gas is abundant in Earth’s atmosphere, but most living organisms can’t readily use this nitrogen. Only a subset of microbes that have enzymes known as nitrogenases can break nitrogen gas apart and convert it into ammonia. There are three different classes of nitrogenases found in nitrogen-fixing microbes, which vary based on the types of […]

Gregory Valtierra has been at MIT since August, 2024 andis originally from Culver City, CA. His research in Professor Alexander T. Radosevich’s group is focused on investigating the electrochemical properties of redox-active phosphorus compounds. “I chose to pursue a PhD in chemistry because I wanted to learn to think deeply about chemical problems and to […]

Researchers in the lab of Sam Peng, Pfizer Inc. – Gerald Laubach Career Development Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Core Institute Member of the Broad Institute, have developed a groundbreaking super-resolution imaging platform called U-STORM (Upconversion enabled Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy). This new technology allows scientists to visualize molecular structures with…

A new study led by MIT researchers could drive the development of more energy-efficient digital displays — such as flat-screen TVs, augmented and virtual reality headsets, smartphone screens, medical imaging devices, and even large-area ambient lighting surfaces — that also generate richer, brighter colors. The MIT scientists, in collaboration with researchers at Samsung, studied the […]

As advanced medical technology gets closer to hitting consumer markets, the need for guardrails on protected usage should increase. What might begin as a neural implant to aid in communication could become a device used to police one’s innermost thoughts. Intrigued by the far-reaching benefits and risks of neural implants, Rachel Sava, a PhD candidate […]

The Antarctic ozone hole was discovered in 1985, when scientists observed a severe depletion in the Earth’s protective layer of stratospheric ozone. Industrial chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), then widely used as refrigerants, propellants, foam-blowing agents, and solvents, were at the root of the ozone depletion. After concerted global effort to phase out the use […]

Originally from Portland, Maine, Nina Greeley first experienced MIT through the 2023 MIT Summer Research Program in Biology (MSRP-Bio), later beginning her graduate studies as a member of Professor Catherine Drennan‘s research group in 2024. During MSRP-Bio, Nina became interested in structural biology and how solving structures can open new avenues for biochemical research. “For [&#8…

Dr. Mengyao Li, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Thomas D. and Virginia Cabot Associate Professor Xiao Wang, has been named a 2026 Jane Coffin Childs Fellow. Li’s research with the Wang Lab seeks to decipher the hidden spatial code governing how cells translate RNA into functional proteins. By exploring how the subcellular organization […]

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to welcome Brittany Balocca to the staff as its Human Resources Administrator. Balocca earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Mount Holyoke College, and comes to the department after spending over 12 years in Human Resources within the Cambridge Public School system. She brings with her a breadth of experience in […]

The MIT Department of Chemistry welcomed members of its organic chemistry community to Walker Memorial’s Morss Hall for the 9th Annual Denmark Organic Retreat, a day dedicated to research presentations, collaboration, and community building. The event was generously sponsored by Scott Denmark (SB ’75), Reynold C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois […]

MIT has again been named the world’s top university by the QS World University Rankings, which were announced today. This is the 15th year in a row MIT has received this distinction. The full 2027 edition of the rankings — published by Quacquarelli Symonds, an organization specializing in education and study abroad — can be […]

Susan Solomon, the Lee and Geraldine Professor of Environmental Studies at MIT, has been named the 2026 Tang Prize Laureate in Sustainable Development for “groundbreaking advances and leadership in atmospheric and climate sciences that shaped global policy for Sustainable Development,” according to the Tang Prize Foundation. The Tang Prize is a biennial international award granted […]

Laura L. Kiessling, the Novartis Professor of Chemistry, and Ronald T. Raines, the Roger and Georges Firmenich Professor of Natural Products Chemistry, have been awarded the 2026 van ’t Hoff Lectureship Award from the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) in the Netherlands. Established in 1957 in memory of Dutch chemist Jacobus Henricus van ’t […]

The Hertz Foundation announced that it awarded 2026 fellowships to three current MIT students as well as an incoming graduate student. They are: Annika Marschner, Alvin Q. Meng, Zachary S. Siegel, and Matthew Wanta. The prestigious science and technology award provides each recipient with five years of financial support — a stipend and full tuition equivalent — which gives […]