College of Chemistry

Solar beats nuclear at many potential settlement sites on Mars

May 10, 2022
UC Berkeley, Robert Sanders, Media relations

Illustration of colony on Mars

An artist’s rendering of a crewed Martian biomanufactory powered by photovoltaics and capable of synthesizing food and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing biopolymers and recycling biological waste. (Artwork credit: Davian Ho, UC Berkeley)

The high efficiency, light weight and flexibility of the latest solar cell technology means photovoltaics could provide all the power needed for...

Seeing in super-resolution

January 20, 2023
Sarah C.P. Williams | Heising-Simons Faculty Fellows Program

Portrait of Ke Xu in the lab. (Photo by Elena Zhukova)

Ke Xu, Associate Professor of Chemistry, is a 2021 Heising-Simons Faculty Fellow. (Photo by Elena Zhukova)

What do the smallest building blocks of life look like? How do molecules dance and dart and drift through cells, fold and fuse and form the machinery of living things? For...

W.M. Keck Foundation awards Ashok Ajoy, David Limmer, and Kevin Wilson grant to develop nanoscale sensors

September 27, 2022
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Illustrations of NMR diamond nanoparticle designs

(A) Hyperpolarized 13C nuclear spins in diamond nanoparticles (nanodiamonds) serve as sensors by relaying NMR signals from proximal analytes to a conventional RF antenna-based detector. (B) Microscope image from preliminary data showing fluorescence of nanodiamonds deployed inside micron-scale droplets. (C) Rendering of proposed instrument which...

Scientists find trigger that sets off metastasis in pancreatic cancer

July 5, 2022
by Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley Public Affairs

Illustration of Healthy pancreas (left) and metastatic tumors on the liver (right)

Scientists have found that cancers in the pancreas (left) readily metastasize because these tumors suppress levels of an enzyme, MSRA, that pulls oxygen atoms off amino acids called methionine. As MSRA levels decrease, methionines on proteins become more oxidized. This causes one particular protein to rev up energy production in...

The College welcomes new faculty member Ashok Ajoy

September 24, 2020
by Marge d'Wylde | College of Chemistry

Portrait of Ashok Ajoy in his office.

Ashok Ajoy (photo John Fyson)

We are really delighted to welcome Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ashok Ajoy to the College of Chemistry. Ashok most recently held a postdoctoral appointment in the lab of...

David Schaffer: Research that takes risks must be supported

August 22, 2022
By Ivan Natividad| UC Berkeley Public Relations

David Schaffer

Bakar Fellows Program Director and UC Berkeley professor David Schaffer reflects on the reasons why he sees Berkeley as a leader in world-changing research, innovation and entrepreneurship. (UC Berkeley photo by Mark Joseph Hanson)

The Berkeley Changemaker is a Berkeley News series highlighting innovative members of the campus community engaged in work and research that...

Designer Materials to Keep Plastic Out of Landfills

July 28, 2022
by Alison Hatt | Berkeley Lab

mound of plastic garbage

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have developed a material system that could keep plastic out of landfills by enabling a much broader range of fully recyclable plastic products. photo: Adobe Stock

A group of scientists from the labs of Brett Helms, the Joint...

New institute brings together chemistry and machine learning to tackle climate change

September 21, 2022
By Rachel Leven | Berkeley Computing, Data Science, and Society

Portrait of Omar Yaghi

Professor Omar Yaghi in his office. Photo College of Chemistry.

Imagine a technology that could remove planet-warming emissions from smokestacks, turn moisture in the air into drinking water and transform carbon dioxide into clean energy.

A new UC Berkeley institute will bring together top machine learning and chemistry researchers to make this vision a reality, and a Bay Area...

Teresa Head-Gordon receives COVID-19 research funding

June 25, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release
Teresa Head-Gordon, Chancellor's Professor of Chemistry, Bioengineering, and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, joins three colleagues from Berkeley Engineering who have received funding from the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute for COVID-19 projects.

Omar Yaghi awarded the Wilhelm Exner medal

June 1, 2023
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Exner medal ceremony

Professor Omar Yaghi receives a medal and diploma from members of the Wilhelm Exner Foundation during a banquet in May 2023 in Vienna, Austria. Photo Jana Madzigon, courtesy of the Wilhelm Exner Foundation.

Omar Yaghi, the James and Neeltje Tretter Professor of Chemistry and director of the Berkeley...