College of Chemistry

Unsung heroes of the College of Chemistry: how the Machine Shop fuels innovation

July 28, 2025
By Veronica Bartell | College of Chemistry
The Machine Shop is a vital, often unseen engine driving success at the College of Chemistry.

Richmond Sarpong joins new NSF Initiative on Computer-Assisted Synthesis

September 7, 2019
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release
Supported by the National Science Foundation, the team plans to create tools for a new generation of ‘data chemists’ by exploring the use of computers and machine learning to streamline how complex molecules, which form the basis for over 50% of the medicines on the market, are made.

Alumna Carol Burns receives Garvan-Olin Medal

September 3, 2020
Press release | Los Alamos Lab

Carol Burns, alumna, Los Alamos Lab

(Photo: Los Alamos Lab)

Carol Burns (Ph.D. '87, Chem) executive officer for the Deputy Director for Science, Technology & Engineering at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was selected as the recipient of the 2021 American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Francis P. Garvan‒John M. Olin Medal. This national award recognizes distinguished service in the field of...

Quantum dots are just as awesome as we'd hoped

April 11, 2019
Taylor Kubota | Futurity.org

Geraldine Richmond

Quantum dots—tiny, easy-to-produce particles—may soon take the place of more expensive single crystal semiconductors in advanced electronics found in solar panels, camera sensors, and medical imaging tools.

This crystal impurity is sheer perfection

June 29, 2021
Theresa Duque | Berkeley Lab

STEM tomography image of a 3D-grown 100-200-nanometer crystalline disc

Scientists at Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley design 3D-grown material that could speed up production of new technologies for smart buildings and robotics. STEM tomography image of a 3D-grown 100-200-nanometer crystalline disc. (Credit: Berkeley Lab)

Crystallization is one of the most fundamental processes found in nature – and it’s what...

Introducing a kinder, gentler way to blow holes in cells

March 29, 2019
By Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley media relations

NanoEP experiment

A new technique developed by University of California, Berkeley, nanomaterials scientists has overcome the overcome the obstacles to delivering macromolecules using inexpensive lab equipment to efficiently infuse large macromolecules into cells. Called nanopore-electroporation, or nanoEP, the technique gently creates fewer than a dozen tiny holes in each cell that are sufficient to let molecules into the cell without traumatizing it. The pores heal rapidly afterward. In tests, more than 95 percent of the cells survived the procedure. .

Peidong Yang's lab awarded CO2 challenge grant from NASA

May 22, 2019
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

A team of researchers from the lab of Peidong Yang have received a phase one grant for their project to develop an integrated system to synthesize sugars from CO2. NASA is preparing to land humans on the Moon in 2024, the agency is keeping a keen eye on technologies needed for Mars missions that will follow. New technologies will be needed to sustain human life as we move out into the stars.

Fossil Fuels are Dead, Long Live Fossil Fuels

January 7, 2020
Catherine Wolfram | Energy Institute at HAAS

fossil fuel

Electricity generation is projected to play a central role in global decarbonization efforts. On the one hand, electricity generation is supposed to scale up rapidly, as we use electricity to replace fossil fuels in everything from powering vehicles to heating buildings and cooking food. At the same time, decarbonization necessitates a radical transformation in the way we produce electricity, since worldwide, over 60% of electricity is currently produced using fossil fuel technologies.

New technique ‘prints’ cells to create diverse biological environments

March 18, 2020
Kara Manke | UC Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley, researchers have created a new technique that utilizes photolithography and programmable DNA to rapidly “print” two-dimensional arrays of cells

With the help of photolithography and a creative use of programmable DNA, UC Berkeley researchers have created a new technique that can rapidly “print” two-dimensional arrays of cells and proteins that mimic a wide variety of cellular environments in the body — be it the brain tissue surrounding a neural stem cell, the lining of the intestine or liver or the cellular configuration inside a tumor. This technique could help scientists develop a better understanding of the complex cell-to-cell messaging that dictates a cell’s final fate.

Congratulations to Jeffrey Long and Daniel Neumark on receiving 2019 ACS awards

January 25, 2019
Linda Wang | C&E News

Jeffrey Long and Daniel NeumarkUC Berkeley College of Chemistry professors Jeffrey Long and Daniel Neumark have been announced as 2019 American Chemical Society (ACS) awardees for their pioneering chemical research. They will be honored at a ceremony at the spring ACS national meeting in Orlando, Florida, March 31–April 4, 2019.