Welcome to the Research School of Chemistry (RSC) website. In browsing it, I hope that you learn about the internationally recognised, cutting-edge research carried out in the School, along with the vibrant undergraduate chemistry teaching program that we offer.

Chemistry is a central science which underlies every scientific discipline from the environment through biology to physics and astronomy. Solutions to the world’s current major challenges - energy, water, and climate - will have their origins in chemistry. The RSC is the home of chemistry at the ANU and the breadth of our teaching and research activities mirrors the cross- and multi-disciplinary impacts of chemistry in our daily lives. The RSC accommodates over twenty world-class researchers who lead research groups comprising undergraduate and postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Research-led teaching is a feature of the ANU and all the academic staff participate in the undergraduate teaching program. The research-intensive nature of our undergraduate curriculum allows students to interact with academic staff and their research groups at an early stage in their degree program. Our graduates have successful careers in research, the public service, industry and academia.

The diverse research interests of our staff contribute to the many fascinating and fundamental challenges being addressed within the RSC, including:

• understanding and controlling how molecules react – over all time and size scales;
• precision structure determination for high-end analysis of biological macromolecules, small molecules, metabolites and materials;
• exploring the chemistry of living systems in detail, from small molecules through to proteins;
• designing and synthesising new materials and molecular devices with properties that can be predicted, tailored and tuned;
• new means of energy generation, storage and transportation to pave the way to a truly sustainable future;
• designing medicines and therapies to cure currently untreatable diseases;
• leveraging self-assembly for the synthesis and manufacturing of complex systems and materials; and
• next generation synthesis focusing on end-to-end chemical design and synthesis with integration of computational and experimental approaches.

The RSC is housed in new, state-of-the-art buildings with first-class infrastructure, instrumentation and teaching spaces. Research and teaching are supported and enabled by highly skilled professional and technical staff. Comprehensive pastoral care and learning support is provided for all students and the School is a collegial and cohesive community. The Research School of Chemistry offers the very best environment for studying and research in chemistry.

Professor Alison Rodger
Director, Research School of Chemistry