| Department of Chemistry

Chemistry's Viviana Palacio-Betancur joins Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellows Program

2025-07-15

Head shot of Viviana Palacio-Betancur standing in front of a wall of glass windows

As a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow, Viviana Palacio-Betancur will begin research this fall on bridging molecular-scale interactions and macroscopic behavior of liquid crystal. Palacio-Betancur earned her Ph.D. in molecular engineering from the University of Chicago in 2023, and she is currently...

Flightpath Biosciences licenses microbiome-sparing antibiotic developed at Illinois

2025-07-14

Paul Hergenrother stands in front of a building with tall windows

Flightpath Biosciences, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of precision therapeutics targeting bacterial pathogens, has licensed a class of antibiotics developed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The original antibiotic agent, lolamicin,...

Dr. Taeghwan Hyeon’s work on nanoparticles yields breakthrough applications

2025-07-02

As director of the Center for Nanoparticle Research in the Institute for Basic Science at Seoul National University in South Korea, Dr. Taeghwan Hyeon (PhD, ’96, Suslick) leads efforts to develop uniformly sized nanoparticles. Measuring 1 to 100 nanometers in diameter, nanoparticles offer...

Anna DeBernardo receives NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

2025-06-24

Head shot of Anna DeBernardo in an outdoor setting

Chemistry Ph.D. student Anna DeBernardo has had an interest in chemistry since high school and planned, at least, to minor in chemistry in college. But her interest in coding led her to computational chemistry and ultimately, she discovered a strong connection with theoretical chemistry. "...

SCS, Chemistry recognize faculty, graduate students for teaching excellence

2025-06-23

The School of Chemical Sciences (SCS) and the Department of Chemistry have recognized a group of faculty members and graduate students for their commitment to excellence in the classroom in the 2024-25 academic year.Two chemistry faculty members and four graduate students in chemistry received the...

Michael Strauss brings passion for scientific research, teaching, and mentoring to Illinois chemistry

2025-06-23

For Michael Strauss, this fall marks an exciting time in his career as a new assistant professor of chemistry at Illinois for many reasons, but especially because he is eager to launch his research group and blend...

Solving the mystery of an ancient enzyme could lead to new carbon capture strategies

2025-06-18

Shounak Nath and Liviu Mirica stand together in front equipment in a chemistry lab

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have discovered important new clues in the mystery of how an ancient enzyme can turn atmospheric carbon into biomolecules, a natural process that could be helpful in developing new methods for converting greenhouse gases like carbon...

Researchers capture nanoparticle movements to forge new materials

2025-06-17

Image of the skeleton of an all-white deep-sea sponge on a green background

Researchers can now observe the phonon dynamics and wave propagation in self-assembly of nanomaterials with unusual properties that rarely exist in nature. This advance will enable researchers to incorporate desired mechanical properties into reconfigurable, solution-processible metamaterials,...

Modeling technique enables predictive control over patterned material formation

2025-06-17

Group of researchers stand side by side in atrium of Beckman Institute.

Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology have developed a computational model that digs into the chemical “recipe” of polymer manufacturing to provide predictive control over how materials self-organize to give rise to new textures and properties.“That means...

Mikael Backlund selected Scialog Fellow for Quantum Matter & Information initiative

2025-06-12

Head shot of Mikael Backlund on a blue background

Mikael Backlund is one of 50 scientists selected as Scialog Fellows by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement to participate in a Quantum Matter and Information initiative that will bring together scientists from physics, chemistry, materials science,...

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