The Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh formed EaStCHEM in 2004 to combine the research activities of two of Scotland’s leading schools of chemistry. EaStCHEM is now recognised for excellence in both core and interdisciplinary chemistry with its wide-ranging research themes reflecting the relevance of modern chemistry in solving important global challenges and improving lives.

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), EaStCHEM’s excellence across research and impact was rewarded by >99% of our research outputs being assessed as either “world-leading” or “internationally excellent”, and 100% of our impact case studies being assessed as “outstanding” or “very considerable”. We are one of only three chemistry submissions to achieve a 100% “world-leading” score for our research environment.

Read more about our five research themes on the School of Chemistry website:

Catalysis and Synthesis

The Chemistry Biology Interface

Energy, Environment and Sustainable Chemistry

Functional Materials

Structural Chemistry and Chemical Dynamics

The strength and ethos of EaStCHEM is particularly evident in the complementary instrumentation provided by both schools of chemistry resulting in the provision of exceptional state of the art facilities and instrumentation.