The Shool of Chemistry at The University of Edinburgh continues to grow and thrive. A strong sense of community pervades the School, reflected in the award of Best Department by the Students’ Association in 2011, and a 100% satisfaction rate in the National Student Survey of 2012. A University of Edinburgh student has won the prestigious Salters’ Graduate Prize in Chemistry every year for the last 17 years—a unique achievement among the UK’s chemistry departments.

In the last UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008) the School was ranked top for research power (output per researcher) as part of EaStCHEM with The University of St Andrews. The School has risen to position 44 in the QS World Subject Rankings. Professor Eleanor Campbell (Chair of Chemistry 2013–) was awarded the 2013 Tilden Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry for “ground-breaking contributions in the chemistry and nanoscience of fullerenes and atomic cluster dynamical properties”. Also in 2013, substantial European Research Council grants have been awarded to Drs Scott Cockroft and Julien Michel, ahead of stiff competition. Professors Mark Bradley and Andy Mount are part of a team led by The University of Edinburgh, who have this year embarked on a cross-disciplinary project to develop miniature implant sensors to monitor cancerous tumours.

“I want the School to be, and remain, among the best in the world. It has a proud history, but it also has a wonderful future.”—Lesley Yellowlees, Head of The College of Science and Engineering at The University of Edinburgh, and President of the Royal Society of Chemistry.