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Chemistry as we know it has its roots in Oxford

Hooke and Boyle’s pioneering experiments laid the foundations of today’s experimental chemistry. Dorothy Hodgkin advanced X-ray crystallography, helping us to see the atomic-level shapes of drugs and materials. John Goodenough’s research on transition-metal oxides led to the creation of lithium-ion batteries, a technology that underpins modern life.

You can support these pioneers' successors, here at Oxford Chemistry.

Read on for further details about our academic mission, and how you can support it.

Supporting students

Will you help our students build a sustainable future?

Oxford Chemistry is leading a green chemistry revolution. It will be impossible to meet net-zero targets without radical change in the science that underpins the modern world. Our students are driving research across the breadth of the discipline, from green hydrogen and photovoltaics to battery technologies and renewable energy.

With your support, Oxford Chemistry can accelerate transformative research and deliver greater benefits to society. Your gift will ignite curiosity in outstanding young scientists, providing them with the tools to explore fundamental questions and drive discoveries.

I was provided with the skills and freedom needed to pursue curiosities without constraint. I spent my formative years in Oxford and devoted my career to chemistry, and cannot stress enough the monumental potential for life-changing discoveries in fundamental science. Research students are critical drivers of this work, and Oxford provides a unique environment for them to explore radical concepts that could one day change the world.

Professor M. Stanley Whittingham (New College 1961)
One of the winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for contributions to the development of lithium-ion batteries

Supporting researchers

Will you help secure research posts for chemistry pioneers?

The work of Oxford Chemistry researchers pushes past traditional boundaries. We work on everything from curiosity-driven fundamental science to readily applied research.

One of our central priorities is attracting and supporting early-career academics in burgeoning areas of chemistry. As well as this, we need to be able to recruit and retain the very best senior academics. Philanthropy plays a critically important role in meeting these goals. You could support our researchers, from those taking their first steps in academia to our highly distinguished chairs.

 

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Supporting capital projects

Will you help us build the laboratories for tomorrow's discoveries?

Outstanding research requires outstanding laboratories. You could help provide the environment for future-focused research at Oxford Chemistry.

There are many ways to help transform the laboratory spaces at Oxford Chemistry, from enabling the purchase of cutting-edge equipment to engaging with us as we embark upon an ambitious plan to construct a new laboratory facility to shape the future of Oxford Chemistry.

Supporting outreach and access

Will you help us to spark curiosity in the next generation of chemists?

Our outreach programmes at Oxford Chemistry are focused on increasing the understanding of chemistry; encouraging young people of aptitude, especially from non-traditional backgrounds, to study chemistry at university; and enabling young people to fulfil their academic potential.

A gift to Oxford Chemistry Outreach will help bring chemistry to life and make a chemistry degree or career a reality for students from every background.

 

Picture showing a Chemistry Ambassador working with members of the public

How to make a gift

Please click here to make a gift in support of the Department Chemistry, or get in touch to learn more about the impact of gifts of any size.

Oxford’s Development Office provides further information about giving by phone, post, or in your will, as well as tax-efficient giving.

Donors to the Department of Chemistry will receive special communications and reports and will be invited to a programme of events throughout the year. Gifts of every size make a real impact and are greatly appreciated. In addition to a special relationship with the Department, the University is proud to offer its supporters recognition, details of which can be found here.