15 Years of ChemistryViews

Celebrating Chemistry Connections

Fifteen years of discovery—marked by outstanding science, inspiring stories, and, above all, by the remarkable people who crossed our paths over the past fifteen years—briefly or for longer. A big thank you to all of you, our wonderful readers, authors, supporters, and friends. What a vibrant and exceptional community you are, and I am very grateful that we published and learned and experimented among all of you!

Over the past fifteen years, we have shared more than 3,000 articles, 250 videos, and 12,000 news articles via ChemistryViews. Together with many members of the community and our society partners, we have reported about current research, explored developments and trends across the chemical sciences, and reflected on what inspires and drives chemists in Europe and around the world. Throughout, we have always kept our focus not only on good research and stories and how to spread information, but even more on people.

Just as teams are essential for excellent research, they are equally important for a strong editorial team—making the work exciting and rewarding, discovering new ideas together, questioning creatively, enduring challenges, relying on one another, learning from each other, and, last but not least, having a lot of fun together.

I am deeply grateful for the wonderful colleagues with whom I have had the privilege to develop and shape ChemistryViews over the past fifteen years, and equally to the many volunteers from the community and the Chemistry Europe societies who have contributed enthusiastically to ChemistryViews, helping to inspire and advance projects and topics together. Looking back on these fifteen years of ChemistryViews, it has been an honor and great fun to work with you all, to exchange ideas, to share knowledge, and to learn so much along the way.

Most Popular Articles and Videos

Looking through the lists of the most popular articles and videos over the years brings back many fond memories. The all-time most-read article, “Why Does Iodine Turn Starch Blue?” was written by my long-time and valued colleague Catharina Goedecke, and another favorite is a series on Tips and Tricks for Column Chromatography by my former colleague Sarah Millar. Below, you can see the most popular articles from each year.

Much has changed over the past fifteen years—not only in science itself but also in science communication and dissemination. When ChemistryViews launched, we organized an event with ten world-renowned speakers, including four Nobel Laureates, in Paris and simultaneously streamed it live—a great adventure in 2010 that required a large team and extensive technical equipment. It was a great success, with over 2,000 online viewers—some joining in groups—and a fantastic team of colleagues from Germany and England. Fifteen years later, virtual meetings have become so common that we now look forward all the more to meeting “in real life.”

Our first videos were recorded with a simple Flip Camera; today, a smartphone is enough, and we have even experimented with an AI avatar (example). I remember how cautiously we started incorporating humor and playfulness into our articles in 2010, eagerly observing readers’ reactions. Thanks to the immediate feedback an online publication offers, we saw that readers loved it right from the start. The interview with Fridolin E. Coli, for example, was a collaboration with a great team of colleagues that was incredibly enjoyable for readers as well as for us as authors. It was also a lot of fun receiving so many enthusiastic responses after it was published.

Some interactive formats started very early and remain popular till today, like Guess the Chemist, launched in December 2011 (first edition here), where we have now featured 160 historic chemists—thank you for all your submissions! Or Who’s Next? Nobel Prize in Chemistry, first launched in 2011 (link), inviting readers to predict the next Nobel Laureates. It is also fascinating to see how reactions have changed over the years: In the beginning, there were many amusing suggestions for Nobel Laureates in the lists, like Britney Spears, Severus Snape, or Professor “Boss” from our Wonderlab comic. Today, the entries are much more serious. At least no fictional characters have appeared anymore in the last years.

Like Flipping through a Photo Album

A key goal for me has always been to stay closely connected with as many community members as possible. I am also truly grateful that the magazine has given me the unique opportunity to meet and interview so many fascinating and inspiring individuals. To name just a few: Peter Atkins, Frances H. Arnold, Phil Baran, Luisa De Cola, Gautam Desiraju, Gianluca Farinola, Javier García-Martínez, Judy Giordan, Fernanda Haffner, Roald Hoffmann, Lene Hviid, Yamuna Krishnan, David A. Leigh, Tim Lüddecke, Liliana Mammino, Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim, Peter Roesky, Dan Rabinovich, Barry Sharpless, Dan Shechtman, Fraser Stoddart, Sir John Meurig Thomas, Omar Yaghi, Bert Weckhuysen — and the many many others I had the pleasure to interview … it is hard to stop listing more and more. I truly valued these conversations—whether with a renowned Nobel Laureate or a young student—as personal encounters and meaningful exchanges, and felt privileged to get to know each of them/you. Of course, there is also a long list of names I have not yet had the chance to meet for an interview over these fifteen years.

A very special thank you also goes to the authors who, often alongside their research or work duties, contributed articles. One representative example is Klaus Roth with whom we published more than 40 articles over the years in close collaboration with Chemie in unserer Zeit. Other memorable articles from which I learned a great deal and that come to my head now, include Dental Restoration Materials by Roswitha Harrer, How Ozempic Works by Helen Siwan Jones, and Raw Material Change in the Chemical Industry by Ekkehard Schwab … this in no way means other contributions and authors weren’t equally outstanding and important. That also brings to mind David Bradley’s article on the various representations of the periodic table, which sparked such a fruitful discussion that it led to a follow-up article and new insights …

The various projects were also fantastic. Together with Catharina, I roamed across Europe multiple times in search of fascinating, chemistry-related places—unfortunately, so far only virtually from the office; and last Christmas, Gisela Boeck, Eva Wille, and I combed through the internet and our networks in search of the homes of renowned chemists around the world.

I am also deeply thankful for the many encounters and wonderful events we have experienced—starting with our already mentioned launch event in 2010 at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris, France, but also numerous conferences where ChemistryViews was presented, and talks by our authors, such as Gisela Boeck presenting on Lydia Sesemann—the first woman known to have earned a Ph.D.—who spoke at the EuChemS conference in Dublin, Ireland. There have been many fantastic conferences held by the Chemistry Europe societies, e.g. the SCI 2024 event in Milan, Italy, last summer as one recent example. I like to remember the many meetings with the representatives of the Chemistry Europe societies and editors-in-chief of the national society magazines.

I could go on and on—it feels a bit like leafing through a family album, full of memories and excitement. But before this enthusiasm starts to become tiresome, let me conclude by saying:

A big thank you to all of you ! I and we enjoyed the past 15 years greatly.
Let’s raise a virtual ☕️ and 🍰—or 🥂—to this incredible journey together! And at the next opportunity, let’s celebrate “in real life.” Cheers!