Graduate and undergraduate students and postdoctoral fellows collaborate with faculty and staff on research spanning all of the chemical sciences. We frequently collaborate across groups within the department, across campus, across states, and even across countries.
Scientists at UW-Madison benefit from the university’s rich history and tradition of scientific inquiry and exploration. Today, the Department of Chemistry serves as a major research hub on campus. The department’s annual research expenditures total more than $16 million and include grants from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy, as well as numerous other public and private programs. Please see the individual path links to learn more about our diverse research efforts. The links below highlight recent Chemistry Department activities.
Research News
New nondestructive optical technique reveals the structure of mother-of-pearl
Most people know mother-of-pearl, an iridescent biomineral also called nacre, from buttons, jewelry, instrument inlays and other decorative flourishes. Scientists, too, have admired and marveled at nacre for decades, not only for its beauty and optical properties but because of its exceptional toughness.
New method targets disease-causing proteins for destruction
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have developed a way to use a cell’s own recycling machinery to destroy disease-causing proteins, a technology that could produce entirely new kinds of drugs.
Cavagnero group develops novel optically-enhanced NMR technology
By Hanming Yang Graduate Student (Cavagnero Group) A recent cover article from the Cavagnero research team has appeared in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance. The Cavagnero group developed a novel optically-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology known as …
Collaboration helps UW-Madison Chemists quickly evaluate technologies to clean the air
Individuals and businesses are scrambling to find new ways to protect themselves from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. With this interest, the effectiveness of new technologies that promise to improve indoor air quality has taken center stage. University of Wisconsin–Madison chemists have accepted the challenge of evaluating those technologies and the work is moving quickly, thanks to the lab’s partnership with HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) specialists at Johnson Controls.
Measuring the pancreas’s protein landscape assists diabetes and cancer research
The pancreas is one of the most important organs in the body. It produces insulin to regulate blood sugar and helps digest food. If the pancreas goes haywire, diabetes, cancer, or other diseases threaten lives.
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