Financial challenges affect the health of UK chemistry

The health of academic chemistry in the UK over the past 20 years has been mixed, as we’ve explored for a special feature in Chemistry World. While the proportion of A-level students studying chemistry has increased steadily, over the last few years there has been a decline in chemistry undergraduate numbers; and while 2004 fears that only six university chemistry departments would survive to 2014 proved unfounded, a new wave of chemistry department closures is on the cards – with the department at the University of Reading most recently announced as under threat.