Worcester State University - Chemistry

10/20/2026

Join Dr. Murphy on the Quad outside of the Science & Tech building TODAY at 12:30pm to Reverse Tie-Dye T-shirts! 👕
Image description: Dr. Andreatta shows off a reverse tie-dye t-shirt from a past event.

10/20/2026

How are you celebrating?

🎉🚧 Happy National Chemistry Week! 🧪🏗️

This year, we're celebrating the critical role chemistry plays in the strength, safety, and durability of the structures we use every day. And we're also recognizing the many ways in which chemistry helps build stronger communities.

Discover theme resources and learn more about how you can celebrate: https://brnw.ch/21x6uO7

10/14/2026

Next week is STEM Week! Join us for one or all of the scheduled events to celebrate.🥳

Read the WSU News article for details:
https://news.worcester.edu/university-marks-mass-stem-week-with-hands-on-science-career-development-and-research/
Image description: Last year, Dr. Andreatta, Dr. Grennan, Dr. Barnard and three students outside of the Ghosh Science & Tech building for a STEM Week event.

10/09/2026

This year's in Chemistry was awarded for research which helps chemists make just one of a molecule's pair of mirror images 🪞 This is hugely useful in making medicinal molecules, and also gives us insights into why biological molecules are formed from single mirror-image building blocks

10/07/2026

BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”

Some molecules, such as amino acids, exist as two variants that are each other’s mirror image. However, living organisms only contain one of these mirror images. How chemical asymmetry such as this could have emerged was long a mystery to chemists. Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 for discovering a solution to this puzzle.

Life’s chemistry is what chemists call homochiral, after the Greek words for “same” and “hand”. Like hands, all amino acids exist as two mirrored variants, but only one of them is found in the proteins in your cells. The other is rarely found in nature.

For a long time, chemists wondered how homochirality can emerge. When they began to experiment with chemical reactions that can form two mirrored molecules, they always obtained equal proportions of both in their test tubes. However, chemists strived to produce only one of these mirror images, because in the development of molecules that will interact with living beings – such as in pharmaceuticals – only one mirror image will have the desired effect.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 recognises discoveries that have enabled chemists to drive chemical reactions that lead to homochirality.

Henri Kagan took the first decisive step in 1986, when he discovered a new way of manipulating chemical reactions. This allowed him to create a greater excess of one of the mirror images than had previously been thought possible.

Kenso Soai took the next step. In 1995, a key publication describes how he designed the first ever chemical reaction that had the potential to be homochiral. In 2003, he finally succeeded. He presented a reaction in which only one of the two possible mirror images was formed. Other than life itself, no one had previously achieved this feat.

Thanks to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai, we now know how homochirality can emerge. Their discoveries have been decisive for chemists who design reactions for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.

Learn more
Press release: https://bit.ly/4gWk4Qh
Popular information: https://bit.ly/4iYIScY
Advanced information: https://bit.ly/4xQTcs8

10/05/2026

Join Dr. Xu's Chemistry Seminar class on Tuesday, October 6th for guest speaker, Nunzio Sciammetta, Ph.D., Discovery Chemist, Merck & Co Inc (Boston). The topic is "Medicinal Chemistry in Drug Discovery" in Room ST215 at 3:15 pm.
Image description: Flyer with white background, photo of man working in a lab setting, with the text, "Merck, CH475 Chemistry Seminar, Medicinal Chemistry in Drug Discover, Tuesday, October 6, 2026, Guest speaker: Nunzio Sciammetta, PhD., Discovery Chemistry, Merck & Co Inc (Boston); How chemistry turns research breakthroughs into real medicines; Key concepts, modalities, and an industry case study; Careers in pharmaceutical R&D - ask the scientist directly; Adapted from Merck's 2026 Basic Drug Discovery Online Course; Please join Dr. Xu's class for a special guest speaker on 10/6/26 at 3:15 PM in Room ST215."

10/02/2026

10/02/2026

Happy World Smile Day! 🙂🙃
Image description: Various cartoon smiley faces on an orange background with the text, "World Smile Day, October 2, 2026."

09/29/2026

Wake up and smell the coffee on ! Here are some of the compounds that give coffee its distinctive aroma: https://www.compoundchem.com/2015/02/17/coffee-aroma/ ☕️

09/29/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Sturtz, our new Assistant Professor in Chemistry! Read the WSU News article that celebrates new faculty throughout the university including Dr. Sturtz:
https://news.worcester.edu/worcester-state-welcomes-ten-new-faculty-members-this-fall-semester/
Image description: Dr. Sturtz stands under a leafy green plant in a sunny indoor area.