Materials Chemistry Community

Connect with others in your field and become involved in your scientific community

About us

The Materials Chemistry Community supports the study and dissemination of materials chemistry in all its forms. We support networking and community building among materials chemists across academic and industrial research, advance scientific knowledge through conferences, events and scientific activities, and act as an advocate for the field of Materials Chemistry.

Our strategy

To support and promote the study and dissemination of materials chemistry in all its forms
To promote excellence and sustainability in the field of materials chemistry
To support the next generation of scientists
To advocate for the field of materials chemistry to the scientific community, and society as a whole
To promote inclusion and diversity in its broadest possible sense across the materials chemistry community

Our activities

International Conference on Materials Chemistry

The International Conference on Materials Chemistry (sometimes known as the ‘MC’ conference series) has been a key meeting in the community’s calendar for over three decades and is the flagship event for the RSC’s Materials Chemistry Community.

The first meeting of this internationally renowned conference was held in 1993, and since then the meetings have been hosted by prominent institutions around the UK and Ireland.

Visit the Materials Chemistry Community events page for more information.

Materials Chemistry Community Poster Symposium

The Materials Chemistry Poster Symposium (MCPS) brings together PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, and early-career scientists working in industry to showcase their research, network with peers and leading academics and industrial scientists, develop key skills, and benefit from careers advice.

Please visit the Material Chemistry Community Events page for details of upcoming symposia.

Materials Chemistry Community Scientific Workshops

The Materials Chemistry Community organises scientific activities and workshops to:

Bring together communities of experts and create new collaborations
Highlight research challenges and opportunities for materials chemistry
Promote the role of Materials Chemistry Community in advancing the science of materials chemistry

Examples of previous activities include:

Sustainable Plastics - the role of chemistry

The Materials Chemistry Division hosted a roundtable discussion meeting in March 2019 on the topic of sustainable plastics. In the context of growing calls from scientists, policymakers, and the wider public to address the challenges of plastic waste and sustainability, the meeting addressed the question of what chemical scientists can do to tackle the problem.

You can read a summary of the workshop's findings .

Read more about the RSC's work on sustainable plastics.

The role of materials chemistry in meeting the UK’s net-zero climate commitments

The Materials Chemistry Division hosted two discussion workshops in summer 2020 to discuss areas where materials chemistry innovation can tackle carbon emissions in a range of sectors, including cement, energy storage and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS).

You can read a summary of the workshop findings .

Recent Appointees in Materials Science

The annual Recent Appointees in Materials Science (RAMS) meeting is an opportunity for recently appointed researchers in the field of materials chemistry to form a collaborative community, share experiences and create a network of support.

Organised and run by volunteers from the Materials Chemistry Community, participants get the chance to interact with their peers and learn about the variety of research spanning the breadth of materials chemistry. Meetings often include discussions directly relevant to recently appointed academics, such as the funding landscape, and innovations in teaching and managing teams.

Please visit the Materials Chemistry Community events page for details of upcoming meetings.

Interest Groups associated with the Materials Chemistry Community

Interest groups associated with the Materials Chemistry Community:

As a member of a subject community or interest group you will receive communications so you can stay informed about major developments in your field such as funding, training, events and activities alongside calls to contribute to RSC programmes and policy work.

Members of associated interest groups will automatically become members of the relevant subject community. Members can manually select or remove interest groups and subject communities within their membership profile.

Get involved

Click the cards below to find out more information relating to the Materials Chemistry Community.

Find out more about the Materials Chemistry Community council members.

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Browse upcoming events organised by the Materials Chemistry Community.

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Connect with the wider materials chemistry community, including interest groups and other networks and societies.

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Find out about the funding available for all RSC members.

See funding

A range of prizes to showcase advances in materials chemistry and reward excellence at all levels.

See prizes

Explore highlights from past Materials Chemistry Community activities.

Find out more

Further information and resources

Learn about the community's history and access additional resources.

Our history

The story of the Materials Chemistry Community at the Royal Society of Chemistry begins in 1991 with the creation of the extremely successful Journal of Materials Chemistry. The great success of this new journal encouraged the RSC to organise the first Materials Chemistry Conference (now often referred to as the "MC" conference series), which was held in Aberdeen in 1993 and attracted approximately 300 delegates.

At around the same time the RSC formed the "Materials Chemistry Forum" (MCF), whose main role initially was to organise and manage the MC conference series. However, the MCF proved to be extremely popular with materials chemists, having grown to over 2000 members by 2007. This popularity was partly fuelled by the continued success of the MC conference series, for instance MC7 (Edinburgh) and MC8 (UCL) both attracted over 400 delegates and MC9 was a centrepiece of the 2009 IUPAC meeting.

In 2008 the Materials Chemistry Forum became the Materials Chemistry Division, sitting alongside the more traditional Analytical, Dalton, Faraday and Organic Divisions. The new Division had the goal of setting, driving, and delivering the strategy for materials chemistry within the RSC. The MCD continued its excellent performance, giving a voice to all members of the materials chemistry community, and launching new initiatives, such as the MCD Poster Symposium aimed at early career stage members.

In 2016 the RSC undertook a substantial governance review of its Boards and Committees, which recommended that to ensure the full potential of the Divisions is achieved, the role of the Divisions should be reviewed.

In 2020 the RSC commissioned a review of the Divisions, one of the key recommendations of which was that the Divisions be reorganised into Subject Communities. In July 2022, the Materials Chemistry Division (MCD) officially became the Materials Chemistry Community (MCC).

Our resources

A number of resources including careers support, managing professional development and mentoring is available to Royal Society of Chemistry Members. Visit the individual webpages for more information:

Contact us

Contact Dr Philip Stackhouse, Programme Manager, with your queries about the Materials Chemistry Community.

Email us

How to join

As an RSC member you can join as many subject communities as you wish. RSC Members (of any level) can become part of a subject community either by:

subscribing directly to the subject community
membership of an Interest Group that is part of the subject community

Members can select or remove subject communities and interest groups within their membership profile.

As a member of a subject community, you will receive communications so you can stay informed about major developments in your field such as funding, training, events and activities alongside calls to contribute to RSC programmes and policy work.

Back to Subject Communities home