Chemistry

Overview

Research in the department of Chemistry at KU Leuven is organised in 5 divisions:

• Biochemistry, Molecular and Structural Biology: the mission of this unit is to study biomolecular interactions in vitro and in living systems. Our objectives are to collect, to master and to be at the forefront of the development of a number of essential tools to measure, model and manipulate biomolecular interactions and to apply this expertise to a number of highly relevant questions.

• Quantum Chemistry and Physical Chemistry: The Chemistry research topics in this division are quantum chemistry; computational inorganic quantum chemistry; computational molecular and materials science; computational coordination chemistry; theory of nanomaterials; nano-engineered thin films; reaction kinetics and physical chemistry.

• Molecular Design and Synthesis: This division aims to develop new synthetic methodologies and to create new molecules with different degrees of complexity and with different functionalities. Because of its expertise in different aspects of organic and inorganic synthesis, the division is a knowledge centre that is able to provide access to a wide variety of compounds of high importance to colleagues inside and outside of the university.

• Molecular Imaging and Photonics: The researchers in this division perform research in photochemistry and spectroscopy as well as in molecular electronics and photonics.

• Polymer Chemistry and Materials: Research within this division focuses on three societal material classes: biobased polymeric materials, materials based on conjugated polymers and nano-engineered polymer materials. The research unit furthermore invests in new pathways for polymer synthesis and the unveiling of structure-property relationships in soft matter using experiment, theory and simulations.