Pushing boundaries and solving global challenges at ACS Spring 2025

About 14,250 professionals, students, and others in the chemistry community gathered in San Diego March 23–27 to learn, share, and network at American Chemical Society Spring 2025, and an additional 1,000 participated virtually. The theme for the meeting was “Pushing Boundaries. Solving Global Challenges.”

Cool chemistry fun

ACS Kids Zone, a premeeting event, took place on Saturday. About 200 children participated in hands-on experiments with real scientists around the theme of glaciers. Attendees then spent 5 days connecting with each other through networking and career events, keynote events, lectures, presentations, and live workshops—all while learning about the latest in research, tools, and services.

Getting an edge

The Expo Hall opened on Monday, offering a place for attendees to preview the latest tools and services from exhibitors; interact with representatives from CAS, ACS Publications, and other resources; brush up their resumes and get advice through career offerings; and take part in hot-topic panels like C&EN’s “Future of Quantum Computing.”

Advancing knowledge, sharing research, and finding community

Participants presented nearly 4,500 posters in person and virtually. This year, there were almost 6,000 student registrants and 6,000 first-time attendees. 2025 Priestley Medalist Francis Arnold gave her award address, “A Random (Mostly) Uphill Walk,” on Sunday. The Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry, Nicholas Jackson, gave a lecture on Monday titled “A Quantum Mechanical Frontier for Polymer Science,” and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski gave the Fred Kavli Innovations in Chemistry lecture on Tuesday, titled “Macromolecular Engineering by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization.”