Welcome to C&EN’s annual Talented 12 issue. This is our fifth year highlighting path-paving young scientists tackling the world’s toughest problems with clever chemistry. Each year, it gets harder to narrow the vast pool of nominees down to just 12; each year, we marvel at how past honorees continue to push the boundaries of research.

In this feature, you’ll meet the Talented 12 class of 2019. These brilliant chemists are turning discarded waste into valuable chemicals, investigating the chemistry and biology of breast milk, wresting control of complex emulsions, and polishing semiconductors to angstrom-level smoothness.

Our 2019 selection process

To assemble this list, we consulted our staff, C&EN’s advisory board, and Talented 12 alumni. And we were inundated with hundreds of nominations from readers through an online form. We’ve spent most of 2019 sorting through these remarkable candidates to come up with this year’s outstanding group. These luminaries will surely dazzle the chemistry community in the years ahead.