MIT News – MIT Department of Chemistry

“The fact that ozone depletion would have happened as early as the late 1950s, which is much earlier than I would have thought, just absolutely blew my mind,” says Susan Solomon.

Scientists find ozone depletion began decades before discovery of ozone hole

Researchers determined that carbon tetrachloride, used as a dry-cleaning and degreasing agent as early as the 1930s, was at the root of early ozone loss.

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Kathleen Downey stands in front of a power point presentation.

MIT Chemistry Hosts 9th Annual Denmark Organic Retreat, Sponsored by Scott Denmark (SB ’75)

The 9th Annual Denmark Organic Retreat, sponsored by Scott Denmark (SB '75), was held on June 12, 2026.

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QS ranks MIT the world’s No. 1 university for 2026-27

Ranking at the top for the 15th year in a row, the Institute also places first in 12 subject areas.

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Side by side headshots of Laura Kiessling and Ron Raines.

Laura L. Kiessling and Ronald T. Raines Named van ’t Hoff Lectureship Award Recipients

This prestigious award is named for the first Nobel laureate in Chemistry.

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Clockwise from top left: Annika Marschner, Alvin Meng, Matthew Wanta, and Zachary Siegel

MIT affiliates win 2026 Hertz Foundation Fellowships

The fellowships recognize doctoral students who are pursuing solutions to the most pressing challenges in science and technology.

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MIT chemists showed they can double the strength of common polymers, including polystyrene and a type of rubber used to make shoe soles.

MIT chemists design impact-resistant plastics

Introducing weaker bonds into polystyrene and rubber helps these materials dissipate energy, making them more resistant to destructive forces.

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The Haystack 37m Telescope is contained in the large radome seen on the right, a structure that protects the telescope’s precision reflector from weather.

The Haystack 37m Telescope: A new era of astrophysical research

The legendary radio astronomy telescope returns to its science and educational mission at MIT Haystack Observatory.

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A lab member glances through a mircoscope in a darkened room.

Single-molecule tracker illuminates workings of cancer-related proteins

Researchers use custom-built microscopy and nanotechnology to tag and follow the activity of individual proteins in real time.

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MIT professors Isaiah Andrews, David Atkin, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, and Benjamin Weiss were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2026.

MIT affiliates elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2026

The prestigious honor society honors four MIT faculty and 13 additional MIT alumni among more than 250 new members.

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Dr. Danny Thach to join the Chemistry Faculty

Thach appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry.

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Mitali Chowdhury '24 (left) and Christina Kim '24

Two MIT alumnae named 2026 Gates Cambridge Scholars

Mitali Chowdhury ’24 and Christina Kim ’24 will pursue graduate studies at Cambridge University in the UK.

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“Production of ozone-depleting substances has pretty much ceased around the world except for this one use, which is when you have a chemical you convert into something else,” says Susan Solomon.

A regulatory loophole could delay ozone recovery by years

Scientists say an exception in the Montreal Protocol for the use of ozone-depleting feedstocks could set the ozone recovery back seven years.

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MIT chemists have found that changing the composition of the cell membrane can alter the function of EGFR, a cell receptor that promotes proliferation and is often overactive in cancer cells.

MIT study reveals a new role for cell membranes

Long thought to be mainly a structural support, the cell membrane also influences how cells respond to signals and may contribute to the growth of cancer cells.

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