Overview
The Chemistry Department at UC Berkeley provides the opportunity for an undergraduate student to obtain thorough and fundamental knowledge of all fields of chemistry. There are lecture courses in the general areas of inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry. The department offers many more specialized courses, including analytical, nuclear, and biophysical chemistry, and chemical biology. Laboratory experience is provided in inorganic and organic synthesis, analytical methods, physical-chemical measurements, spectroscopy, biochemical engineering, and chemical methods in nuclear technology. Independent and original work is stressed in the laboratories and modern equipment is available to carry out the work. The equipment and techniques available to the undergraduate students include nuclear magnetic resonance; electron paramagnetic resonance; visible, ultraviolet, and infrared spectrometers; X-ray diffraction; mass spectrometry; high-vacuum, high-pressure, and low-temperature equipment; gas chromatography; and others. Many of these instruments are interfaced directly to computers. In other cases, data analysis and graphics displays are accomplished using the College of Chemistry Computer Facility. In addition, arrangements can be made to use many specialized research techniques available on the campus.
More important than the formal lecture and laboratory courses is the intellectual environment provided by the department. There is a student commons room that makes it convenient for students to learn from one another. The Chemistry Library has an excellent collection of books, journals, and reference materials. Graduate student instructors, who are themselves graduate students working toward PhD degrees, are further sources of scientific information and help. Faculty members are available as academic advisers and hold office hours for consultation about their courses. They are also willing to discuss chemistry, science, career opportunities, and even philosophy. The best way to take full advantage of the scientific opportunities available in the department is to join a research group. This can be done through courses for advanced undergraduates or simply as an employee.
Graduate study at Berkeley is mainly individual learning in a research field chosen by the student. New students begin research shortly after arriving in Berkeley and usually complete their thesis work in about five years or less. Courses are normally taken only during the first two years, but seminars are a rich source of new knowledge throughout the entire graduate career. All graduate students are required to be graduate student instructors for a minimum of three semesters. Teaching is not only an essential service; it is an excellent method for learning. Financial support for graduate students is provided by graduate student instructor positions, research assistantships, and fellowships.
There is currently an active graduate student organization whose membership includes all graduate students in the college. The overall goal of this organization is to involve graduate students in the department and to provide a sense of community among the various separate sub-disciplines in the college as well as to increase communication among faculty, administration, and students.
Undergraduate Programs
Chemistry: BA (offered through the College of Letters and Science), BS (offered through the College of Chemistry), Minor
Chemical Biology: BS
Graduate Program
Chemistry: PhD
Faculty and Instructors
+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.
Faculty
Paul Alivisatos, Professor. Physical chemistry, semiconductor nanocrystals, nanoscience, nanotechnology, artificial photosynthesis, solar energy, renewable energy, sustainable energy.
Research Profile
Richard A. Andersen, Professor. Chemistry, inorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry.
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John Arnold, Professor. Organometallic chemistry, organometallic catalysis, materials chemistry, coordination chemistry.
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Anne Baranger, Adjunct Professor. Chemical education, chemical biology, organic chemistry.
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Kwabena Bediako, Assistant Professor. Inorganic Materials Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Low-Dimensional Materials, Quantum Transport, Optoelectronics.
Research Profile
Kristie A. Boering, Professor. Physical chemistry, climate change, atmospheric chemistry, environmental chemistry, ozone, earth and planetary science, isotopic compositions of atmospheric trace gases, stratospheric ozone, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, molecular hydrogen, methane.
Research Profile
Carlos J. Bustamante, Professor. Nanoscience, structural characterization of nucleo-protein assemblies, single molecule fluorescence microscopy, DNA-binding molecular motors, the scanning force microscope, prokaryotes.
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Jamie Cate, Professor. Molecular basis for protein synthesis by the ribosome, RNA, antibiotics, a thermophilic bacterium, escherichia coli.
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Christopher J. Chang, Professor. Chemistry, inorganic chemistry, neuroscience, bioinorganic chemistry, general physiology, organic chemistry, new chemical tools for biological imaging and proteomics, new metal complexes for energy catalysis and green chemistry, chemical biology.
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Michelle Chang, Associate Professor. Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, and Synthetic Biology.
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Ronald C. Cohen, Professor. Physical chemistry, water, climate, air pollution, atmospheric chemistry, environmental chemistry, analytical chemistry, ozone, nitrogen oxides, CO2, clouds.
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Jennifer A. Doudna, Professor. RNA machines, hepatitis C virus, RNA interference, ribosomes.
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Felix Fischer, Associate Professor. Organic and Inorganic Materials Chemistry, Supramolecular Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Molecular Electronics.
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Graham R. Fleming, Professor. Chemistry, proteins, chemical and biological dynamics in the condensed phase, ultrafast spectroscopy, body dynamics, liquids, solutions, glasses, photosynthetic proteins, role of solvents in chemical reactions, complex electric fields, electron transfer.
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+ Matt Francis, Professor. Materials chemistry, drug delivery, organic chemistry, Protein modification, artificial photosynthesis, water purification.
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+ Phillip Lewis Geissler, Professor. Statistical mechanics, theoretical chemistry, microscopic behavior of complex biological and material systems, biomolecular structure and dynamics, nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy.
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Naomi Ginsberg, Associate Professor. Physical and biophysical chemistry, light harvesting, spectroscopy, and imaging.
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Jay T. Groves, Professor. Chemistry, physical chemistry of cell membranes, molecular organization in cell membranes, receptor-ligand binding, spatial rearrangement of receptors, ligands.
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John F. Hartwig, Professor. Inorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, catalysis, organic chemistry.
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Martin Head-Gordon, Professor. Theoretical chemistry, electronic structure calculations, development of novel theories and algorithms, quantum mechanics.
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Teresa Head-Gordon, Professor. Computational chemistry, biophysics, bioengineering, biomolecules, materials, computational science.
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John Kuriyan, Professor. Structural and functional studies of signal transduction, DNA replication, cancer therapies, phosphorylation.
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Stephen R. Leone, Professor. Physical chemistry, molecular dynamics, atomic, molecular, nanostructured materials, energy applications, attosecond physics and chemistry, radical reactions, combustion dynamics, microscopy, Optical physics, chemical physics, soft x-ray, high harmonic generation, ultrafast laser, aerosol chemistry and dynamics, neutrals imaging.
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David Limmer, Assistant Professor. Theoretical chemistry.
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Jeffrey R. Long, Professor. Inorganic and solid state chemistry, synthesis of inorganic clusters and solids, controlling structure, tailoring physical properties, intermetal bridges, high-spin metal-cyanide clusters, magnetic bistability.
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Thomas Maimone, Assistant Professor. Organic synthesis, total synthesis, natural products chemistry, catalysis, synthetic methodology, medicinal chemistry.
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Michael A. Marletta, Professor. Chemical biology, molecular biology, structure/function relationships in proteins, catalytic and biological properties of enzymes, cellular signaling, nitric oxide synthase, soluble guanylate cyclase, gas sensing, cellulose degradation, polysaccharide monooxygenases.
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Susan Marqusees, Professor. Director of QB3 and Eveland Warren Endowed Chair Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology.
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Evan W. Miller, Assistant Professor. Chemical biology, organic chemistry, fluorescence microscopy, neuroscience, imaging .
Luciano G. Moretto, Professor. Chemistry, nuclear science, statistical and dynamical properties of nuclei, nuclear reactions, multifragmentation, thermal scaling, monovariant and bivariant regions.
Research Profile
Daniel Neumark, Professor. Physical chemistry, molecular structure and dynamics, spectroscopy and dynamics of transition states, radicals, and clusters, frequency and time-domain techniques, state-resolved photodissociation, photodetachment of negative ion beams.
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Eric Neuscamman, Assistant Professor. Electronic Structure Theory, Quantum Chemistry.
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Daniel K. Nomura, Associate Professor. Chemical Biology and Analytical Chemistry.
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Eran Rabani, Professor. Theory of nanomaterials.
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Jonathan Rittle, Assistant Professor. Inorganic Chemistry and Chemical Biology: Applying structure and spectroscopy to understand and augment the reactivity of metalloenzymes and transition metal clusters.
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Richmond Sarpong, Professor. Organic and organometallic chemistry.
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+ Richard J. Saykally, Professor. Physical chemistry, surface science, analytical chemistry, materials solid state chemistry, laser spectroscopy methods, X-ray spectroscopy, molecular astrophysics, novel forms of matter, nonlinear optical molecular imaging(NMI), water clusters.
Research Profile
Kevan M. Shokat, Professor. Chemistry, bio-organic chemistry, diabetes, protein phosphorylation, fundamental signal transduction pathways in cells and whole organisms, kinase, drug development, asthma, multiple forms of cancer, neurological disorders, drug addiction.
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+ Angelica Stacy, Professor. Chemistry, solid states, physical and inorganic chemistry, emerging technologies, synthesis and characterization of new solid state materials with novel electronic properties, magnetic properties, development of new synthetic methodologies.
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T. Don Tilley, Professor. Inorganic, organometallic, polymer and materials chemistry, synthetic, structural, and reactivity studies on transition metal compounds, catalysis, new chemical transformations, advanced solid state materials, renewable energy, solar fuels.
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Dean F. Toste, Professor. Organometallic chemistry, organic, development of new synthetic methods, enantioselective catalysts, strategies for the synthesis of natural products, synthesis of complex molecules, formation of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds, olefins.
Research Profile
K. Peter Vollhardt, Professor. Organic and organometallic chemistry, transition metals, novel synthetic methodology, synthesis of complex natural and unnatural products, assembly of novel oligometallic arrays, phenylenes, organic magnets and conductors.
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K. Birgitta Whaley, Professor. Chemistry, physical and theoretical chemistry, cluster and nano science, quantum information and computations, quantum mechanics of clusters and advanced materials, elucidating and manipulating chemical dynamics in strongly quantum environments.
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Evan Williams, Professor. Spectroscopy, molecular structure and dynamics, analytical chemistry, biophysical chemistry, structure and reactivity of biomolecules and biomolecule/water interactions, mass spectrometry, separations, protein conformation, protein and DNA sequencing.
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Ke Xu, Assistant Professor. Biophysical chemistry, cell biology at the nanoscale, super-resolution microscopy, single-molecule spectroscopy.
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Ting Xu, Professor. Polymer, nanocomposite, biomaterial, membrane, directed self-assembly, drug delivery, protein therapeutics, block copolymers, nanoparticles.
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Omar Yaghi, Professor. Reticular chemistry.
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Peidong Yang, Professor. Materials chemistry, sensors, nanostructures, energy conversion, nanowires, miniaturizing optoelectronic devices, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, solid state lighting.
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Lecturers
Michelle Christine Douskey, Lecturer.
Peter C. Marsden, Lecturer.
Maryann Robak, Lecturer.
Emeritus Faculty
Paul A. Bartlett, Professor Emeritus. Bio-organic chemistry, synthetic chemistry, enzyme inhibitors, combinatorial chemistry, peptide conformation, proteomimetics.
Research Profile
Robert G. Bergman, Professor Emeritus. Organic and inorganic chemistry: synthesis and reaction mechanisms, organotransition metal compounds, homogeneous catalysis.
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Joseph Cerny, Professor Emeritus. Nuclear chemistry, nuclei, radioactivity, isotopes.
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Jean M. J. Frechet, Professor Emeritus. Materials chemistry, catalysis, drug delivery, analytical chemistry, organic synthesis, polymer science, macromolecules, chiral recognition, control of molecular architecture at the nanometer scale, reactive surfaces.
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Charles B. Harris, Professor Emeritus. Physical chemistry, surface science, theoretical chemistry, chemical dynamics, femtosecond lasers in the visible and infrared, energy transfer, relaxation, primary processes in chemical reactions in liquids, the dynamical properties of electrons.
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Robert A. Harris, Professor Emeritus. Molecules, radiation, theoretical chemistry, atoms, weak interactions, condensed matter .
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John E. Hearst, Professor Emeritus. Nucleic acid structure, psoralen photochemistry.
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Clayton H. Heathcock, Professor Emeritus. Organic synthesis, organic chemistry, large-molecule synthesis.
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Darleane C. Hoffman, Professor Emeritus. Nuclear chemistry, actinide, transactinides, superheavy elements, liquid-liquid extractions, solid-phase chromatographic extractions, gas-phase chromatographic separations, meitnerium, nuclear decay properties of the heaviest elements, decay.
Research Profile
Sung-Hou Kim, Professor Emeritus. Computational genomics, Structural Biology, drug discovery, disease genomics.
Research Profile
Judith P. Klinman, Professor Emeritus. Catalytic and regulatory mechanisms in enzyme-catalyzed reactions, kinetic, spectroscopic, stereochemical biological techniques, peptide- derived cofactors, Nuclear tunneling and role of protein dynamics in catalysis, enzymatic activation of molecular oxygen.
Research Profile
Yuan T. Lee, Professor Emeritus.
William Lester, Professor Emeritus. Theoretical and physical chemistry, advances in basic theory, computational methods, study of molecular electronic structure, quantum Monte Carlo method, Born-Oppenheimer approximation.
Research Profile
Marcin Majda, Professor Emeritus. Electrochemistry, analytical chemistry, electrode and solution interfaces, electron tunneling, bioanalytical chemistry.
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Samuel S. Markowitz, Professor Emeritus. Nuclear chemistry, environmental chemistry, nuclear reactions for chemical analyses.
Research Profile
Richard Mathies, Professor Emeritus. Genomics, biophysical, bioanalytical, physical chemistry, laser spectroscopy, resonance Raman, excited-state reaction dynamics photoactive proteins, rhodopsins, microfabricated chemical biochemical analysis devices, forensics, infectious disease detection.
Research Profile
William H. Miller, Professor Emeritus. Theoretical chemistry, chemical dynamics, quantum mechanical and semiclassical theories, dynamical chemical processes at the molecular level, photodissociation, femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy, calculations of rate constants for chemical reactions.
Research Profile
C. Bradley Moore, Professor Emeritus.
Steven F. Pedersen, Professor Emeritus.
Norman E. Phillips, Professor Emeritus. Materials, solid state chemistry, low-temperature specific heat measurements, microscopic theories, models for condensed matter, macroscopic properties, microscopic structures, measurements on nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes.
+ Alexander Pines, Professor Emeritus. Theory and experiment in magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging, quantum coherence and decoherence, novel concepts and methods including molecular and biomolecular sensors and microfluidics, laser hyperpolarization and detection, laser and zero-field NMR, in areas from material science to biomedicine .
Research Profile
John O. Rasmussen, Professor Emeritus.
Kenneth N. Raymond, Professor Emeritus. Chemistry, bacteria, bioinorganic chemistry, biophysical chemistry, coordination, design of specific chelating agents for metal ions, human iron storage and transport proteins, low-molecular weight chelating agents, metals in medicine, metal-ligands.
Research Profile
Kenneth Sauer, Professor Emeritus.
Charles V. Shank, Professor Emeritus.
David Shirley, Professor Emeritus.
Gabor A. Somorjai, Professor Emeritus. Physical chemistry, catalysis, surface science, low-energy electron diffraction, solid state chemistry, macroscopic surface phenomena, adhesion, lubrication, biocompatibility, bonding, and reactivity at solid surfaces, scanning tunneling.
Research Profile
Andrew Streitwieser, Professor Emeritus.
David E. Wemmer, Professor Emeritus. Nuclear magnetic resonance, nucleic acids, biophysical chemistry: proteins, NMR spectroscopy, magnetic resonance methods, structure of proteins and DNA, conformational fluctuations, biopolymers.
Research Profile
Contact Information
Director of Undergraduate Chemistry
Anne Baranger
213 Lewis Hall
Phone: 510-642-0336
Graduate Student Affairs Supervisor
Lynn Keithlin
419C Latimer Hall
Phone: 510-643-0571