About our policy work

Whether maximising the effectiveness of research and education, or facilitating policymakers to use scientific information, our goal is to shape the development of policy relevant to the chemical sciences.

Get Involved in our policy work

Our members’ insights, expertise and experience are integral to maximising the influence of policy work on the future of research, innovation, chemistry education and environmental sustainability.

Here’s how you can get involved:

Your participation in any of the above is a chance to drive positive change and ensure that the chemical sciences continue to thrive and benefit society, improving our health, environment, and daily lives.

What our policy teams do

We provide expert information and gather evidence in order to keep policy makers and the public informed and up to date on current scientific, education and global issues.

We engage in policy decisions that impact on the quality of chemistry practised in a variety of contexts and careers, and that affect the quality of chemistry education at all levels.

This work includes the following goals:

• research, equipment and education are all well-resourced
• regulation and legislation balance the sometimes competing priorities of health and safety, the environment, and innovation in an achievable way
• there is a workforce of excellent teachers who are supported to deliver a high-quality chemistry education to everyone at all levels.

How we decide what to work on

Policy and parliamentary affairs work supports the RSC’s Strategy. We must act under our Royal Charter principles and follow relevant Charity Commission guidance. Even so, public policy spans a broad range of topics that impact or are impacted by the chemical sciences. Therefore, we need to prioritise our work to use our resources effectively to deliver impactful outcomes. Prioritisation is based on a combination of strategic importance and the potential impact we could have, working alone or in partnership with others.

It often takes time and expertise to have an impact. Our role in Sustainable Chemicals Policy has taken time to build. Securing the UK association with Horizon Europe was a seven year campaign for our sector. We often work on topics for the long term, to maximise impact, whilst reacting in an agile way to sudden changes, for example the issues the COVID-19 pandemic raised.

Member policy surveys

The chemical sciences impact and are impacted by many different topics in public policy. Members’ assessments of and opinions on the relative importance of these topics help us to prioritise our policy and advocacy efforts.

Our 2024 Policy Priorities Survey has now closed.

In March 2021, we sent out a survey seeking views from our members on what their priorities were within three of our existing work areas – research and innovation policy, UK and Global chemicals policy, and health challenges. These work areas have been informed by results of our 2019 Policy Priorities Survey.

The survey results are available below and were an important consideration in developing our priority policy themes for 2022 to 2023, alongside an assessment of the policy environment and stakeholder engagement. Our relevant governance bodies considered them in autumn 2021.

Download the summary report (result of survey)

Download the supplementary information

See all our policy work

Comprehensive Spending Review Representation from the Royal Society of Chemistry

Throughout the pandemic, we all looked to science to provide the answers, and science has delivered time and time again. The sector has shown the importance of investing in long-term research funding, science education, infrastructure and innovation, to help create a resilient UK. The chemical sciences were found at the forefront of delivering the Covid recovery, from working on vaccines and testing, to innovating new technologies supporting net zero and leading the charge on sustainability.

Even after the nation faced the fiscal realities of the pandemic, the chemical sciences has an important role to play in a green economic recovery. This submission proposes specific and targeted timely investments to enable that and support the Government’s ambition of securing the UK’s position as a “Science Superpower".

Read the review