Our aims
The aims of the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry are:
- To advise on and support scientific developments both in research and training in the general field of physical chemistry
- To support the next generation of scientists in the important field of physical chemistry in its broadest context
- To act as an advocate for the field of physical chemistry to the scientific community and society as a whole
- To promote excellence and sustainability in the field of physical chemistry
- To promote inclusion and diversity in its broadest possible sense across the physical chemistry community
Find out more in the tabs below
Meet the members of the Council who are responsible for ensuring that the Community fulfils its purpose.
Professor Andrew Mount
President (2024 - 2027)
Andy Mount is Professor of Physical Electrochemistry at the University of Edinburgh.
Andy graduated and gained his PhD in Chemistry from Imperial College. He had a spell of postdoctoral research at Oxford University, where he was a Research Scholar at University College, a College Lecturer at Keble College and a Junior Research Fellow at Green College.
Professor Dwayne Heard
Past President
Dwayne Heard is a Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Leeds.
Prof. Debabrata Goswami
Elected member (2022-2025)
Debabrata Goswami is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, where he is also affiliated as a Professor with the Center for Lasers and Photonics.
Dr Marco Sacchi
Elected member (2022-2025)
Marco is an Associate Professor and Royal Society University Research Fellow in Physical and Computational Chemistry at the University of Surrey.
Dr Andrew Logsdail
Elected member (2023-2026)
Andrew Logsdail is a Senior Lecturer in Catalytic and Computational Chemistry (2022-) and UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellow (2020-) at the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, which is part of the School of Chemistry, Cardiff University. Andrew was previously a Lecturer (2019-22) and University Research Fellow (2016-19) at the same institution.
Professor Ranjan Dey
Elected member (2023-2026)
Ranjan Dey is a Professor at the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani Goa Campus.
He was born in Prayagraj (Allahabad) and did his B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. at the University of Allahabad, Oxford of the East. He was an academic Visitor at IIT- Bombay, Mumbai in 2004 and worked with Prof. Nand Kishore on the denaturation of proteins.
Professor Jeremy Frey
Elected member (2024 - 2027)
Jeremy describes himself as a physical and digital chemist, with interests in promoting interdisciplinary research across the physical and life sciences, from laser spectroscopy and imaging, computational modelling, and digital chemical duals.
Professor Yi-Tao Long
Elected member (2024 - 2027)
Yi-Tao Long is a Professor at School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Director of Molecular Sensing and Imaging Centre at Nanjing University.
His research focuses on electrochemistry at nanoconfinement which involves nanopore electrochemistry for single molecule analysis, nanospectroelectrochemistry for biointerphase and the nanoelectrochemical measurement instruments.
Professor Brianna Heazlewood
Appointed Member (2023-2026)
Brianna Heazlewood is a Professor of Chemical Physics at the University of Liverpool. Brianna completed her undergraduate and PhD degrees at the University of Sydney, Australia, moving to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford in 2012. She set up an independent research group at Oxford as an EPSRC Early Career Fellow in 2016, studying gas-phase reactions under cold and controlled conditions.
Professor Elena Besley
Appointed Member (2023-2026)
Elena Besley is a Professor of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry at the University of Nottingham. She obtained her PhD in Physics and Mathematics (2000) from St. Petersburg State University, Russia. In 2000 she held a Royal Society/NATO postdoctoral research fellowship at the Queen's University of Belfast, followed by postdoctoral research appointments in Chemistry at the Universities of Nottingham, Sussex, and Cambridge.
Dr Charles Cummings
Appointed Member (2024-2027)
Charles Cummings is a senior research chemist based within QinetiQ, an industrial representative on the RSC Electrochemistry Group and co-editor of the RSC Electrochemistry Newsletter. He studied chemistry at the University of Bath and attained a PhD in electrochemistry in 2012.
Dr Haresh Manyar
Interest Group Appointed Member (2022-2025)
Dr Haresh Manyar is Director of Internationalisation and Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, UK. He is also an adjunct Professor at Chandigarh University in India. Dr Manyar’s research focuses on the design and development of new catalysts and chemical processes in batch and continuous flow for sustainable chemical manufacturing and renewable energy.
Dr Simon Port
Interest Group Appointed Member (2022-2025)
Dr Simon Port is a Capability Leader at Dstl and Chair of the RSC’s Industrial Physical Chemistry Group. He has a Doctor of Philosophy in spectro-electrochemistry from the University of Southampton and a BSc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry from Portsmouth Polytechnic. Simon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and has lead Dstl technical capability, project and programme Delivery.
Dr Kelechi Uleanya
Interest Group Appointed Member (2024-2027)
Dr Kelechi O. Uleanya attended Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria (BSc & MSc) and was a Lecturer in Chemistry at the National Open University of Nigeria before pursuing and completing a PhD in physical chemistry at the University of York (2021). She is also an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.
Professor Martijn Zwijnenburg
Interest Group Appointed Member (2024-2027)
Martijn Zwijnenburg is Professor of Computational Materials Chemistry at University College London. Martijn studied Chemical Engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, where he also did his PhD.
Dr Antonia Mey
Co-opted member, RAPC representative (2023-2024)
Antonia Mey is a Chancellor’s Fellow in the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. Toni obtained a BSc from Keele University in Physics with Chemistry and a PhD in Physics from the University of Nottingham working with Prof. Juan Garrahan. After her PhD, she joined Prof. Frank Noé group at the Free University in Berlin as a postdoc, where she developed new tools for the analysis of molecular simulations using Markov Models.
Professor Susan Perkin
Ex Officio Member, FSCC Chair
Susan Perkin is Professor of Physical Chemistry, Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford and the Chair of the Faraday Standing Committee on Conferences (FSCC). Susan earned her DPhil in 2006, which was followed by a Junior Research Fellowship at Merton College, Oxford. She then set up a laboratory at UCL (London) before moving to the Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory in Oxford in 2012.
Named in honour of Michael Faraday, the Faraday Society was formed in 1902 to "promote the study of Electrochemistry, Electrometallurgy, Chemical Physics, Metallurgy and kindred subjects" was formed. The first council meeting of the Society occurred in February 1903.
In 1972, the Faraday Society merged with the Chemical Society, and then later, in 1982 merged with the Society for Analytical Chemistry and the Royal Institute of Chemistry to form the Royal Society of Chemistry as we know it today.
The Faraday Society thus became the Faraday Division, one of the key pillars of the Royal Society of Chemistry, with the aim of advancing scientific developments and supporting scientists working in the field of physical chemistry.
In 2020, the RSC commissioned a review of the Divisions. One of the Review's key recommendations was reorganising the Divisions into Subject Communities to better support the communities and members they represented and to allow for better integration and collaboration with interest groups and other Communities.
In 2022, the Faraday Division reviewed its name. Members of the Division felt that it was important to continue to remember and honour the legacy of those scientists that came before us, such as Michael Faraday, but also to be mindful of inclusion, accessibility, and the community's aims, scope and breadth.
The Faraday Division Council, therefore, decided that the best way to respect the diverse views of its members was to adopt the name "Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry" in July 2022.
Physical chemistry is the study of the underlying science behind atoms, molecules, materials and surfaces and their interactions. It is the sub-discipline of chemistry that establishes, defines, and develops the principles of chemistry. It sits at the overlap of chemistry, physics, biology, and medicine. As a result, it is closely related to, and operates at, the interfaces with all other chemistry sub-disciplines.
Physical chemistry seeks to measure, correlate, and explain chemical reactions, dealing with concepts such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics, dynamics, and equilibria.
Physical chemistry also seeks to understand the underlying properties of atoms and molecules, to better define and explain their behaviours and how these shape the universe around us.
Important sub-topics within physical chemistry include:
- Quantum chemistry
- Spectroscopy
- Thermodynamics
- Kinetics
- Statistical mechanics
- Electrochemistry
- Thermochemistry
- Photochemistry
- Surface chemistry
- Solid-state chemistry
- Metrology
- Computational chemistry
- Theoretical chemistry
- Colloids and formulation chemistry
The badge was designed by the eminent goldsmith Mr Leslie Durbin in 1956. It is in 9 ct gold and silver gilt, representing the head of Michael Faraday surrounded by a wreath of strawberry leaves and surmounted by a magnet and benzene ring. The President of the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry wears it on formal occasions, particularly at Faraday Discussions.
Explore the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry
Contact us
- Tel:
- +44 1223 432131
- Email:
- Dr Philip Stackhouse