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.

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.

See all our policy work

Comprehensive Spending Review Representation from the Royal Society of Chemistry

Throughout the pandemic we have 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 can be 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.

As the nation faces the fiscal realities of the pandemic the chemical sciences have 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

Recent policy survey of our members

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.

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 results of this new survey are available below and will be an important consideration in developing our priority policy themes for 2022 to 2023, alongside an assessment of the policy environment and stakeholder engagement. The relevant Royal Society of Chemistry Governance bodies will consider them in autumn 2021 and we will update members later this year.