Congress Theme and Topic Areas

The Pacifichem 2025 Congress Theme is Building Communities to Address Global Challenges. 

Chemistry continues to expand its interfaces (with Physics, Biology, Materials Science, and Engineering) and the diversity of its researchers in order to develop and implement solutions for complex societal problems.

Symposium Proposals will be considered in the following topic areas:

  1. Analytical 

Symposia in all areas of Analytical Chemistry including new developments in instrumentation, theory, methodology, chemometrics, machine learning/AI, and applications.  Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: chromatography, electrophoresis and related separation sciences, mass and ion mobility spectrometry and related methods of analysis, fluorescence, IR, UV‐Vis, Raman, and other spectroscopy techniques, sensors, imaging, immunoassays and other related technologies, electrochemistry, forensics, microfluidics and lab on a chip, structure elucidation via NMR, surface analysis, X‐ray scattering and spectroscopy, novel microscopy, techniques for material characterization, sample preparation or autonomous environmental monitoring.

  1. Biological 

Symposia considering chemical solutions to biological questions, and biological systems to solve chemical challenges. Topics of interest include but are not limited to fields of medicinal and natural product chemistry, drug discovery and delivery, molecular mechanisms of biological molecules or systems, chemical biology, structural biology, synthetic biology, glycobiology, biophysical chemistry, machine learning and artificial intelligence, biocatalysis, biomolecular characterization and engineering, and systems biology.

  1. Computational & Theoretical

Symposia in all areas of theoretical and computational chemistry. Indicative topics include but are not restricted to methods and applications of theoretical and computational aspects of quantum chemistry, imaging and visualization, molecular modeling and simulations, statistical mechanics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and agent‐based modeling.

  1. Inorganic 

Symposia in all areas of inorganic chemistry, including bioinorganic chemistry, catalysis, organometallics, coordination chemistry, main group and solid‐state chemistry, theory and machine learning / artificial intelligence; example topics include synthesis, electron transfer reactions, magnetism, bonding properties, mechanisms, molecular structures, reactivity, spectroscopy, theory, kinetics, and thermodynamics.

  1. Macromolecular 

Symposia in all areas of organic, inorganic, and biological polymers. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to macromolecular structure, characterization, modification, modeling, machine learning and artificial intelligence, kinetics, mechanisms, catalysis, physicochemical, and functional properties of macromolecules, supramolecular, and network polymers.

  1. Materials 

Symposia in all areas of the chemistry and properties of inorganic, organic and biological materials. Topics of interest could include, but are not limited to design, fundamental studies, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and applications of materials toward chemical devices and switches, clusters, directed and self‐assembly, emergent technologies, spintronics, plasmonics, fabrication of materials with novel and/or useful optical, electronic, magnetic, catalytic, and mechanical devices, role of surfaces and interfaces, and microarray technologies.

  1. Organic 

Symposia in all areas of organic and bioorganic chemistry as applied, for example, to synthesis, natural product structural determination and chemistry, metal‐, organo‐ or photo‐catalytic reactions, molecular recognition, self‐assembly, asymmetric systems, heterocyclic chemistry, physical organic chemistry including machine learning and artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical process chemistry, high‐throughput chemistry, flow systems, amino acid/peptide chemistry, carbohydrate, nucleic acid, and biomimetic chemistry.

  1. Physical 

Symposia in all areas of physical chemistry as applied, for example, to dynamical systems, spectroscopy and ultrafast processes, thermodynamic systems, photochemistry, radiation chemistry, astrochemistry, nuclear chemistry, electrochemistry, excited states, imaging, modeling, molecular assemblies/processes/electronics, quantum/statistical mechanics, surfaces/interfaces, single-molecule catalysis, and visualizations.

  1. Chemistry and Engineering for Sustainability

Chemistry and engineering advances are needed to ensure the sustainability of life. Symposia in all areas of green and environmental chemistry, renewable energy generation and storage, agricultural and food chemistry, and geochemistry are encouraged. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to disruptive technologies in chemical/materials manufacturing, biodegradable materials and circular economy, life cycle analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence, reduced waste generation and energy consumption, biomass conversion to chemicals, solar fuels, biofuels, fuel cells, batteries and supercapacitors, chemistry of atmospheric processes, geomicrobial processes, contaminant transport and mitigation, pollution prevention, and environmental remediation. 

  1. Chemistry for Life Science and Health Care 

Chemistry lies at the epicenter of discovery in life sciences and modern medicine.  Symposia in chemical approaches to next‐generation therapeutics, delivery methods, and enabling technologies are encouraged. Topics of interest include but are not limited to understanding and characterizing the microbiome, genome‐editing approaches, devices for point-of-care, diagnostics, graftable and implantable devices, medical materials, vaccine technologies, nuclear medicine, health impacts of environment (pollutants, nanoparticles, microplastics) and lifestyle (diet, medication, and recreational drugs), host‐pathogen interactions, and chemistry of stress, inflammation, and aging.  

  1. Educate, Communicate and Translate 

Education, communication, and translation of chemical knowledge across communities plays a key role in addressing global challenges.  Symposia in chemistry education research and practice, chemistry outreach, pandemic lessons learned, policy making, and knowledge translation through professional practices and educational environments are encouraged.  Topics of interest include, but are not limited to innovative curricula, active learning in the classroom and laboratory, assessment practices, online, synchronous, and asynchronous learning environments, diversity and inclusion, occupational health and safety, intellectual property, entrepreneurism, scientific communication, ethics, and academic integrity.