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It is nearly seven years since Professor George Whitesides from Harvard University chaired the previous EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) International Review of Chemistry, which sought to investigate the overall standing and quality of chemistry research in the UK from an international perspective. 

Since then there have been many changes to how EPSRC funds UK science within HEIs, including its current emphasis on 'grand challenges', which some academics fear could stifle innovative and quality research. More recently EPSRC has come under criticism for trying to control the number of grant submissions, by banning those academics who had been previously unsuccessful from applying through a 'demand management' approach. 

All this has made the second EPSRC 2009 International Review of Chemistry a critically important event for the chemistry community, giving as it does a group of 18 internationally acclaimed chemists the opportunity to appraise the current situation objectively and to make recommendations both to the community and to EPSRC to improve the UK's position in research over the coming decade.