News & Comment

Historically catalysis has evolved as a set of different fields linked together by a unifying concept. While the distinctions between the various areas serve a purpose, exciting work is happening at the interfaces.

Industrial research of new catalysts has benefited from both insight and predictions from first-principles calculations. We now find ourselves on the brink of a digital transformation where multiscale approaches and machine-learning methods promise to revolutionize the field.

Reproducibility is a cornerstone of science. It is imperative that everyone involved in the generation of scientific knowledge holds themself to the highest standard to ensure reproducibility.

Catalysis is a complex, multidimensional and multiscale field of research. Machine learning is helping to build better models, understand catalysis research and generate new knowledge about catalysis.

In situ studies are very important to advance our comprehension of catalytic reactions and are expected to be boosted by the development of more powerful analytical tools.

Converting carbon dioxide to more useful — and less harmful — chemicals is a key challenge of our time, and one in which catalysis needs to play a key role.

Welcome to the first issue of Nature Catalysis. While the format of a Nature Research journal will probably be familiar to most of our readers, in this editorial we would like discuss the unique aspects of this journal and our aims for the future.

Catalysis is a subject with a surprisingly long and rich history. It seems certain that it has an even brighter future as the challenges of our society require a focus on this discipline more than ever.