Chemistry – A European Journal Turns 30

In this editorial, the Editor-in-Chief reflects on the launch of Chemistry – A European Journal 30 years ago and the development of the journal since then. In the year of its 30th anniversary, the journal will continue its legacy of excellence and innovation in the field of chemistry and remains committed to representing modern chemistry and adapting to emerging trends and topics. The year 1995 saw the premiere of Toy Story, the first movie that was entirely computer-animated, and the launch of Sony's PlayStation. From a less entertainment-centered, more wholesome perspective it is worth mentioning that 1995 was also the United Nations Year for Tolerance, although this is probably a less well remembered fact. In the same year, Amazon and eBay were launched; some argue this marked the beginning of the dot-com era. In Europe, three more countries joined the EU in 1995: Austria, Finland and Sweden. Within the EU, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the Schengen agreement. Today, games consoles and computer-animated movies are common and the Schengen Zone that allows citizens of its member countries to cross borders between these countries without passport control has since been expanded. From the viewpoint of chemistry, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry comes to mind which in 1995 was awarded to Paul J. Crutzen, Mario J. Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland "for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone". If we apply both the Europe and the chemistry filter while searching for highlights of 1995, we quickly get the launch of Chemistry – A European Journal as a search result. Back then I was a Ph.D. student and I remember the journal launch very well. I find it hard to believe that 30 years have passed since Jean-Marie Lehn and Peter Gölitz wrote in the editorial of the first issue that "the first step has thus been made towards our stated aim of creating a journal that is European in spirit and international in appeal."1 European in spirit and international in appeal – this motto still holds true today. What is more, the journal launch was the foundation of the organization known today as Chemistry Europe. As the heart and cornerstone of the Chemistry Europe journals portfolio, Chemistry – A European Journal always represented contemporary chemistry. Prevalent topics changed over time as trends in chemistry changed; whereas during the 1990's the categories2 "Transition Metal Catalysis", "Self-Assembly and Molecular Recognition in Chemistry" and "Role of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines in Materials Chemistry" embraced the highest number of articles, the peak shifted to the classifications "Aggregation-Induced Emission in Fluorescent Materials", "Chemistry and Applications of Metal-Organic Frameworks" and "Frustrated Lewis Pairs Chemistry" in the 2020's. Throughout the years, though, Chemistry – A European Journal has always been a truly multidisciplinary chemistry journal, covering all aspects of the discipline. Part of the mission of Chemistry Europe is to support researchers at every stage of their careers. With this in mind, in 2021 most of the journals of Chemistry Europe, including Chemistry – A European Journal, installed an Early Career Advisory Board (ECAB). The ECAB complements the Editorial Advisory Board and is meant to give younger chemists a stronger voice in the journal's development. As the two-year term for ECAB members can be extended only once, we have now renewed this committee; the names of the new ECAB members are listed in Table 1. On this occasion I would like to express my thanks to all of the inaugural ECAB members for their commitment. In addition, the Editorial Advisory Board has two new members, Timothy Noël and Hennie Valkenier. A warm welcome to all new board members! Last but not least, a big thank you goes to Kuiling Ding who will be leaving the board. His successor as co-chair representing Asian countries will be Tao Zhang who joined the board in 2022. Name First name Affiliation Country Du Bujie South China University of Technology, Guangzhou China Eremin Dmitry Caltech, Pasadena USA Fukui Norihito Nagoya University Japan Lim Jason Y. C. A*STAR Singapore Liu Lichen Tsinghua University, Beijing China Michailidou Freideriki OLYMRA GmbH, Zürich Switzerland Neumann Kevin Radboud University, Nijmegen Netherlands Prothiwa Michaela Universiteit Antwerpen Belgium Ragazzon Giulio Université de Strasbourg France Simeth Nadja Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Germany In the year of its 30th anniversary, Chemistry – A European Journal will continue its legacy of excellence and innovation in the field of chemistry and remains committed to representing modern chemistry and adapting to emerging trends and topics. Among other things, we are going to celebrate the anniversary with a symposium in Strasbourg, a place of importance in the history of the journal. Watch this space!