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The 15th International Conference on the History of Chemistry (15ICHC) will take place from 8th to 12th of June, 2027 and will be hosted by the University of Bologna.
Conference theme
The general conference theme is The Chemistry of Food and Spirits.
Chemistry, more than any other science, emerged for the purpose of sustaining and
expanding the means of subsistence for human life. As already recognized by the poets
and philosophers of classical antiquity, the mastery of fire has been the vector of
extremely important changes in the human diet. On the one hand, the cooking,
preparation, and preservation of food, and on the other, the fermentation, vinification,
and distillation of liquids, have given rise to a large part of what later became the main
activities of chemistry. Practices extend to the feeding and maintaining of livestock, as
well as to therapeutic or toxic substances, like medicines and poisons. From the ancient
world to the present day, every technical progress in these arts and sciences has allowed
a consequent broadening of the theoretical knowledge of processes and materials. In
parallel, chemistry has made room for an understanding of life, both in health and in
sickness. From the Early Modern times to now, the chemical sciences have indeed
proposed mechanisms explaining digestion, respiration, excretion, infection,
metabolism, etc. allying freely with other realms of inquiry such as biology, medicine,
pharmacology, or physics.
Starting from these general premises, a non-exhaustive list of possible topics includes:
Chemical production of food and drinks, through history
and different knowledge traditions
Chemistry and the food and drink industry
Potable and edible alchemy, panacea and long-life elixirs
Distillation and other heating or cooking techniques
Fermentation techniques incl. for instance brewery, winery, and vinegar, miso, kimchi,
pulque, ogi, tempeh, and doogh making
Chemistry of food preservation and adulteration
Toxicology, poisons, and food poisoning
Food and alcohol related health issues
Food and spirit in pharmaceutical prescriptions
Pharmaceutical innovation, design, and production, incl. development and knowledge
of active substances, formulation and pharmacokinetics
Animal feeding and veterinary knowledge
Chemistry and domestic economy
Gendered knowledge, production, and management of food and feeding
Food circulation and commerce, including global trade and exchanges in food chemistry
Standardisation, food security and control
Theories of digestion, metabolism and nutrition, incl. biochemical cycles and cascades
Nutrition standards, malnutrition, nutriceuticals, and food supplements
Biochemistry and molecular biological approaches to food, spirit,
and nutrition in general
As usual, presentations on all aspects of the historical development of chemistry, material
and life sciences are also welcome, beyond the conference theme.
Plenary speakers include
- Elizabeth NESWALD (Brock University, Canada) for the Science History Institute
Lecture
Materiality, methods, and practices at the intersection of food and chemistry, or
‘the quantitative determination of cane sugar in aqueous solutions’
- José Ramón BERTOMEU-SANCHEZ (IILP-Universitat de València, Spain)
Pesticides in the 20th-century toxic world: chemical industry, slow violence and
environmental justice
- Samir BOUMEDIENE (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France)
In a Frying Pan. Food, Health and the Technologies of Soffritto
- CHCMS Early Career Lecture (sponsored by the Commission on the History of
Chemistry and Molecular Sciences)
Early Career Lecture awardee to be announced in Early 2027
Call for papers, posters, roundtable and sessions
The programme committee welcomes the submission of organised sessions, roundtables,
and standalone papers and posters.
- Paper presentations are expected to be 15 minutes, excluding time for questions
and discussions.
- The poster session will allow for a 5-minute presentation.
- Organised sessions will comprise from 4 to 6 presentations, including a
commentary if so wished.
- Roundtables can welcome ca. 4 to 6 panelists, including the organiser/moderator.
The aim of the ICHC’s is to foster dialogue and facilitate communication between
different communities interested in the history of chemistry and the molecular sciences.
Organised sessions and roundtables should therefore reflect this diversity by gathering
contributors from different institutions, countries and projects. Gender and career stage
balance is also strongly encouraged. Organisers may want to use a call for participants to
mailing lists, in particular CHEM-HIST, to set up their sessions. At the discretion of the
Steering Committee, and with the approval of the session organiser(s), relevant standalone
papers may be assigned an organised session.
Collaborations and co-authorships are accepted and encouraged. Note however that only
one poster OR paper presentation per presenter and only one organised
session per organiser is allowed. The limit of one paper/poster per presenter
(including the papers listed inside a panel or a session) does not apply to comment and
participation in a roundtable.
All proposals must be in English, the language of the conference. Submitted abstracts for
poster or oral presentation (max. 250 words) and session proposals (max. 300 words)
will be subject to review by an International Advisory Committee that assists the Steering
Organising Committee in ensuring the quality of the conference program (see list of
committees below).
All proposals must use the templates provided on the conference website. All proposals
must be sent to co-chairs Carmen Schmechel (carmen.schmechel@huc.knaw.nl) and
Brigitte Van Tiggelen (bvantiggelen@sciencehistory.org) by 15 December 2026.
Venue
University of Bologna, Cloister of Santa Cristina (Piazzetta Giorgio Morandi 2): a former
convent now housing University teaching facilities. For more details, see conference
website.
Committees
Steering Organising Committee
Marco BERETTA, University of Bologna (Chair of the Local Organising Committee)
Annette LYKKNES, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway (Chair of
the Division on History of Chemistry)
Carmen SCHMECHEL, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Co-Chair of the
Steering Organising Committee, and Vice Chair of the Division of History of Chemistry)
Brigitte Van TIGGELEN, Science History Institute, Philadelphia, USA (Co-Chair of the
Steering Organising Committee)
Local Organising Committee
Francesca ANTONELLI, Università di Bologna, Italy
Marco BERETTA, Università di Bologna, Italy (Chair of the Local Organising
Committee)
Gabriele FERRARIO, Università di Bologna, Italy
Sandra LINGUERRI, Università di Bologna, Italy
Matteo MARTELLI, Università di Bologna, Italy
Lucia RAGGETTI, Università di Bologna, Italy
Margherita VENTURI, Società Chimica Italiana & Università di Bologna, Italy
Giovanni VILLANI, Società Chimica Italiana & Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy
International Advisory Committee
Charlotte A. ABNEY-SALOMON, Science History Institute, USA
Francesca ANTONELLI, Università di Bologna, Italy
José Ramon BERTOMEU-SANCHEZ, IILP-Universitat de València, Spain
Gisela BOECK, Universität Rostock, Germany
Ewa BULSKA, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Warsaw, Poland
Filip A. BUYSE, Royal Flemish Chemical Society, Belgium
Franco CALASCIBETTA, Gruppo Italiano and University of Rome, Italy
José Antonio CHAMIZO GUERRERO, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México,
México
Marco CIARDI, Università di Firenze, Italy
Danielle ME FAUQUE, Université Paris-Saclay, France
Hjalmar FORS, Hagströmer Library, Stockholm, Sweden
Paulina GENNERMANN, Marburg University, Germany
Carmen GIUNTA, Le Moyne College, USA
Corinna GUERRA, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
Georgiana HEDESAN, University of Oxford, UK
Marieke HENDRIKSEN, Humanities Cluster of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts
and Sciences, The Netherlands
Sarah HIJMANS, Université Paris Cité, France
Ernst HOMBURG, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Frank AJL JAMES, University College London, UK
Yoshiyuki KIKUCHI, Aichi Prefectural University, Japan
Peter KONECNY, Slovak National Archives, Slovakia
Pierandrea LO NOSTRO, Substantia journal and University of Florence, Italy
Anders LUNDGREN, Uppsala University, Sweden
Antonella MAGGIO, Università di Palermo, Italy
Isabel MALAQUIAS, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
Matteo MARTELLI, Università di Bologna, Italy
Christoph MEINEL, Universität Regensburg, Germany
Joris MERCELIS, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
Peeter MÜÜRSEPP, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Leticia PEREIRA, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil
Silvia PÉREZ CRIADO, Max Planck Institute für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Germany
Asbjørn PEDERSEN, Hvidovre Gymnasium, and The Danish Society for the History of
Chemistry, Copenhagen, Denmark
Karoliina PULKKINEN, University of Helsinki, Finland
Birutė RAILIENĖ, Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences,
Lithuania
Peter RAMBERG, Truman State University, USA
Seth RASMUSSEN, North Dakota State University, USA
Carsten REINHARDT, Universität Bielefeld, Germany
Marabel RIESMEIER, University of Ghent, Belgium
Vanessa SEIFERT, University of Athens, Greece
Anna SIMMONS, University College, UK
Ana SIMÕES, CIUHCT- University of Lisbon, Portugal
Rudolph W. SOUKUP, Universität Wien, Austria
Ignacio SUAY-MATALLANA, University of Valencia, Spain
Pieter THYSSEN, Université de Liège, Belgium
Margherita VENTURI, Società Chimica Italiana & Università di Bologna, Italy
Important Dates
- Deadline for submitting proposals: 15 December 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 5 February 2027
- Provisional program: Mid-March 2027
- Early bird registration: before 1 April 2027
- Deadline for registration to be included in the programme as a presenter: 15 April 2027
- Final program: end of April 2027
- Conference dates: 8th to 12th of June 2027 (Saturday excursion included)
Conference fees
As in the previous ICHC conferences, the conference fees will be covering admission to
all conference sessions, conference materials and participant package, welcome
reception, coffee/tea/refreshments breaks, and lunches. The participants will also receive
a copy of the anniversary volume celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Division of the
History of Chemistry.
Early Bird
Before 1 April
2027
Full fees
Before 25 May 2027
Late Fees
After 25 May 2027
Regular 280 € 320 € 420 €
Reduced (*) 150 € 180 € 220 €
Accompanying
person (**)
150 € 200 € 300 €
(*) Please note that reduced fees are intended for pre-doctoral or postdoctoral students
without economic resources, or unemployed scholars and other individuals in a
precarious financial situation, and particularly to those who lack regular sources of
income. The number of reduced fees is limited. Applicants are required to submit a
letter or statement detailing their circumstances, with relevant documents, by 28
February 2027 to ichc2027bologna@gmail.com.
Please, do not register with the reduced fee unless you receive an answer from the
15ICHC organisers by 15 March 2027.
(**) Accompanying persons are welcome to attend all sessions of the Conference and
the coffee-breaks; the accompanying person’s fees do not cover welcome
reception, conference material and lunches, and do not include a copy of the
anniversary volume celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Division of the History of
Chemistry.
The Commission on the History of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences (CHCMS) of the
DHST and the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry (SHAC) will be offering
grants to support attendance at the 15th International Conference on the History of
Chemistry.
Conference Dinner: venue to be decided. Approx. cost between 35 and 60 €
Excursions: Museo di Palazzo Poggi and Palazzo Pepoli – Museum of the History
of Bologna. Approx. 7 to 15 €
Accommodation
Conference fees, for all participants and accompanying persons, include
a complimentary Bologna Congress Card, offered by Bologna
Welcome (Bologna Tourist Office). This digital card provides exclusive
discounts on guided tours, accommodation at participating hotels, transport,
restaurants, and other services.
There are several hotels near the conference hall. There are several excellent options to
book flats and rooms via airbnb.com and Booking.com.
Further recommendations on accommodation options in Bologna will be provided in
due course on the conference website.
Contact information for practical questions: ichc2027bologna@gmail.com
Conference web site: https://sites.google.com/view/ichc2027-bologna/home