ChemPhysChem Appoints New Editor-in-Chief

Chemistry Europe and Wiley-VCH have named Dr. Kira Welter Editor-in-Chief of ChemPhysChem, successor to Dr. Greta Heydenrych, as of November 1st, 2022. The appointment was confirmed at the recent Owners meeting of Chemistry Europe.

Kira Welter studied chemistry at the Universidad de los Andes in Venezuela. After working for two years at an energy company, she moved to Germany with a DAAD scholarship, where she obtained her Ph.D. in electrochemistry from the Heinrich-Heine-Universität in Düsseldorf, under the supervision of Joachim Walter Schultze and Georgi Staikov, for research on electrodeposition and physical chemistry of semiconductors. She joined Wiley-VCH in 2004 and has been with ChemPhysChem since then.

Kira was also involved in the pre-launch activities of ChemElectroChem and has been Senior Associate Editor of that journal since it was launched in 2014. She also has experience as a science writer and has covered recent research for several outlets.

ChemistryViews talked to Kira about her promotion:

What fascinates you about the topic and the idea of ChemPhysChem?

Physical chemistry is a broad field of study and there is always a lot of exciting research going on. It’s amazing to see how scientists from around the world work together, crossing the boundaries between physics and chemistry, to tackle many of the challenges of our time.

ChemPhysChem showcases important advances in areas as diverse as electrochemistry, computational chemistry, catalysis, photochemistry, environmental chemistry, and spectroscopy. It’s fascinating to be able to learn about all these developments as they happen and help researchers to share them with the scientific community.

What are you looking forward to?

We are currently working on some changes to the structure of ChemPhysChem’s Editorial Board. One of our main goals is to continue growing in terms of diversity and expertise, so in January 2023 we will be introducing the journal’s very first Early Career Advisory Board. I’m really looking forward to that!

I’m also looking forward to a great collaboration with ChemPhysChem’s board members, authors, referees, and readers—and, of course, with my wonderful colleagues at the editorial office.

Do you have a message for your predecessor?

Greta Heydenrych has done an excellent job in making ChemPhysChem the journal it is today. It has been a pleasure for me to work with Greta during all these years and I’m very thankful for all the support I have received from her. The journal is in very good shape, which has made the transition quite easy, and I’m honored to contribute to its further growth.