Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • CAREER Q&A

‘Anyone engaging in scientific practice shouldn’t be excluded’: The United Kingdom’s only Black chemistry professor, on diversity

Chemist Robert Mokaya works to advance equality in science for Black researchers in the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa.
By
  1. Shihab Jamal

    1. Shihab Jamal is a freelance journalist in Cairo.

A portrait of Robert Mokaya with a teal coloured outline

‘Now, more than ever, we need to fix the pipelines for fairer access to degrees,’ says Chemist Robert Mokaya. Credit: Robert Mokaya

For much of his career as a solid-state chemist in the United Kingdom, Robert Mokaya suspected that there weren’t many Black chemistry professors in the country. But it wasn’t until 2018 that he discovered he was the only one. Now a provost and deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Sheffield, UK, Mokaya also chairs the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) inclusion and equality committee, and will become the RSC’s president in mid-2026. In 2022, Mokaya was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services to chemistry. Last year, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in London.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02972-8

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Single Molecule Specialist

    APPLICATION CLOSING DATE: 22.02.2026 Human Technopole (HT) is an interdisciplinary life science research institute, created and supported by the It...

    Milan (IT)

    Human Technopole

  • Chief Architect - High Performance Computing and Data Science

    Leads DSU’s High Performance Computing and Data Science, enabling scalable AI, big data, and scientific computing across all CoE.

    Bangalore (Locality), Karnataka (IN)

    Dayananda Sagar University Bengaluru

  • Chief Architect - Robotics and Embodied AI

    Leads Robotics and Embodied AI, building reasoning-driven robots using large-scale reinforcement learning and sim-to-real intelligence.

    Bangalore (Locality), Karnataka (IN)

    Dayananda Sagar University Bengaluru

  • Chief Architect- Spatial Computing (AR/VR/XR)

    Drive excellence in Spatial Computing (AR/VR/XR), building XR platforms, neural rendering, & digital twins for industry, healthcare, & education.

    Bangalore (Locality), Karnataka (IN)

    Dayananda Sagar University Bengaluru

  • Chief Architect: Cyber Defence & Sovereign Security

    Leads sovereign Cyber Defence & Sovereign Security, advancing threat detection, adversarial AI, quantum-safe security, and national digital trust.

    Bangalore (Locality), Karnataka (IN)

    Dayananda Sagar University Bengaluru

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links