Société Chimique de France

What Société Chimique de France does

Société Chimique de France (SCF), founded in 1860 (originally as Société Chimique de Paris), is a French non-profit professional scientific society (association loi 1901) and the primary network for chemists in France. Operating from its headquarters at 250 rue Saint-Jacques in Paris with 39 employees, SCF serves chemistry students, academics, researchers, and industry professionals through a multi-layered ecosystem comprising scientific divisions, thematic groups, regional sections, and the Young Chemists Network (Réseau des Jeunes chimistes, RJ-SCF). The society administers prestigious scientific awards including the Prix Achille Le Bel, Prix Félix Trombe, Médaille Lavoisier, and Médaille du Centenaire.

SCF's core products span publications, education, and career services. The flagship L'Actualité Chimique is published monthly in print and electronic (PDF) formats, with issues older than five years available for free download. Educational resources include AC Découverte (adapted articles for high school and university students with mascot 'Molie'), Fiches Un point sur, Fiches Catalyse, and the L'Élémentarium reference database. The society also operates a book library (Ouvrages) under collections such as 'Chimie et...', an employment portal (Emploi et Insertion) aggregating academic, PhD, post-doc, and industry positions, and the SCF Info newsletter.

The business model is built on annual membership dues (free for students through bac+5, paid subscription for professionals), journal subscriptions, one-time book sales, and event/conference registration. Distribution is conducted primarily through the SCF website (self-service) and direct mail, with digital content delivered via the subscriber's 'Mon compte' account. SCF is affiliated with Chemistry Europe, an association of 16 European chemical societies, providing pan-European publication access including ChemistryViews. Revenue and funding figures are not disclosed.

Name

Société Chimique de France

Legal name

SOCIETE CHIMIQUE DE FRANCE

Website

https://new.societechimiquedefrance.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1860

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Société Chimique de France (SCF) is a French non-profit scientific society founded in 1860, serving as the leading network for chemists across academia, research, and industry. It publishes the journal L'Actualité Chimique, offers educational resources, administers prestigious chemistry awards, and provides career services through the Young Chemists Network RJ-SCF.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Scientific Society Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD), Scientific & Laboratory Reference (Chemistry, Biology, Physics; Methods & Protocols) (EDAGAGAG)

Keywords

• Professional chemistry society
• Scientific publications
• Chemistry membership services
• Chemistry education resources
• Scientific awards program

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Membership dues and subscriptions: SCF generates revenue primarily through annual membership fees and subscriptions to its scientific journal L'Actualité Chimique. Subscriptions function by calendar year and can be purchased online via the Actualité Chimique or SCF websites, or by mail. Journal issues are available in print (paper) and electronic PDF format. A significant number of issues and articles, particularly those older than 5 years, are available for free download. Individual article PDFs are available for purchase.
2. Book and publication sales: SCF operates a library/boutique selling scientific books and ouvres under collections including 'Chimie et…'. Publications include works on chemistry topics such as marine chemistry, art and chemistry, sports chemistry, essential oils, the history of molecular naming, and biographies of notable chemists.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Société Chimique de France is a non-profit professional scientific society that provides membership services to French chemists, publishes the chemistry journal L'Actualité Chimique, sells scientific books through its Ouvrages library, operates educational resources (AC Découverte, Fiches, Élémentarium), runs an employment/job board (Emploi et Insertion), and administers prestigious chemistry awards including Prix Achille Le Bel and Médaille Lavoisier. The society organizes scientific events, supports scientific divisions and regional sections, and connects academia and industry through its Young Chemists Network (RJ-SCF).

Product overview

Société Chimique de France (SCF) is a professional chemistry society offering membership services, scientific publications, and educational resources. The core offerings include L'Actualité Chimique journal, educational content for students (AC Découverte, Fiches), a book library (Ouvrages), job board services (Emploi et Insertion), awards programs (Prix et Distinctions), and the daily chemistry feature (Produit du jour). The organization also supports young chemists through the RJ-SCF network and publishes various reference resources including L'Élémentarium.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• L'Actualité Chimique: The official journal of SCF, publishing monthly issues on chemistry research and news
• Réseau des Jeunes chimistes (RJ-SCF)
• AC Découverte

Products and services

• SCF Membership Annual membership program for the French chemistry community, available free to students through bac+5 and on a paid basis for professionals and researchers. Membership includes access to SCF scientific divisions, thematic groups, regional sections, the L'Actualité Chimique journal, and the RJ-SCF network.
• L'Actualité Chimique Journal Official scientific journal of SCF, published monthly in print and electronic PDF formats, covering chemistry research, news, and scientific content. Subscriptions are available by calendar year via the SCF website, Actualité Chimique website, or by mail. Issues older than 5 years are available for free download.
• SCF Books Library (Ouvrages) Library and boutique of SCF-published scientific books and works under collections including 'Chimie et...' covering topics such as chemistry and health, chemistry and art, sports chemistry, essential oils, marine chemistry, the history of molecular naming, and biographies of notable chemists.
• Emploi et Insertion Job Board Online job portal offering career and employment services for the chemistry community, with job listings categorized by type: Industry, Logistics, Academic Positions, and PhD/Post-doc/Internships. Listings include positions from universities, CEA, ArcelorMittal, and other organizations.
• Réseau des Jeunes chimistes (RJ-SCF) Young Chemists Network within SCF providing career resources, professional development, and networking opportunities for chemistry students and early-career professionals. The network delivers targeted programs for the next generation of French chemists.
• AC Découverte Educational Content Educational content aimed at high school and university students, featuring articles adapted from L'Actualité Chimique with interactive pedagogical materials and quizzes guided by the mascot Molie. Created by the Young Chemists Network with support from the editorial committee and the French national education inspection.
• L'Élémentarium Online reference resource for chemical elements, providing educational information about chemistry topics and serving as a knowledge base for the chemistry community.
• Fiches Un point sur... Educational fact sheets addressing everyday life questions where chemistry plays a determining role, providing accessible explanations of chemistry's impact on daily life.
• Fiches Catalyse Educational materials exploring various aspects of catalyst studies, providing chemistry researchers and students with focused content on catalysis.
• Prix et Distinctions (Awards Program) Awards and distinctions program administered by SCF recognizing outstanding contributions to chemistry, including Prix Achille Le Bel, Prix Félix Trombe, Prix Pierre Süe, Médaille Lavoisier, Médaille du Centenaire, Prix Binationaux, Prix des Entités, Subventions, and Membres Distingués honors.
• SCF Info Newsletter Online newsletter providing regular updates about chemistry news, SCF events, awards, and society activities. Readers can subscribe online and view past newsletters on the SCF website.

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Chemistry EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCF is affiliated with Chemistry Europe, an association of 16 European chemical societies. Through this partnership, SCF promotes European chemistry publications and provides access to ChemistryViews, the scientific news magazine of Chemistry Europe, to its members. This affiliation also enables cross-border collaboration in chemistry publishing and scientific communication across Europe.
• Inspection générale de physique-chimie de l'Éducation nationalecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Inspection générale de physique-chimie of the French national education system has provided encouragement and support to the AC Découverte initiative, created by the Young Chemists Network (RJ-SCF) with the backing of the editorial committee of L'Actualité Chimique. This partnership supports the educational mission of SCF toward high school and university students.
• L'Actualité ChimiquecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerL'Actualité Chimique is the scientific journal of SCF, serving as the society's official publication. SCF and L'Actualité Chimique jointly operate subscription services, with the journal available in print and electronic formats. The editorial committee collaborates on initiatives such as AC Découverte, providing accessible chemistry content for students.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Royal Society of Chemistry: The UK national chemistry society, operating as a learned society with membership, journals, books, conferences, and educational outreach. SCF's closest analog in another major European chemistry market, with a very similar business model and product portfolio.
• Société Française de Physique: France's national physics society, with a structure analogous to SCF: membership, divisions, conferences, journals, and educational outreach. Strong peer for benchmarking SCF's French learned society model in a parallel scientific discipline.
• Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ): Spain's national chemical society, providing membership, conferences, publications, and awards. Closely comparable to SCF in scope, scale, and Iberian Romance-language market context.
• German Chemical Society (GDCh): Germany's national chemical society offering membership, scientific divisions, journals, conferences, and awards. Closely mirrors SCF's structure of scientific divisions, regional sections, and a flagship publication serving professional chemists.
• Chemical Society of Japan: Japan's national chemical society with journals, conferences, awards, and educational programs. Comparable as a national-level learned society serving professional chemists, though operating in a different geographic and linguistic market.
• Italian Chemical Society (Società Chimica Italiana): Italy's national chemistry society, organizing divisions, conferences, publications, and awards for the Italian chemistry community. Directly comparable as a Southern European national chemistry society with similar scale and offerings.
• American Chemical Society: The largest national chemistry society in the world, providing journals, conferences, awards, membership, and chemistry education programs. Comparable scope to SCF but at significantly larger scale, with a directly overlapping member value proposition.

Others

• Chemistry Europe: An association of 16 European chemical societies, of which SCF is a member. Enables cross-border chemistry publishing and access to ChemistryViews; a consortium partner rather than a pure competitor, but relevant as a publisher and conference organizer.
• CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique): France's largest public research organization, covering chemistry among other sciences. Not a peer in the society sense but a key ecosystem participant that SCF collaborates with and serves through its researcher membership base.
• International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC): The international authority on chemical nomenclature, terminology, and standards. Worth listing as a related global body that complements SCF's national-level mission rather than competing directly with it.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soci-t-chimique-de-france

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Société Chimique de France