The Department of Chemistry is one of the earliest department to be established by the University of Pune in April 1950. Department of Chemistry, situated in the picturesque surroundings on the University Campus, offers programs leading to M. Sc., M. Phil. and Ph.D. degrees. Department of Chemistry is rated as one of the best in the country for its teaching and research activities.

It has been selected as Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry

Department of Chemistry has received large funds from the University Grants Commission (UGC), under Departmental Special Assistance Programme (SAP) and Committee on the Strengthening of Infra-structure in Science and Technology (COSIST). Various other government funding agencies viz. CSIR, DST, DAE, INSA, DRDO,C-DAC have also given funds for execution of their projects.

Chemistry has 4 specializations - Physical, Organic, inorganic, and Biochemistry. Department of Chemistry is rated as one of the best in the country for its teaching and research activities and has been selected as Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry. The department possesses several sophisticated instruments to do frontier research in a broad range of disciplines. These includes UV-VIS, IR , FT-NMR, EPR spectrometers and a host of other high technology instruments.DOC has a close collaboration with the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune for teaching and research activities.