Best of the Holiday Season: Reflecting on 2025 and Previewing 2026

2025 was a busy year in spectroscopy. From exploring new conferences, seeing rapid advancements in portable instrumentation, and witnessing the explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) into more workflows and process, the year brought about significant change to the industry and affected how science was being conducted.

Over the course of the holiday break, Spectroscopy took time to reflect on 2025, documenting what experts have said throughout the year about the trends and advancements currently underway in spectroscopy, and how they are impacting different industries.

Below is a curated selection of some of this coverage, which reflects back on 2025 and highlights where spectroscopy is heading in 2026. Happy reading!

Looking Ahead at 2026: The Biggest Trends in Spectroscopy

This article outlines how spectroscopy is evolving amid economic pressures, workforce gaps, and rapid advances in artificial intelligence. Looking toward 2026, key trends include the miniaturization of spectroscopic instruments for in-field and real-time deployment, enabling faster, more affordable on-site analysis across applications such as food, agriculture, and forensics (1). At the same time, AI and machine learning (ML) are becoming essential for managing increasingly complex spectral data, supporting pattern recognition and predictive modeling. The article also highlights growing use of hybrid and correlative methods that integrate spectroscopy with complementary techniques to enhance sensitivity, contextual insight, and analytical power (1).

Calling All Bloggers! Spectroscopy Announces New Running Blog for 2026

Spectroscopy magazine is launching a new online blog series designed to amplify the voices of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers working in spectroscopy. The publication is currently inviting submissions on a rolling basis, covering both technical topics, such as method development, applications, instrumentation, and artificial intelligence, and professional reflections, including conference experiences and career development (2). Blog entries should be 600–1000 words and may be authored collaboratively. Submissions require a proposal form, author details, and a brief summary. Accepted contributors gain broad visibility through Spectroscopy’s open-access platform and extensive scientific readership, with no cost to participate (2).

AI Developments That Changed Vibrational Spectroscopy in 2025

Spectroscopy Executive Editor Jerome Workman, Jr. presents this review of how artificial intelligence reshaped vibrational spectroscopy in 2025, marking a shift from expert-driven chemometrics to autonomous, predictive, and uncertainty-aware analysis. Across Raman, infrared (IR), near infrared (NIR), and hyperspectral platforms, AI techniques, which include deep learning, explainable AI, and quantile regression, now enable rapid calibration, real-time interpretation, and trustworthy decision-making (3). Applications span agriculture, environmental monitoring, industrial bioprocessing, and biomedical diagnostics, including cancer phenotyping and wearable sensors. The review highlights emerging foundation models, physics-informed learning, and multimodal data fusion, positioning AI-powered spectroscopy as a scalable, interpretable, and increasingly autonomous analytical science (3).

Behind the Science: Conversations with Spectroscopy Innovators

This article presents a series of interviews with leading spectroscopists whose work shaped the field in 2025, offering insight into emerging techniques, applications, and future directions. Featured experts discuss advances spanning vibrational, nonlinear optical, infrared, Raman, LIBS, and plasma-based spectroscopy, alongside growing integration with ML (4). Topics range from catalyst design and environmental monitoring to cancer diagnostics, forensic analysis, and food and pet safety (4). Collectively, the perspectives highlight how spectroscopy is evolving through innovation in instrumentation, data analysis, and interdisciplinary applications, while emphasizing mentorship, creativity, and adaptability as essential qualities for the next generation of spectroscopic researchers (4).

Oh, the Places We Went! Top Spectroscopy Conferences and Insights from 2025

This article reviews Spectroscopy’s expanded conference coverage throughout 2025. We highlight how global meetings captured the evolving landscape of analytical spectroscopy. From Photonics West and Pittcon to SciX and the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS), editors reported on advances in photonics, vibrational spectroscopy, food analysis, forensic science, astrochemistry, and biomedical imaging. Interviews with researchers and industry leaders underscored major themes such as instrument miniaturization, AI, real-world applications, and interdisciplinary collaboration (5). Together, these conferences showcased how spectroscopy continues to drive innovation across science and industry, while reinforcing the importance of community engagement, education, and global knowledge exchange as we move forward into 2026 (5).

References

1. Wetzel, W. Looking Ahead at 2026: The Biggest Trends in Spectroscopy. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/looking-ahead-at-2026-the-biggest-trends-in-spectroscopy (accessed 2026-01-01).
2. Wetzel, W. Calling All Bloggers! Spectroscopy Announces New Running Blog for 2026. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/calling-all-bloggers-spectroscopy-announces-new-running-blog-for-2026 (accessed 2026-01-01).
3. Workman, Jr., J. AI Developments That Changed Vibrational Spectroscopy in 2025. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/ai-developments-that-changed-vibrational-spectroscopy-in-2025 (accessed 2026-01-01).
4. Chasse, J. Behind the Science: Conversations with Spectroscopy Innovators. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/behind-the-science-conversations-with-spectroscopy-innovators (accessed 2026-01-01).
5. Wetzel, W. Oh, the Places We Went! Top Spectroscopy Conferences and Insights from 2025. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/top-spectroscopy-conferences-and-insights-from-2025 (accessed 2026-01-02).