Since its foundation in 1999 by Pierre Toledano and Hans-Peter Weber the mission of the ACCE* has been to promote and conduct crossdisciplinary research. ACCE's research program ranges in topics from the classical to the contemporary, is often application-driven and always displays the following three qualities:

Freshness: In contrast to academic research which is known to often suffer from institutional inertia, if not to say from lack of courage, the research activities at ACCE are characterized by their willingness to tackle unpopular topics** and/or to approach these in a frequently irreverent approach - "the road less travelled ".

Creativity: Physics and Biology, the sister sciences to Chemistry, are "discovery" sciences; they uncover existing facts, previously hidden. In contrast, Chemistry is a creative science; it creates its own objects of study and, in the widest sense, produces materials-based knowledge where there was none before.

Excellence: Members of ACCE apply rigorous standards of excellence to their research program. They will not undertake any research project unless they can assure a high level of competency.