Chemical kinetics is the area of science devoted to the study of the rates as well as the mechanisms of reactions. Its applications range from the understanding of the interplay between metabolic processes, where the intricate control of the rates of enzymatic processes is fundamental for the overall wellbeing of biological systems, through industrial synthesis of both fine and heavy chemicals to the long-term geological and atmospheric changes occurring on our planet since the evolution of the Universe and those expected to occur in future. At the economic level, the overwhelming majority of industrial chemical syntheses involves heterogeneous or homogeneous catalysis, and an understanding of the inherent processes and interactions is fundamental for the optimisation of reaction conditions.