AbstractIn spite of the long‐standing importance of non‐oxide chalcogenide glasses in infrared optics and semiconductor technology, concepts describing the structural principles governing glass formation in these systems are just emerging. Most recently, modern quantitative solid state NMR techniques have offered new unique insights into the structural organization of these systems. In this review, we discuss the basic principles of various experimental approaches and their application to boron‐ silicon,‐ and phosphorus chalcogenide