Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts in solids may be calculated by ab initio methods approximating the solid state by molecular clusters. We employed this technique to obtain estimates of 15 N chemical shifts in NB 2 Si and NBSi 2 environments in the solid state. Such nitrogen environments are found in amorphous (Si/B/N-)ceramics which exhibit very interesting features such as high thermal and mechanical stability. We based our calculations on cutouts of hypothetical Si 3 B 3 N 7 crystals suggested by Kroll and Hoffmann [Silicon boron nitrides: hypothetical polymorphs of Si 3 B 3 N 7 , Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 37 (1998) 2527]. Taking the systematic errors of our calculations into account we expect the chemical shifts in NBSi 2 environments around -293±5ppm. Chemical shifts in NB 2 Si environments are expected at -272±6ppm. The range of the calculated chemical shifts in NBSi 2 environments coincides with experimental chemical shifts in molecular compounds. Experimental chemical shifts of NB 2 Si nitrogen in molecules appear at lower field than our calculated chemical shifts in the solid state.