Working Party on Ethics in Chemistry

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Aims and Goals of the Working Party

The Working Party is a network of representatives of the EuChemS member societies with the goal to promote the understanding of the importance of ethical considerations in education and practice of pure and applied chemistry.
(Supporting letter of Roald Hoffmann)

Mission Statement

Science and technology shape society faster and stronger than ever, nationally and globally. Chemistry is a key science and technology in this process, contributing directly and indirectly by providing new substances and materials needed for advancement of the wealth of nations. But the quantitative growth of material turnover also entails new risks. It is in the interest of us chemists to participate in the process of finding the proper way between Scylla and Charybdis, together with policy makers, regulators, and agitators for sustainable and sound (chemical) progress, also for the sake of our reputation and acceptance by society. Therefore, awareness of the ethical, social and cultural dimensions of practicing chemistry is in the interest of us chemists and of society as a whole.

The EuChemS Working Party “Ethics in Chemistry” aims at raising new perspectives by elaborating insightful viewpoints on those dimensions, based on the philosophical foundations of Chemistry. Its objectives are:

Contributing to the professional discussion of chemistry-related ethical issues (Science Ethics)
Elaborating codes of conduct, approaches of “good scientific practice”, and “chemical ethos” (Professional Ethics)
Identifying “hot topics” in ethics issues related to chemical research and engineering, and communicating them within the chemical community
Sharpening the awareness of chemists for ethical, social and legal implications of their professional practice, integrating these topics into education of chemists
Participating in national and international science governance, regulatory boards, and ethics committees

See the Statutes (pdf) here.

The WP’s Agenda

The roots of the EuChemS working party Ethics in Chemistry date back to the early 2000s when Hartmut Frank, environmental chemist at the University of Bayreuth, reached out to Nobel laureates Richard Ernst and Roald Hoffmann, and other like-minded chemists like Carl Djerassi and Francesco Dondi, to discuss the professional responsibility of chemists as actors with great impact on society and environment. The group expanded and constituted itself as a EuChemS working party with official delegates from many national member societies. Among its joint efforts are position papers on topics at the intersection of chemistry and applied ethics in Angewandte Chemie and Chemistry – A European Journal, symposia at the biannual EuChemS conferences, and the conceptualisation and realisation of an online course Good Chemistry: Methodological, Ethical, and Social Dimensions offered on the e-learning platform of EuChemS to chemistry students in the EU.

A key theme that structures the work and the discussions of the working party is the insight that chemists have both internal and external responsibilities for their decisions and actions. The internal domain concerns good scientific practice, research integrity, and the compliance with professional guidelines of how to do science right. The external dimension includes topics such as the dual use character of chemical innovations, sustainability, risk, and the role of chemical expertise in science policy and innovation governance. With this pragmatic-practical approach, the working party aims to represent the chemical community in those science and innovation discourses that have an applied-ethical dimension that is relevant for the daily professional conduct of chemists.

Join our Activities!

Currently, not all the national member societies of EuChemS are represented in the working party. Moreover, diverse and fresh approaches to ethical discourses in chemistry are always welcome. EuChemS members with a personal or professional interest in aspects of responsible conduct in chemical science, innovation, education, communication, or regulation are invited to join the WP! Please contact the Steering Committee of the working party. A fruitful collaboration creating synergies for meaningful contributions to the interdisciplinary discourse on good chemistry lies ahead!

For updates on our activities, and to get involved actively, please see our “EthiChem” Newsletters on the News page.

Steering Committee

[details here]

Senior Chair	Prof. Dr. Hartmut Frank	hartmut.frank [at] uni-bayreuth [dot] de
Chair	Prof. Dr. Anca Silvestru	anca.silvestru [at] ubbcluj [dot] ro
Vice Chair	Dr. Hans W. Steisslinger	hw.steisslinger [at] terra-institute [dot] eu
Secretary	Dr. Jan Mehlich	jmehlich [at] uni-bonn [dot] de

Honorary Members

Prof. Dr. Roald
Hoffmann

Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Prof. Dr. Erhard Meyer-Galow

GDCh-President (1998-99)

Author of “Business Ethics 3.0”

Dr.h.c. mult. Ahmet Üzümcü

Director-General (2010-18) of the Org. f. the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

(pdf)

Austria
Prof. em. Dr. Ulrich Schubert, Institute of Materials Chemistry, Vienna University of Technology
eMail

Belgium
Dr. Brigitte van Tiggelen, Director
Chemical Heritage Foundation Europe
eMail

Czech Republic
Prof. Dr. Pavel Drasar, UCHPL VSCHT Praha [ICT Prague]
eMail

Denmark

Prof. Dr. Tom Børsen, Research Group for Techno-Anthropology and Participation (TAPAR), Department of Planning, Aalborg University

France

Prof. Dr. Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne

eMail

Germany
Prof. em. Dr. Hartmut Frank, University of Bayreuth, Germany
eMail

Greece
Prof. em. Dr. Maria Ochsenkühn-Petropoulo, Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, National Technical University, Athens
eMail

Hungary
Dr. Georgina Toth-Nagy, Institute of Environmental Engineering, University of Pannonia, Veszprém
eMail

Israel

Prof. Dr. Meital Reches, Inst. Chemistry, Nanoscience & Nanotechnology, Hebrew University Jerusalem

eMail

Italy
Prof. Dr. Luigi Campanella, Dipartimento di Chimica Università di Roma 1
eMail

Netherlands
Prof. Dr. Jan Reedijk,Leiden Institute of Chemistry
eMail

Poland
Prof. Dr. Janina Lulek, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University Poznań
eMail

Portugal
Prof. Dr. Mário Nuno Berberan Santos, Institute for Bioengineering & Biosciences, Universidade de Lisboa
eMail
Prof. Mário Nuno Berberan e Santos

Romania
Prof. Dr. Anca Silvestru, Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Cluj-Napoca
eMail

Russia
Prof. Dr. Stepan Kalmykov, Dean, Faculty of Chemistry, Moscow State University
eMail

Department of Chemistry, Moscow State University

Slovenia

Prof. Dr. Marija Bešter-Rogač, Faculty Chemistry & Chem. Engineering, University of Ljubljana

eMail

Spain
Prof. Dr. Pilar Goya, Instituto de Química Médica, CSIC
eMail
Pilar_Goya_CSIC_99

Sweden

Prof.em. Dr. Margareta Törnqvist, Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University

eMail

Switzerland
Prof. Dr. Olimpia Mamula Steiner, Institute of Chemical Technology, HEIA Fribourg, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland HES-SO
eMail