EuCheMS’ General Secretary Nineta Hrastelj will be sharing her knowledge, views and experience as a past evaluator of one of Europe’s most succesful funding programmes. Join her for such invaluable input at the EuCheMS European Young Chemists’ Network week-long series of events and workshops at the EuCheMS Chemistry Congress 2018 in Liverpool, UK.
Mark your calendars! Thursday 30th August – 11:30-12:00
EuCheMS’ General Secretary Nineta Hrastelj will be joining David Cole-Hamilton, Vice-President of EuCheMS and representing the Royal Society of Chemistry, Reiner Salzer, Chair of the Label Committee at ECTN and professor at Dresden University, and LaTrease Garrison from the American Chemical Society (ACS) for a joint EuCheMS-ACS panel discussion on ‘Chemistry for Sustainable Goals’ at the EuCheMS Chemistry Congress 2018 in Liverpool, UK.
Mark your calendars! Tuesday 28th August – 13:00-14:30
EuCheMS’ Science Communication and Policy Officer Alex Schiphorst will be joining Susan Vickers from the Royal Society of Chemistry, Karin Schmitz from the German Chemical Society (GDCh), and Glenn Ruskin and Susan Morrissey from the American Chemical Society for a Global Chemist Communications Training Session at the EuCheMS Chemistry Congress 2018 in Liverpool, UK.
Mark your calendars! Monday 27th August – 11:00-13:00
On 8 November 2018, EuCheMS in cooperation with EFMC and the European Parliament (under the chairmanship of MEP Pavel Poc) will hold a workshop at the European Parliament on the causes and the treatments availble for Parkinson’s disease. Watch this space for more information!
EuCheMS will be attending this year’s ESOF (EuroScience Open Forum) – the largest interdisciplinary science meeting in Europe. It is dedicated to scientific research and innovation and offers a unique framework for interaction and debate for scientists, innovators, policy makers, business people and the general public.
Created in 2004 by EuroScience, this biennial European forum brings together over 4 000 researchers, educators, business actors, policy makers and journalists from all over the world to discuss breakthroughs in science. More than 40% of the participants are students and young researchers.
The 8th edition of ESOF will take place in Toulouse, France, from 9 till 14 July 2018. We hope to see you there! And keep an eye out for our poster..
Website: https://www.esof.eu/en/home.html
Padova, Italy
5 – 7 September 2018
Website: https://bit.ly/2Mmuslj
Lisbon, Portugal
4 – 7 September 2018
Website: http://www.n-ligands2018.com/
Bilbao, Spain
3 – 7 September 2018
Website: https://bit.ly/2t44j1P
Warsaw, Poland
2 – 6 September 2018
Website: http://www.ecrice2018.pl/
Florence, Italy
26 – 31 August 2018
Website: http://www.imsc2018.it/
Bucharest, Romania
3 – 8 July 2018
Website: http://www.chemch2018.ro/
Montpellier and Toulouse, France
30 June – 4 July 2018
Website: http://www.scf18.fr/
Deadline: 5 July 2018
Website: https://bit.ly/2l7hsnd
Deadline: 28 June 2018
Website: https://bit.ly/2JCSBqb
Deadline: 28 June 2018
Website: https://bit.ly/2JEYPpl
A historical landmark with a fundamental role in the development of chemistry and European unity and cooperation will soon be selected and awarded with the EuCheMS Historical Landmark Award! Meet our Landmark Selection Committee http://www.euchems.eu/awards/euchems-historical-landmarks/ …
The European Commission has published a survey seeking to find out what available education and training resources exist on the replacement, reduction and refinement (the 3Rs approach) of animal procedures for scientific purposes, being offered at high school, university and professional levels.(https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/3Rs-Education-and-Training )
The objective of this study is to identify courses, modules, teaching materials, guidance, and other resources to form a snapshot view of how, where and to whom the 3Rs principles and alternative-to-animal approaches are currently being taught keeping in mind that many such initiatives might not be “3R labelled”.
Send us your feedback if you wish to contribute to an EuCheMS response!
Deadline: 30 June 2018
Know something about the active substance folpet? Captan? Tolpyralate? Or perhaps disulphide? EFSA, the European Food Safety Agency, has open public consultations on these active substances and more! Click here: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/calls/consultations
Send us your feedback if you wish to contribute to an EuCheMS response!
As part of the European Commission’s announcement of its proposed Multiannual Financial Framework budget, there are a number of open calls for feedback. Have something to say on the Erasmus Programme 2021-2027? Send us your feedback if you wish to contribute to an EuCheMS response!
https://bit.ly/2y9cT5g
Deadline: 3 August 2018
The European Commission has published an open call for feedback on it’s action on single use plastics and fishing gear. Send us your feedback if you wish to contribute to an EuCheMS response!
https://bit.ly/2MoUK6t
Deadline: 24 July 2018
An independent study on the impact of European Research Council (ERC) projects in frontier research in 2016 and 2017 has shown that a whopping 79% had a major impact of some sort, with 19% leading to a breakthrough, and 60% to a major scientific advance. Only 1% of projects were observed to have had no appreciable scientific contribution. The finding was celebrated by ERC President Jean-Pierre Bourguignon who praised the ERC’s management ‘by scientists, for scientists’. Read the full press release.
The publishing of the study coincided with the ERC-STOA event held on 31 May in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. MEPs and other high-level decision-makers, including Commissioner Moedas, discussed the benefits and future of the ERC with a number of scientists and ERC grantees. Nobel prize winner, ERC grantee, and chemist Jean-Marie Lehn gave an opening speech in which he observed that together they were ‘’making science in Europe great again’’.
Meanwhile, seven experts have been appointed by Commissioner Moedas to find the next president of the ERC who will start on the new job on 1 January 2020.
The General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR) has now been in force since 25 May and EuCheMS has as such adopted some new measures. You can read our privacy statement on our website, and should you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe at any time by either clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ button in this email or by dropping us a line directly – but we’ll be sad to see you go!
So how will the GDPR affect research and science? The Economic and Social research Council (ESRC) has an interesting article. Want even more? Nature has a dedicated editorial on the topic – here.
On 31 May, the deadline for the last REACH registration signalled the end of a 10-year registration period for existing chemicals. The results are in, and some 90,000 registrations for some 21,551 chemicals manufactured in or imported to the EU and the EEA (above one tonne per year) were made by a total of 13,620 European companies. The chemicals that industry has registered can now be found on ‘the world’s largest public regulatory database on chemicals’ provided by ECHA. It will furthermore enable the European institutions and Member States to make more informed decisions on the restriction or authorisation of specific chemicals produced or imported in Europe. You can read ECHA’s press release here.
The European Commission has put forward a proposal for a ban on several single-use plastics most commonly found polluting our beaches and seas. 10 such single-use plastic products as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear are to be targeted by new rules. These items include plastic cutler
y, balloon sticks, straws and plastic cotton buds, amongst others. The new rules are expected to significantly reduce plastic pollution on European beaches and seas but are also intended to encourage innovation and competitiveness as alternatives become necessary.
EuCheMS attended the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee meeting on 16 May where the Rapporteur’s report was discussed. Rapporteur MEP Mark Demesmaeker proposed banning a wide range of deliberately manufactured microplastics in his report to the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI). Additional stress was placed on the prevention and decreased use of plastic rather than relying on biodegradability – which he explained, can be a more dubious process. Many of the plastics labelled as biodegradable do indeed biodegrade, but often in specific laboratory or industrial settings and do not undergo testing that better reflects natural conditions. MEPs across the political spectrum acknowledged the public’s strong opinion on the matter and expressed broad support for the report’s demands and analysis. Cooperation will be needed however across institutions, regions and countries worldwide if the problem is to be fully tackled.
The Commission’s proposal will now be examined by the European parliament and the Council in order to be adopted.
What effect does plastic have on our own health? Interesting read on such unknowns by National Geographic.
On 22 May, the European Commission unveiled its proposal for a second package of initiatives with the aim at creating a European Education Area by 2025, as well as measures for a new Youth Strategy and a new Agenda for Culture. The proposal emphasises the need for more attention on education and training and the need to develop young people’s skills and competences in a manner that will further boost innovative potential. The new measures also include proposals for Council Recommendations on the Automatic Mutual Recognition of Diplomas and Learning Periods Abroad – a vital element to ensuring a functional Education Area for which EuCheMS provided some feedback. Read the Commission’s press release here.
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