The 2018 EuChemS Lecture Awardee Webinar will be held online on Friday 13 November, from 10:00 to 11:30 CET. During this event, Raffaella Buonsanti, winner of 2018 EuChemS Lecture Award, will give a talk on “Colloidal chemistry for tunable nanocrystals as CO2 conversion catalysts’’. This event is organised by the European Chemical Society (EuChemS).
More information is available HERE.
The value is on circularity – Recycling-reusing-reinvesting on critical raw materials
The webinar is jointly organised by the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) and Maria Spyraki, Member of the European Parliament.
The event will be held online on Thursday 5 November 2020, 13.00 – 15.00 CET
More information is available HERE.
The call for the International Award Committee for the EuChemS Lecture Award (IACL) is open.
Deadline: 31 December 2020
You are invited to submit a nomination HERE (please scroll down to the Submission form “Jury Nomination for the International Award Committee for the EuChemS Lecture Award (IACL) 2020”).
The EuChemS Historical Landmarks Award, which aims to celebrate the important link between history, cultural heritage and chemistry, is open for submission.
Find out more about the award and enter your submission HERE.
Deadline: 31 December 2020
EuChemS Award for Service aims to acknowledge the outstanding commitment of an individual to fostering chemistry in Europe, as well as to the goals of EuChemS.
If you know somebody who has made a difference for Chemistry in Europe you are invited to submit your nomination HERE.
Deadline: 31 December 2020
Each year, EuChemS celebrates the major achievements of a junior scientist working in chemistry.
Everything you need to know about the award and how to submit is available HERE.
Deadline: 31 December 2020
The European Chemistry Gold Medal aims to reward the exceptional achievements of one scientist working in the field of chemistry in Europe.
You are invited to submit a nomination HERE
Deadline: 31 December 2020
A number of consultations and roadmaps put forward by the European Commission are currently open:
The European Chemical Society attended the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) online meeting of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in September which addressed several pressing issues. Significant topics were discussed, including the new interpretation of the Judgment of the General Court of 7 March 2019 REACH — Commission Decision authorising the use of lead sulfochromate yellow and of lead chromate molybdate sulfate red –Article 60(4) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 — Examination of the lack of availability of alternatives — Error of law. RAC also discussed applications for authorisation, other restriction proposals and harmonised classification and labelling.
Throughout the summer period, RAC activities continued with online Working Groups meetings: the applications for authorisation and classification were reviewed in order to be presented during the RAC’s plenary meeting.
Read more HERE.
Background information
The Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) is responsible for preparing scientific opinions related to the risks of chemicals to human health and the environment for the following processes:
The final decisions are taken by the European Commission through a comitology procedure.
On 7 October 2020, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science announced that Emmanuelle Charpentier (French) and Jennifer A. Doudna (American) are the 2020 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry for developing the CRISPR-cas9 genetic scissors. Due to the current environment and environment of COVID-19, an online version of the traditional Nobel Awarding Ceremony was held this year.
Together, they recreated the CRISPR-cas9 genetic scissors in a test tube. They also simplified the scissors’ molecular components, so they were easier to use. With the development of this method for genome editing, « researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision. » Their discovery will contribute to new cancer therapies and may be used in the future to treat inherited diseases.
Emmanuelle Charpentier is the director of the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin, Germany, and Jennifer A. Doudna is a professor at UC Berkeley and investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). They are the first two women to ever share a Nobel Prize, and the sixth and seventh women ever to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Both scientists have also received the 2016 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award for their revolutionary invention of genetic scissors. These awards are presented every year to five outstanding women scientists in recognition of their scientific accomplishments, one from each world regions: Africa and the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America. Discover more about it here.
More information is available on the official Nobel Prize website.
On 14 October, the European Commission adopted the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. This strategy is part of the European Union’s zero pollution ambition by 2050, as announced in the European Green Deal.
With this plan, the European Commission fully recognises the role of chemicals to achieve green transition and its benefits for human well-being, but also strengthens regulations on the most hazardous and harmful chemicals. The EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability establishes concrete actions for a safer and greener future.
The main objective of the new Chemicals Strategy is to increase the protection of the environment and human health, with special attention to vulnerable population groups. Furthermore, it will prohibit the use of the most harmful substances in consumers products. The strategy will also enable the green transition of the chemical sector and promote high standards and not exporting chemicals banned in the EU.
Read the European Commission Press Release on the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability HERE.
On 6 October 2020, the German Presidency of Council of the European Union, the European Commission, and the ITRE Committee started together another round of negotiations for Horizon Europe’s budget. The 2021-2027 multiannual budget is being paired with a temporary scheme running from 2021 – 2024, which is aimed at supporting the European Union’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
The Members of European Parliament (MEPs) demanded additional funding: at stake is the multiannual budget for Horizon Europe, but also for the Erasmus+ programme. Following the cuts announced in July 2020 (the European Commission reduced Horizon Europe’s budget to €80.9 billion), MEPs rejected all deal proposals that did not include a budget increase.
“Without a credible proposal from the Council on increasing the ceilings it’s impossible to move on”
– MEP Margarida Marques
co-rapporteur on the multiannual budget
source: https://bit.ly/3iYYKK6
However, EU member states representatives are reluctant to increase the budget for the next seven-year framework programme. Currently, research ministers agreed to allocate €85.5 billion for Horizon Europe. In order not to delay the start of Horizon Europe, a budget deal needs to be found by the end of 2020.
Nonetheless, EU research ministers reached agreement regarding other remaining outstanding issues concerning Horizon Europe. On 29 September, during the meeting of the Competitiveness Council (Research and Innovation) of the Council of the European Union in Brussels, EU research ministers focused on the following issues:
The outstanding issues stated above had not been negotiated so far.
More information is available on the Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union website.
The European Research and Innovation Days took place online, on 22-24 September 2020. The EuChemS European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN) contributed to the session on “Sustainability by Design – Embedding sustainability criteria throughout life cycle of products and processes” (HUB 2: European Green Deal). During this session, young scientists have challenged senior experts on sustainable-by-design approaches in different fields, contribute to the discussion and shape together a safe, carbon-neutral and resource efficient industrial eco-system.
Watch the full recording of the session HERE!
Renáta Oriňaková, Christophe Copéret and Artur Silva were elected to the EuChemS Executive Board by the 2020 General Assembly which was held online on 24 September. Their mandate starts on 1 January 2021.
EuChemS congratulates them and warmly welcomes them.
Professor Renáta Oriňaková, DSc. is a research professor and head of the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice (PF UPJŠ in Košice), Slovakia. She is currently the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Science for science, research, and development.
She was trained in chemistry and mathematics at PF UPJŠ in Košice (1992) and started her career at the Department of Physical Chemistry. She has received her PhD in Physical Chemistry from the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia (1997) and the title of Professor in Physical Chemistry in 2017. In the meantime, she was awarded the Doctor of Science (DSc.) degree in Physical Chemistry from the Slovak University of Technology in 2015.
Read more HERE.
Professor Christophe Copéret is Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences at ETH Zürich since November 2010.
He was trained in chemistry and chemical engineering in CPE Lyon (France) and then undertook a Ph.D. in chemistry at Purdue University (USA), where he studied the development of highly efficient synthesis of complex molecules via Pd-catalysed carbonylation reactions in the group of Prof. E.i. Negishi (1991-1996). After a postdoctoral stay at the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, USA) in the group of Prof. K.B. Sharpless (1996-1997), where he developed oxidation reactions, Christophe Copére was offered in 1998 a permanent research position in CNRS in C2P2 a laboratory devoted the chemistry of surfaces and polymers, and was promoted CNRS Research Director in 2008.
Read more HERE.
Professor Artur M. S. Silva is a full professor of chemistry at the University of Aveiro and President of the Portuguese Chemical Society (SPQ) since July 2016. He served, among others, as Vice-President of the Portuguese Chemical Society (2013-2016), twice terms as Vice-president and other two as President of the Organic Chemistry Division of SPQ (among others).
He studied chemistry at the University of Aveiro (Portugal), where he graduated in chemistry physics for teaching in 1987. In 1993 he received his Ph.D. in chemistry at Aveiro University. He began his independent career at Aveiro University as an Assistant Professor in 1994. He was appointed to Associate Professor with tenure in 1998 and Full Professor in 2001.
Read more HERE.
The 2020 EuChemS General Assembly meeting took place on Thursday, 24 September 2020. Representatives from EuChemS Member Societies and Supporting Members attended the first ever EuChemS General Assembly meeting held online, including the voting session.
The meeting was chaired by Pilar Goya, EuChemS President.
More information about EuChemS 2020 online General Assembly is available here.
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