The COVID-19 pandemic that so deeply affects our lives and countries is not expected to end soon, and its consequences will be felt for a long time. We are thus forced to postpone the 8th EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC8) to 2022. ECC8 will still be held in Lisbon, Portugal, from 28 August to 1 September 2022.
More information is available on the ECC8 website and on its official Twitter account.
After three months of Presidency, Mauro Ferrari resigned his position as president of the European Research Council (ERC). M. Ferrari submitted his resignation on 7 April 2020.
In the meantime, one of the ERC´s three Vice-Presidents will assume M. Ferrari’s responsibilities until a new ERC President is selected by a Search Committee that the European Commission will set up.
As a reminder, M. Ferrari took over the position of ERC President from Jean-Pierre Bourguignon in January 2020. M. Ferrari’s end-term was expected on 31 December 2023.
You can read the statement made by the ERC Scientific Council here and M. Ferrari’s declaration here.
On 31 March 2020, the European Research Council (ERC) announced the 185 winners of the ERC 2019 advanced grants. In total, 450 million euros will be allocated to the winning researchers. As part of the Horizon 2020 programme, this funding will help strengthen Europe’s knowledge base in all fields of research. According to the ERC Press Release, these new projects are expected to create 1,800 new jobs for post-doctoral fellows, PhD students and other research staff.
The list of 185 winners is divided in three main domains: Physical Sciences and Engineering, Life Sciences and Social Sciences and Humanities. Among the winners in the field of chemistry, some of the listed research topics are “Chemical Space for Antimicrobials on a Peptide Basis” of Jean-Louis Reymond, “Old Chemistry for Advanced Materials: Empowering Carbon Chemistry Using Lost Chemistry” of Markus Antonietti, “Chiral Aqueous-phase Chemistry” of Bernd Winter and “Artificial Translation with Dynamic Foldamers: Relaying Encoded Messages into Chemical Function” of Jonathan Clayden. To discover the full winners list in the field of chemistry, please download the Physical Sciences and Engineering list and the Life Sciences list.
Researchers who would like to compete for an ERC Advanced Grant have from 14 May to 26 August 2020 to apply for the next round of funding. More information about it here.
The next seven-year EU budget for Horizon Europe is still being debated. Due to the current world health crisis, the budget had to be revised and a proposal will be released by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. Indeed, governments currently face national difficulties directly impacting their economic and health system and are preparing for a post-crisis recession, which does not facilitate long-term budget planning.
In the current environment, the European Commission is looking for alternatives. Among them, extending the 2020 budget to 2021 is being discussed: the member states (except for the UK) would pay into the EU budget on the same GDP formula as in 2020. Therefore, research would get the same share in 2021 as it does in 2020. Otherwise, operating on a monthly basis is also a potential option.
Read more about it here.
As of 1 April 2020, EuChemS Secretariat now has for the first time ever three full timers working on supporting the community of chemists in Europe. In just a few years, since the Secretariat has started its work from Brussels, it has grown for a factor of three, which shows how activities of EuChemS have increased since 2011. Due to the current health-crisis situation, all the team members are working remotely until further notice.
The Secretariat is responsible for the day to day administrative management of the society.
Discover more about EuChemS Secretariat team here.
All chemists and chemical engineers are very much encouraged to take part in this survey. By doing so, they will cocreate future landscape for job opportunities and related matters, as they wish to have them, as the outcomes of this survey will be made available to policy makers and others who are in a position to shape the future in Europe.
This survey looks into the current education and employment situation of chemists and chemical engineers across Europe. Understanding job market needs, the challenges and opportunities facing chemists and what drives people to study and work in their respective fields will prove invaluable to better understand the current landscape. In turn, it will allow those directly impacted, as well as universities, institutions, companies, and policymakers to focus their efforts on facilitating or improving certain measures whilst encouraging those that are so far successful.
The online survey is available on the following link: https://www.euchems.eu/esec3/
Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) started a petition asking for a more ambitious budget allocation to Horizon Europe. ISE kindly invites researchers, students and research organisations to sign the petition to their representatives in local governments and to the European Council.
You can sign the petition here.
On 6 March, EuChemS attended the debate “Towards Gender Equality in Science: Are We on the Right Track?” organized by the Spanish Scientists in Belgium (CEBE). The event took place in Brussels, Belgium. The speakers were Nellie Konijnendijk, Human Ressources advisor equality at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Professor Flora de Pablo, researcher at the Center for Biological Investigation for the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Daniel Pérez, researcher at the quantum technology lab of Chalmers University and Tania Van Loon, President of Belgian Women in Science (BeWiSe).
This roundtable was organized in support of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The 4 scientists started the meeting by presenting data and graphs depicting the current gender gap situation in their respective institutions and countries. Although their research was done individually, all came to the same conclusion: the higher the level of research is in STEM, the less women are represented. Following this presentation, they discussed the challenges to greater equality and critically analyzed the current measures on this matter. Encouraging young girls to pursue studies and careers in STEM, gender quotas and how to better include men were the main discussions topics.
The 8th EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC8) is getting closer. ECC8 is organised by the Portuguese Chemical Society (SPQ) and with the support of the Portuguese Electrochemical Society (SPE), and will take place from 30 August to 3 September in Lisbon, Portugal. Registration is possible until 15 August 2020.
The theme of 8th EuChemS Chemistry Congress is ‘Chemistry the Central Science’, focusing on the central role of chemistry at the interfaces with biology, material and environmental sciences, both for the progress of humankind and for the solution of fundamental problems of modern societies. As of today, 8 plenary lectures were announced and confirmed for the scientific program.
You can have a look at it here.
The preliminary program will be fully available on 1 June, while calls for abstract and fellowship scheme are currently open. You have until 25 April to submit your Poster Communications. The call for application for EuChemS Chemistry Congress fellowship scheme is open until 31 May.
Do not miss out on any ECC8-related event and follow the Congress official social media accounts!
EuChemS is getting 50 years old this year. We will celebrate our birthday on 3 July in Prague, exactly on the date and at the place where it was originally founded.
For detailed schedule of all EuChemS 2020 annual meetings, please see the visual below.
More EuChemS anniversary-related news will be announced in the coming weeks, stay tuned!
The EU Chemicals Legislation Finder (EUCLEF) is the European Chemicals Agency – ECHA’s new online service to access an overview of 40 pieces of EU chemicals legislation. This online service was launched on 11 March and is free to access.
The purpose of EUCLEF is to offer organizations a better understanding on their obligations across different UE laws, by compiling them in one place. It includes legislation on occupational health and safety, environment, product control and many more. EUCLEF also comes with a dedicated regulatory advice service that helps companies on the content of different legislation and related regulatory obligations.
A 9 minutes video tutorial on ‘how to use EUCLEF’ is available on ECHA’s YouTube channel.
Discover more about EUCLEF here.
On 4 March 2020, the European Commission presented a proposal to implement the European Climate Law in order to enshrine in legislation the EU’s political commitment to become the first neutral continent by 2050. The purpose of the Climate Law is to prevent any going back regarding the European Union’s commitment and to give directions, transparency and predictability concerning the European Green Deal.
Simultaneously, the Commission announced the launch of a public consultation to gather input from various stakeholders in order to shape the European Climate Pact. The Commission will launch the Pact before the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) that will take place on 20 November 2020 in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
You can take a look at the European Climate Pact consultation here
EuChemS is preparing to answer the survey and is taking this opportunity to ask for input in order to provide feedback and suggestions regarding the European Climate Pact initiative to the European Commission.
Learn more about EuChemS’ survey here. EuChemS expects your input to the EuChemS’ response to the open consultation by 10 April.
The 3rd Employment Survey for European Chemists of the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) is open until 31 March 2020. This survey is open for all chemists and chemical engineers. Participation in this Europe-wide survey will help build a broad yet precise picture of the employment and salary situation of chemists and possibly reveal other cross-cutting issues.
EuChemS invites you to complete the questionnaire and to share it.
You can participate here: https://www.euchems.eu/esec3/
ESEC3 is jointly organised with the 2020 Comprehensive Salary and Employment Survey of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and supported by the European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN), European Chemistry Thematic Network Association (ECTN), the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), and by the European Federation of Managerial Staff in the Chemical and Allied Industries (FECCIA).
Have you read the first 2020 edition of Chemistry in Europe?
Amongst other, it includes an Editorial by Floris Rutjes who reflects on EuChemS impact in connecting Chemistry across the continent, a look into the new Commission, on the 50 years of EuChemS by EuChemS President, Pilar Goya, …
You can read the newsletter here.
Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) started a petition asking for a more ambitious budget allocation to Horizon Europe. ISE kindly invites researchers, students and research organisations to sign the petition to their representatives in local governments and to the European Council.
You can sign the petition here.
On 31 January 2020 at 11 p.m., the UK has left the EU and has entered a transition period, which freezes its relationship with the European Union until 31 December 2020. Therefore, until 2021, nothing changes for science: scientists from UK can still apply to European research funding and take part in exchange scheme, and vice versa. Therefore, the UK remains a full member of Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020. What will mainly change is that now, negotiations between the EU and the UK starts regarding the UK’s participation in Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ as on 1 January 2021.
On the same day, 36 higher education and research organisations from across the UK and Europe have signed a joint statement calling for ‘a swift agreement’ on the UK’s full association to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe before the end of 2020 to national governments and the European Commission. So far, there have been no terms agreed on UK’s participation to these programmes.
On 20 February, the UK will open the ‘Global Talent visa route’ to attract the world’s top scientists and researchers. The new fast-track visa scheme will aim to boost UK science.
In July 2017, EuChemS released a position paper on ‘Research and Education Without Borders After Brexit.’ You can read it here.
On 22 January, the press conference ‘Europe’s role in leading response to the climate emergency’ was held during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. The topic discussed was the following ‘How to build a more sustainable World?’. Among the speakers were Mauro Ferrari, President of the European Research Council (ERC), and Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
The European Commission has put climate change at the top of its agenda with the European Green Deal. During the press conference, Commissioner Mariya Gabriel presented the European Green Deal as a priority for the decade ahead: ‘becoming the first World climate neutral continent by 2050 is the greatest challenge and opportunity of our times’. In order to tackle climate change, the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth wants to secure European citizens engagement by focusing on training and education. Although she acknowledged that climate change is a great challenge, it is also an opportunity to show Europe’s global leadership if Europe succeeds to join efforts and actions.
Commissioner Mariya Gabriel also presented the creation of the European Innovation Council (EIC) as an asset to tackle climate change issues. Indeed, she underlined that 70% of EIC’s budgets is dedicated to SME’s in order to help them in their transition to reach sustainability. Although the Green Deal is ambitious, it preserves a human centric approach. Mariya Gabriel insisted on the inclusiveness of the EIC’s package of measures and the need to take into considerations the realities for companies.
‘Very often we are focused on the costs for actions, but we need to think more about the costs of non-action.’’
– Mariya Gabriel
Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
For his part, Professor Mauro Ferrari agreed with Mariya Gabriel on the need to invest in science, research and youth, as well as to join efforts to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The ERC President promoted cooperation between scientists from different fields, underlying the need to unite to tackle the climate change issue. The ERC funds science and ‘bottom up’ research ‘to create bridges’ according to M. Ferrari.
To conclude, ‘synergy’ was the keyword of this press conference, as both speakers have repeatedly used this expression to emphasise the need to cooperate and unite in the fight against climate change.
Watch the full press conference here.
On 11 February 2020, the 5th International Day of Women and Girls in Science took place and EuChemS actively participated in this celebration on its social media channels.
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science was implemented by UNESCO and UN-Women in 2015. It is a day to celebrate women in sciences, and to promote full and equal participation of women in science and encouraging girls in STEM career path.
On this day, Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, launched the 7th edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2020. The Prize aims to celebrate the work of women in R&I and to inspire future generations. The deadline for application is 21 April 2020. You can apply here.
On 
12 February, EuChemS President, Pilar Goya, participated in the Global Women’s Breakfast in Murcia, Spain. This global networking event was designed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) to empower women in Chemistry. This year, the Global Breakfast took place in more than 240 locations around the world.
On 5 February was held the last meeting of the Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP). Wolfram Koch, EuChemS representative, attented the meeting in Brussels on behalf of EuChemS.
The OSPP is an Advisory Group representing European research and innovation stakeholders with the mandate to provide advice on the development and implementation of Open Science (OS) policies in Europe. The EU Commission underlined the asset provided by feedback from stakeholders on Open Science. However, the renewal of the mandate is still unknown, as well as its potential reorganisation.
The Director General Research and Innovation, Jean-Eric Paquet, emphasises the strong commitment of the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, to Open Science. Indeed, Open Science will be the core challenge of the new Commission ‘Green Deal’.
The OSPP also discussed the creation of a “registry of pilots and implementations to inspire best practices and new assessment mechanisms for Open Science.” The creation of this registry is a call for action on pilots and implementations of responsible metrics to inspire best practices and new assessment mechanisms for Open Science. Such a shift would enhance open knowledge practices in scholarly research. Among the benefits of this registry can be listed: the promotion of an ethical research conducted with integrity and more transparency, recognition of diverse outputs and contributors, easy access of research findings (data, publications, methods, e.g.) as well as an active engagement with the public.
Last, but not least, the preparation the final report of this mandate occupied a large a part of this OSPP meeting and first version was drafted.
Read the news here.
You can check the Open Science Policy Platform website here.
The 3rd Employment Survey for European Chemists (ESEC3) will open on 1 March, 2020. Participation in this survey will be open for all chemists and chemical engineers in Europe.
The online survey will be available here: https://www.euchems.eu/esec3/
ESEC3 has been jointly prepared by EuChemS, its Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN), the European Chemistry Thematic Network Association (ECTN) and part of it with the American Chemical Society (ACS). It is supported by the European Federation of Managerial Staff in the Chemical and Allied Industries (FECCIA) and the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic).
Professor Mauro Ferrari took up the presidency from Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, whose mandate lasted from January 2014 to December 2019. After his election in May 14, 2019, Professor Mauro Ferrari put forward his multidisciplinary background, a precious asset that will help him build strong relationships with scientists from the many disciplines the ERC covers. The new ERC President has several tasks ahead of him, among them is the implementation of the programme Horizon Europe. M. Ferrari’s term will last until December 31, 2023.
EuChemS congratulates Professor Mauro Ferrari on his position as the new ERC President and wishes him all the very best in his endeavors.
You can listen to the message of the new ERC president, Prof. Mauro Ferrari, on the European Research Council Youtube channel.
Brexit is not without consequences on European research. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Education, Research, Innovation and Youth, declared that the UK entry into Horizon Europe programme will be the same as non-EU countries. Currently, UK is the second-biggest beneficiary of funding from Horizon 2020.
On January 9, the UK parliament rejected a proposal that would have launched negotiations for UK membership within the EU’s Erasmus+ programme.
The UK will exit the EU on January 31 and enter a transition period of 11 months, until December 31, 2020. After this date, the UK will officially leave the EU.
The European Green Deal is taking shape. During her first speech as the new Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed her determination to implement the European Green Deal, achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions on the continent by 2050.
The European Commission released on their website a page giving key insights into understanding the European Green Deal. It will cover many policies areas, from energy to biodiversity. Among them, ‘eliminating pollution’ addresses the use of chemicals in Europe. In this regard, the EU Commission plans to discuss a new strategy: the aim will be to implement new innovative solutions without dangerous chemicals in order to reach a toxic-free environment.
You can read more about it here.
On 1 January 2020, Croatia has officially taken over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from Finland. “A Europe that develops, a Europe that connects, a Europe that protects, an influential Europe’’, this is how Croatia wants to shape Europe for the first semester of 2020. Albeit positioning Europe as a global leader will be a priority for Croatia during its 6-months presidency, the country will give top priority to science and sustainable development.
On its strategic agenda, Croatia announced supporting the European Green Deal. The country also addresses the issue of European research fragmentation, especially brain drain. Although talented researchers are equally distributed on the continent, the opportunities are not, as brains tend to leave central and Eastern Europe for Western Europe. Among the main topics at stake, Croatia will launch discussions on reforms and investments in education. The mobility of the Erasmus+ programme, for which proposals to increase its funding are currently discussed, will also be examined during these 6 months.
For more information, you can visit the Croatian presidency of the Council of the European Union website.
On 1 January 2020, Professor Floris Rutjes (Royal Netherlands Chemical Society) took up the position of Vice-President of EuChemS and Dr Ioannis Katsoyiannis (Association of Greek Chemists) and Professor Rinaldo Poli (French Chemical Society) joined as new elected members.
The three new members of EuChemS Executive Board who were elected at the General Assembly in Bucharest in October last year are warmly welcome.
You can consult EuChemS Executive Board here.
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