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.
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.
While the New Year represents the beginning of a new decade for everyone, 2020 is a very special year for EuchemS: Chemistry in Europe is celebrating its 50 years anniversary.
Active since 1970, EuChemS evolved over time. The organisation was established on 3 July 1970 in Prague by 17 Member Societies from both East and West Europe, under the initial name of FECS (Federation of European Chemical Societies). In 2004, FECS decided to adopt EuCheMS, the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences designation, with its headquarters in Brussels. In 2018, a new name, acronym and logo was adopted: EuChemS, the European Chemical Society.
Since 1970, many events from FECS/EuChemS shaped Chemistry in Europe. Today, EuChemS represents more than 160,000 chemists from 50 Member Societies and Supporting Members.
For this anniversary, EuChemS plan a year-loncelebration. Among events and initiatives planned, the most prominent one will be the main anniversary celebration that will take place in Prague on 3 July 2020. The choice of the city and date was not trivial, as it echoes the founding of the association in 1970.
More activities and events are yet to be announced during this year-long celebration. Stay up to date and folow us on EuChemS social media not to miss out on any news.
We take this opportunity to thank our community and members for the last half century of excellent scientific cooperation and enhancement of Chemistry initiatives all over the European continent and beyond.
Currently three calls are open: Research and Innovation staff exchange (RISE), 2020Training Networks 2020, and the European Researcher’s Night. The respective deadlines are 28/04/2020, 14/01/2020 and 09/01/2020.
ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support scientists wishing to consolidate their own independent research team or programme in Europe. The ERC Consolidator Grants opened for researchers of any nationality with 7-12 years of experience since completion of PhD. Applications can be made in any field of research.
The call for submissions for three major EuChemS awards are open.
EuChemS Historical Landmarks Award, which aims to celebrate the important link between history, cultural heritage and chemistry, is open to submission. The Award was first run last year with two awardees being selected: the Ytterby Mine in Sweden, and the industrial soap-making complex of ABEA on the island of Crete in Greece. Find out more about the award and enter your submission here. Deadline: 31 December 2019
EuChemS Lecture Award aims at celebrating the major achievements of a junior scientist working in chemistry. The winner, awarded a statuette, is also invited to give a lecture at the next European Chemistry Congress. Everything you need to know about the award and how to submit a nomination is available here. Deadline: 31 December 2019.
EuChemS Award for Service aims to acknowledge the outstanding commitment of an individual to fostering chemistry and molecular sciences in Europe, as well as to the goals of EuChemS. If you know somebody who has made a difference for Chemistry in Europe and for EuChemS’ image and activities, submit your nomination here. Deadline: 31 December 2019.
Graphene Flagship is one of the European Commission’s research programmes funded on public-private partnerships. Alongside with leading European industries, they announced they will co-fund 11 new projects, which represents an investment of €92 million. The ‘Spearhead Projects’ will promote commercial uses of graphene by developing prototypes for solar panels, water infiltration systems and other graphene- enabled products. Among the main objectives, Graphene Flagship initiatives ‘’include achieving good health and wellbeing, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, and sustainable cities and communities, as well as improvements to industry innovation and infrastructure in Europe’’. These graphene- enabled prototypes should by commercialised by the end of 2023.
On November 26, the EU released the final report on the Horizon Europe implementation co-design exercise with the results of the online consultation that were collected between July 31 and October 4. The report also considers the conclusions drawn from the European Research and Innovation Days.
After the release of this report, the European University Association (EUA) issued a statement on the implementation of the Model Grant Agreement in the framework of the future Horizon Europe programme. With this statement, the EUA draws attention towards cost reporting, especially the calculation of personnel cost. The Association is calling for a revision of the accounting practices by moving towards a ‘corporate Model Grant Agreement’. The new method should follow Horizon 2020 rules regarding the reporting of personnel cost but should also accept national reporting and audit regulations in order to facilitate the process and reduce the risk of errors.
Meanwhile, the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) announced on December 4 that it will invest €500 million in 2020. This investment will be spread among its Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) across Europe. Climate, digitisation, food, health, sustainable energy, advanced and sustainable materials, manufacturing and urban mobility are the areas concerned by the EIT Governing Board decision.
Following this announcement, EU member states have agreed on EIT regulations to improve geographical balance of funding. A regional innovation scheme will be introduced for Horizon Europe programme. A balanced geographical distribution aims to avoid concentration on funding with the same partners, therefore increasing openness and boosting the capacity of low-performing countries.
However, negotiations are continuing over the 7-year budget of Horizon Europe. As a consequence, the finalisation of the detailed plan for Horizon Europe could be delayed. The first quarter of 2020 was planned to be dedicated to the drawing up of the content of work programmes and calls for proposals concerning the first four years of Horizon Europe. If disagreements upon the budget spread overtime, it will have a serious impact on the strategic planning and partnerships of Horizon Europe.
EuChemS congratulates Ursula von der Leyen on her position as the new Commission President and wishes her all the very best in her endeavors.
Earlier this autumn, EuChemS has written an Open Letter to European Commission President von der Leyen, on the need to revise the title of the portfolio for Commissioner Mariya Gabriel to ‘’Education, Research, Innovation and Youth’’ and we are glad to have been heard.
During her first speech as the new Commission President at the global climate conference COP25 in Madrid, Spain, Ursula von der Leyen relaunched discussions on budget matters for research. To reach the goal of climate neutrality in the framework of a European Green Deal, €1 trillion of investment over the next ten years should be unleashed to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions on the continent by 2050.
The Council of the European Chemistry Thematic Network Association (ECTN) met in Rome in the first week of December. N. Hrastelj, EuChemS Secretary General, attended the meeting in her role as advisor.
EuChemS and ECTN has a successful long lasting collaboration on overlapping topics of common interest in the field of chemistry education and related topics. One such example are joint surveys on employability of chemists in Europe; two were executed by now, while the third one (ESEC3) is scheduled for spring next year. Please keep an eye on further announcements on launching the survey.
For more information about ECTN, check here. For more information about the first two European employability surveys, please check here.
On December 6, Professor Emeritus Vincenzo Balzani has been awarded Primo Levi Award which is jointly granted by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) and the Società Chimica Italiana (SCI). EuChemS President, Pilar Goya Laza, and EuChemS Secretary General Nineta Hrastelj, were invited to joint the celebration hosted by Società Chimica Italiana in Rome.
EuChemS attended the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) meeting of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in November which addressed several pressing issues. Significant topics under discussion included that of biodegrability, microplastics restrictions and its critical applications for human and environmental exposure caused by infill material for synthetic pitches.
Once again, microplastics were at the center stage. Stakeholders were invited during the meeting to better clarify the points of the proposed restriction on microplastics. No objection was made to exclude biodegradable microplastics from the restriction proposal. The issue at stake now is to implement efficient tests to give a definition of biodegradable microplastic. A series of OECD and ISO tests have been proposed. Two years would be required to obtain the results of such tests.
Further changes and decisions regarding the microplastic restrictions have been made. The three basic risk management components have been slightly modified to address the concerns raised by the placing on the market and intentional use of microplastics. They concern the following topics: complete ban, instructions for use requirements as well as reporting requirements.
The polymeric infill materials (end-of-life tires, synthetic elastomeric materials) used in sports fields are also concerned by the restriction.
You can find more details about this meeting here.
On December 5, the Official Closing Ceremony for the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT) took place in Tokyo, Japan. Professor David Cole-Hamilton, EuChemS Vice-President, attended the ceremony on behalf of EuChemS. Learn more about this event here.
150 years after the discovery of periodicity by Mendeleev, 2019 was selected to be the year-long celebration of the universally known symbol of science. The IYPT2019 permitted to put chemistry under the spotlights for a whole year, enhancing initiatives for a better communication among the different fields of the discipline. Events were organised all year-long, in Europe and beyond.
Most prominent among EuChemS actions was the creation of a Periodic Table depicting elements scarcity. By sharing it the European Chemical Society aimed to lead to reflection and action on the topic. The EuChemS Periodic Table is now available in 32 languages. Amongst other, it was unveiled and discussed at EuChemS event in the European Parliament in Brussels in January this year and included in recently published report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) ‘Paving the way for a circular economy: insights on status and potentials’.
EuChemS also released a video game, a Periodic Table Adventure ‘Elemental Escapades’. The game aims to teach about basic chemical elements in an entertaining way. ‘Elemental escapades’ has been viewed by almost 9k people within two months of its release.
Nonetheless, the year-long celebration has not end yet. You can still follow the hashtag #IYPT2019 on social media to follow all the latest news.
ChemS also released a video game, a Periodic Table Adventure ‘
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