As the European elections quickly approach, the European Union’s Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has launched a campaign to highlight the important role the EU plays in showing how ingredients, processes, packaging and labelling are assessed to ensure nutrition and health claims are backed by science. Visit the EU and my Food website for interesting articles on the different ways EFSA contributes to food safety (including the recent assessment of the safety of insects in our diet!).
Food safety has also long been on EuChemS’ radar. Working with the EuChemS Division of Food Chemistry, we have provided the European institutions with important feedback, notably on the setting of legal limits of industrial trans fats in foods. More recently, EuChemS participated in a high-level meeting between EFSA and its academic stakeholders on the risks of pesticides.
Planning for the implementation of the 9th research framework programme, Horizon Europe, officially began early May with a meeting of the shadow programme committee, responsible for supervising the preparation of the implementation plan.
The initial meeting aimed at finding agreements on the ‘goals, method and steps for the strategic plan’ as well as on how the proposed Missions (high-ambition, high-impact initiatives on challenges that European citizens face), will be run and how the selection process for mission board members will be put into place. The results of the meeting will then be shared with EU national governments after which public drafts will be released from June to October, when they will be open to feedback from stakeholders.
EuChemS has closely followed the negotiations surrounding Horizon Europe, publishing a comprehensive position paper that emphasised the need to maintain excellence as a core criterion, boost the budgets for the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) as well as ensure that third countries can continue to take part in the programme. You can read our position paper here.
On 26 April, the Finnish Chemical Society met in Helsinki to celebrate its 100-year anniversary. Founded in 1919, vibrant and one of the largest scientific societies in Finland, it also prides itself in providing opportunities for chemists and chemical engineers to network, investing in the development of high-quality education in chemistry and supporting young chemists in their studies and early careers.
EuChemS President Pilar Goya attended the celebrations that took place at the University of Helsinki.
Pekka Joensuu, President of the Finnish Chemical Society; Pilar Goya, EuChemS President; Heleena Karrus, General Secretary Finnish Chemical Society
The latest edition of our quarterly newsletter Chemistry in Europe, prepared with contributions from our team, members, professional networks and invited guests is now available. Take a look for an editorial by IUPAC Past President Natalia Tarasova, an interesting insight into EuChemS’ analysis of the transition to Open Access publishing and the contentious Plan S, as well as news from our young chemists’ network (EYCN), EuChemS’ recent overseas meeting with the American Chemical Society, and plenty more besides. Want to receive the next Chemistry in Europe directly in your inbox? Subscribe here!
An expert group, set up to support the policy development of the European Commission on Open Science, published in January 2019 a report on the ‘Future of scholarly publishing and scholarly communication’, later opened to feedback by the members of the High-Level group of the Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP) that also advises and supports the Commission in developing policies for the transition to open science. Through a Position Paper, EuChemS has outlined its vision of the role and function of different actors in the scholarly communication system; the future of the evaluation of research and the types of scholarly contributions, venues and paths for dissemination; the future of business models; and finally concrete measures actors, such as learned societies, can put into place to move forward. The position paper is available here.
From left to right: Annette Lykknes, Vice Chair of the EuChemS Working Party on the History of Chemistry; Brigitte Van Tiggelen, Chair of the EuChemS Working Party on the History of Chemistry; Malin Forsbrand, mayor of Vaxholm municipality; Nineta Hrastelj, EuChemS Secretary General; Pilar Goya, EuChemS President, Nineta Hrastelj; Helena Grennberg, President of the Swedish Chemical Society (Svenska Kemisamfundet)
Famous for being linked to the discovery site of some eight chemical elements, Ytterby mine, deep in the Stockholm archipelago, celebrated the unveiling of the EuChemS Historical Landmarks Award plaque in recognition of the role it played in the history of Chemistry and shared European cultural heritage.
The mine was awarded the 2018 EuChemS Historical Landmarks Award at the European level following the recommendations of the Landmark Selection Committee and the decision of the EuChemS Executive Board.
The celebration, which took place on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 April included an excellent symposium on the history of the mine and its discoveries, as well as the pivotal role it played in the history of Chemistry. Over 100 people attended the symposium and the ceremony, including representatives from the Swedish Chemical Society, the local municipality, Ytterby town, the Ytterby Gruva Foundation, as well as from EuChemS.
EuChemS President Pilar Goya, together with Malin Forsbrand, Municipality Chairman, unveiled the plaque at the entrance of the mine.
Many rare earth elements were discovered in the mine, including yttrium (discovered in 1794), erbium (1842), terbium (1842), ytterbium (1878). The discovery of gadolinium, scandium, thulium, and holmium are also linked to the Ytterby mine.
The mine and the elements discovered there drew many scientists from Sweden, as well as from across the Nordic countries, and from further afield in Europe, making it a unique historical and scientific site of centuries worth of international collaboration and ventures.
The mine was officially closed in the early 1930s, and was subsequently used as a military storage facility for fuel, food and water during the Cold War. The programme was stopped in the mid-90s, after which the mine was emptied of fuel. Scientists have more recently begun studying the inside of the mine again, noting the existence of unique bacterial life forms on the walls. There are hopes that by 2025, the tunnels and the inside of the mine will be made open to visits by the public.
118th General Assembly of the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry (Bunsentagung 2019)
Jena, Germany
30 May – 1 June 2019
Website: http://bit.ly/2GjnaOh
To illustrate the wider socio-economic benefits of the EU investment in R&I and to encourage project beneficiaries to best manage and utilise their research results, the European Commission awards on an annual basis a recognition prize for rewarding beneficiaries that have successfully demonstrated effective exploitation and uptake of their projects’ R&I results. Five winners will be selected by the evaluation jury for their achievements. The prizes are monetary and each of the five winners will receive EUR 10.000.
Every two years, the exceptional achievements of one scientist working in the field of chemistry in Europe are rewarded. The winner is awarded a gold medal and the opportunity to give the opening lecture at the next EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC). The call for nominations was opened on 1 March and will be open until 30 September 2019. Submissions can be made here.
The European Commission has launched a public consultation to gather opinions on the current situation regarding gender equality in the EU and the priorities for the next 5 years.
Drop us a line if you would like to contribute to an EuChemS response! Deadline to send us feedback: 20 May 2019
EuChemS attended an important conference on the future of gender equality in European research and innovation on 11 April 2019, organised by Gender Action, an EU supported project. Speakers provided both an overview of the current state of affairs as well as concrete examples of how gender bias, discrimination and unequal opportunities can be addressed in universities, research institutions, and projects. A core focus of the conference was how to ensure that the future EU research framework programme, Horizon Europe can ensure that proper integration of gender mainstreaming is incorporated. You can read the Briefing Papers prepared by Gender Action here.
EuChemS President Pilar Goya and EuChemS Secretary General Nineta Hrastelj made their way to Orlando, USA, for the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) yearly National Meeting at the beginning of April 2019. They were invited to present the work and latest initiatives being prepared by EuChemS at the ACS Committee on international activities / subcommittee for Europe meeting, where they also discussed how to further develop collaboration – and in particular, with a focus on how chemistry can contribute to many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Such collaboration was recently demonstrated at the workshop on Horizon Europe, education and employability, organised by EuChemS and held in the European Parliament on 7 March 2019. A relevant and timely contribution from LaTrease E. Garrison, Executive Vice-President for Education at the ACS was provided by video, in which she analysed the state of employability of chemists in the USA. EuChemS and the ACS have moreover recently worked together on developing the upcoming joint employability survey for chemists in 2020 following the recent publication of EuChemS’ second employability survey for European chemists in 2018.
At the latest Committee for Risk Assessment meeting of the European Chemicals Agency, and on which EuChemS sits, the latest updates on ECHA’s calls for the banning of intentionally added microplastics took centre stage. The proposed restriction aims to ban uses that result in releases to the environment, labelling requirements for other uses where only residual releases are considered to occur, as well as reporting requirement for downstream users on uses exempted from the ban. Polymers as a whole should not be placed on the market as a substance of its own or in a mixture as a microplastic in a concentration equal or greater than 0.01% w/w.
It is with a heavy heart that we have learnt the news of Sergio Facchetti’s passing on the morning of Saturday 30 March 2019.
Sergio Facchetti, born in Borgo Ticino (Novara – Italy), was a leading scientist who gave outstanding service to the field and image of chemistry in Europe, as well as to EuChemS and its predecessor FECS, and for this we are eternally grateful.
His life’s work has had major and influential consequences, and his contributions to the field led to concrete transformations in science. Sergio worked in the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre laboratories in Ispra, firstly in the Radiation Chemistry Group of the NUCLIT corporation (1959-61), and subsequently as a European Official (1961-97) becoming the head of a division of over 100 people and coordinator for the Environmental Research Agency. His main work was on the identification of environmental pollutants – and it was through studies carried out in connection with the Seveso disaster of 1976 that he made his most far-reaching contributions. His work led to his appointment as adviser to the United States Government and originated the lead isotope experiments which eventually led to the banning of lead in fuels – an achievement he later recognised as one of his proudest moments. He was later coordinator of the Eureka project 674 on “Advanced Mobile Analytical Laboratory” – a project intensively used in many field investigations.
In addition to his work, Sergio was able to play a crucial role in the support of Chemistry as a whole, serving on the board of the CNC (1998-2017) and the Italian Chemical Society, founding in 1971 its Mass Spectrometry Division and serving as Vice-President from 1996 – 1998. He also occupied the posts of Vice-President of the European Chemistry Council and of the European Chemist Registration Board.
Sergio retired from the EuChemS Board in 2017 after an astonishing 47 years of continuous work on the Board of both FECS and EuChemS. Sergio was a highly active member of the community, continuously proposing new ways in which EuChemS could broaden its scope and increase its impact, whether through the organisation of major conferences, including the hosting of seven lectures during the EXPO Milan, or other initiatives.
In 2018, Sergio was awarded the EuChemS Award for Service for his tireless efforts and success in promoting chemistry and EuChemS’ work over the years. Whilst he was unable to make his way to Liverpool where the prizes were announced at the 7th EuChemS Chemistry Congress, his colleague and fellow Award for Service awardee Francesco De Angelis read out a letter Sergio had written. In it, he expressed his surprise and gladness at the award, but insisted that his work throughout the years was in his eyes, his duty.
Sergio was not only an inspiring scientist, whose work was characterised by a strong belief in ethical attitudes, but he was also a true gentleman, kind and thoughtful. Sergio’s passing is sad news for chemistry in Europe and sad news for the many people who knew Sergio, and he will be very much missed. But his work and contributions will not be forgotten, nor his incessant work in helping EuChemS and the community it represents be where it is today.
We send our most heartfelt condolences to his family.
In January 2019, an Expert Group tasked with advising the European Commission on open science released a report on a future vision for scholarly communications. The report contextualised the current landscape when it comes to scholarly publishing and communications, together with an analysis of perceived shortcomings and a list of recommendations for the various players involved and impacted. Members of the Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP), a high-level task force in which EuChemS is represented by Executive Board Member Wolfram Koch, were asked by the European Commission to prepare a response and remarks on the report. Watch this space for EuChemS’ take on the future of scholarly communications.
In November 2018, EuChemS published a Position Paper on Plan S, a plan set up by a coalition of science funders and supported by the European Commission to push through a rapid transition to open access publishing. You can read the EuChemS Position here.
The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) held on 14 March a dedicated workshop with its academic stakeholders, of which EuChemS is one. The session, aimed at building a stronger relationship between the European agency and academic organisations was centred around recent developments on the risk assessment of pesticides, genetically modified plants and the integration of evidence for risk assessment. Speakers included several EFSA representatives together with representatives from SETAC, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
The European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN) Delegate Assembly, held in Bremen, Germany on 17 – 20 March saw the election of a new Board that will guide the EYCN’s actions over the next two years. The new board consists of: Antonio M. Rodriguez, Chair; Maximilian Menche, Secretary; Jelena Lazić, Treasurer, as well as team leaders: Katarina Josifovska, Science; Jovana Milić, Networks; Maxime Rossato, Communications; Miguel Steiner, Membership; Lieke Van Gijzel, Global Connections.
EuChemS President Pilar Goya was invited to present the latest activities and initiatives being undertaken by EuChemS and to welcome the new EYCN Board. Science Communication and Policy Officer Alex Schiphorst also attended the assembly and in a presentation on science and policy, encouraged the EYCN to get involved in the political debate. The Assembly also included allocated brainstorming sessions to deliberate on future projects as well as presentations of member societies’ youth events.
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