Research
Bonding for impact
The engagement of young chemists from various societies and organisations has considerably grown in the last years and more and more young researchers are willing to volunteer around the globe.
Beyond the growth of the European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN) itself, which has seen a significant increase in the number of its contributing societies (from 20 to 30 since 2016), and consequently a higher number of involved delegates, the EYCN also supported the foundation of two new European young networks. Firstly, the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry – Young Scientists Network (EFMC-YSN), which aims to inspire, connect, and provide opportunities for early career medicinal chemists and chemical biologists, had its kick-off meeting in February 2019. Secondly, the Young European Catalysis Network (YEuCat) founded in 2018, held a very successful kick-off meeting at the EuropaCat2019 conference in Aachen this summer. The network managed to gather more than 20 volunteers to advance the interests of young scientists in that field. Similarly, the International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN) has also sparked plenty of interest when it, for the first time, hosted a full programme of parallel sessions at the IUPAC Centenary World Congress in Paris this July. In collaboration with the French Young Chemists’ Network (RJ-SCF) and the EYCN, the activities were designed by young chemists for all attendees of the conference. Similarly, the German Young Chemists (JCF) hosted a series of presentations and discussions at this year’s Scientific Forum.
And there are no plans to stop there! With the 8th EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC) coming up in 2020, the EYCN has a whole line of activities planned to strengthen the event.
Of course, without the hundreds of volunteers, all this would not be working so successfully! Needless to say, there is a lot to gain for every individual: a larger network, the possibility to advance your skills and broaden your views in the field of chemistry. So, a bit of advice: the next time a networking opportunity arises, do not just move it aside, but take action! As a participant in international projects and initiatives you are opening the possibility to make new contacts who could help advance your career and make the most of your options in life.
Get out of your comfort zone, be open to new possibilities and try to help others within your capabilities – you don’t know the future, but you can make the most out of your present!
If you are interested in the activities of the EYCN, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter or contact us at contact@eycn.eu!
Maximilian Menche
Secretary of the EYCN
17th International Conference on Chemistry and Environment
The Association of Greek Chemists (AGC), through the Regional Division of Central and Western Macedonia and the Division of Chemistry and Environment (DCE) of the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) successfully organised the 17th International Conference on Chemistry and Environment (ICCE 2019) between 16 and 20 June 2019 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The conference was under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos, as well as of the Department of Chemistry of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The conference took place at the congress centre of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Centre for the Dissemination of Research Results (KEDEA). More than 500 participants from 65 countries attended the conference. A total of 295 oral and 230 poster presentations were presented. Five world-renown plenary speakers delivered their lectures on topics in their field of expertise.
The conference consisted of 19 different topics, covering a wide range of environmental chemistry and technology, while extensive sessions were held in related fields, such as Analytical Chemistry and Green Chemistry.
More specifically, current and pressing environmental problems were discussed and analysed. Water scarcity and reuse, the presence of micro-plastics and micro-pollutants in the water, the circular economy and resource recovery and the consequences of widespread use of glyphosate were some of the topics analysed by prominent scientists. More information on the thematic sessions, satellite events and guest speakers are available at the conference’s website www.icce2019.org.
The organising committee of the conference, following the decision of the board of delegates of the Division of Chemistry and Environment (DCE) of the European Chemical Society (EuChemS), awarded the Professor of Environmental Chemistry of the University of Athens, Mr. Panagiotis Siskos, the DCE life-long achievement award for his contribution to the science of Environmental Chemistry. There were also 5 prizes for the best oral presentations and 5 prizes for the best poster presentations to young scientists under 35 years old.
The Association of Greek Chemists warmly thanks all participants in the International Conference on Environmental Chemistry and wishes every success to the Italian Chemical Society, which will host the next conference of the series, in Venice in June 2021.
Ioannis Katsoyiannis
Chair of the EuChemS Division of Chemistry and the Environment
Victoria Samanidou
Chair of AGC at the local branch of Central and Western Macedonia, Greece
Analytical science on the Bosphorus, where Europe meets Asia
In the first week of September, Istanbul witnessed the meeting of chemists working in all fields of analytical sciences from Europe and the rest of the world. Euroanalysis is now a well-known event, the broad-spectrum European Congress on Analytical Chemistry held by the EuChemS Division of Analytical Chemistry (DAC). This XX issue in the successful series of Euroanalysis conferences was hosted by the Analytical Chemistry Division of the Turkish Chemical Society supported by the local organisers, Ankara University and Istanbul University in cooperation with the DAC-EuChemS.
The following topics provided a basic forum for more than 600 participants to enjoy all kinds of interactions and networking: Analytical methods for cultural heritage and art; Analytical instrumentation; Biomedical analysis; Biomolecular analysis; Biosensors; Chemical analysis; Chemometrics; Clinical chemistry; Environmental analysis and monitoring; Forensic science; Laboratory automation; Materials science; Metabolomics; Pesticide-residue analysis; Pharmaceutical analysis; Proteomics; Surface science; Green analytical chemistry; Education in analytical chemistry; Food analysis; Nano analysis and even more besides.
The tested and successful tradition of organising Short Courses as joint events, prior to the main programme of Euroanalysis was continued. More than 160 participants were able to learn a lot by having followed the courses organised by distinguished scientists from across Europe.
Younger scientists were also encouraged with special scientific sessions such as poster pitchers, Young Scientist Oral Presentation contests and free of charge attendance to short courses for graduate students.
Four special sessions were devoted to awards: the DAC Robert Kellner Lecture given to Luisa Torsi (“Single-molecule sensing of clinical biomarkers”) and the DAC-EuChemS award, given to Freddy Adams (“The Metamorphosis of Analytical Chemistry: chemical analysis in the 21st century”), both sponsored by Springer.
This year, the EuChemS Lecture Award was given to analytical chemist, Anna Laura Capriotti (“Analytical challenges in separation, enrichment and identification of peptides and amino acids: A piece in the puzzle of the bioactivity of protein derivative”). Finally, we had an opportunity to host the Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award given to David Alsteens (“Probing ligand binding to native membrane receptors in physiologically relevant conditions using AFM”).
What else? Well, let’s go to The Netherland the next time! Follow us at https://www.euchems.eu/divisions/analytical-chemistry/.
Slavica Ražić
Chair of DAC-EuChemS
Sibel A. Ozkan
Chair of Euroanalysis XX
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