Volume 36, Issue 4

It is a real treat to introduce a new series called “Youth Views on Sustainability” on page 10. The idea came about last summer during the GA in Istanbul, when I met Nuno Bacharel. Nuno, the community manager for www.yourformula.eu, attended the World Chemistry Leadership Meeting with the intent to cover the event in the YourFormula blog. The WCLM 2013 was special as it involved a forum of young chemists assembled to debate IUPAC’s future and global issues. Nuno’s post on the WCLM 2013 is available at www.yourformula.eu/internalposts/the-future-of-chemistry-by-the-young-observers-wclm13-conclusions; another report, prepared by Michael Droescher, is published in the CI Jan-Feb 2014 issue, page 24, http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ci.2014.36.1.24.

Reading historical novels frequently raises questions for me regarding the various systems of weights and measures used in past empires. The builders of the Egyptian pyramids used the “royal cubit” of length, which equalled the “length of someone’s forearm” without defining the “someone.” It is thought that one “royal cubit” was approximately equal to 52.4 cm, but how three significant figures are justified is not clear to me. However, there was also the “short cubit” in use, which was defined as the distance from the elbow to the thumb, again without defining whose elbow and thumb serve as the “reference.” When the Persian Empire encompassed Egypt, the “royal Persian cubit” was introduced and it is thought to have equalled 64.2 cm.

Within a changing research world, international collaboration has become even more important in achieving scientific success. Given the increased need and desire for multinational research, the actors are forced to identify appropriate funding sources. Whereas, science knows no international boundaries, support for scientific research, including in chemical sciences, is mostly provided by the national funding organizations. This is particularly true for the chemical sciences, where most research projects are relatively small in size and with respect to the number of involved PIs. Traditionally, national organizations are reluctant to provide funds to non-domestic researchers, and in practice, funding truly international research projects can be a real challenge for a variety of technical and bureaucratic reasons. In an effort to change this, an international Committee on Chemistry Research Funding (CCRF)—backed by several leading funding organizations—was established by IUPAC in December 2007 to promote increased international collaboration and networking in the global chemistry community. The following report gives a short overview on the history of IUPAC’s involvement in service for chemistry research funding and on the most recent developments.

A scientific conference is a platform where participants present their research findings and discuss among peers. Traditionally, conferences are conducted by having participants gathered physically. Conferences involve the use of boards, flip charts, posters, and overhead projectors. The use of data projectors and videos has become popular with the progress of technology. The advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has improved the way information is transferred and shared. The development of ICTs has condensed the world into a global village and there has been a paradigm shift in the way scientific conferences are organized. In fact organizers are convening people from corners of the world using ICTs and the traditional face-to-face meetings are being enhanced and sometimes substituted by virtual conferences. In their comments to Nature Chemistry , Welch et al. 1 pointed out the shortcomings of traditional scientific conferences and ask, “Are there advantages to meetings in the virtual world?” The concept, advantages, and disadvantages of virtual meetings were elaborated in previous reports. 1,2,3 Some of the problems (cost, travel, disabilities) with traditional conferences may be solved by virtual conferences. In fact, due to globalization, progress in technology, and economic conditions, there is a change in the way people work, communicate, and interact. Improvements in ICTs have increased interactions between geographically separated individuals as nowadays the internet reaches most countries.

Waste. Most people will associate this word with something they want to get rid of, something without value. But electronic waste or so-called e-waste still contains vast amounts of scarce metals and valuable elements.

IUPAC is an international organization that aims to be the voice and the home of chemists from all around the world. However, its representation is not homogeneously distributed. Developed countries are basically all part of the Union, but much work needs to be done in areas such as Africa, South East Asia, and Latin America. On this note, the designation of Brazil as the host of the 2017 World Chemistry Congress and IUPAC General Assembly is a great opportunity to increase IUPAC presence in this part of the world.

The board of directors of the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV) has appointed Jan-Willem Toering as director, effective 1 March 2014. Toering has extensive experience in the chemical industry and a long track record as an independent entrepreneur. From 2000 until 2004 he was part of the KNCV board of directors.

Future Earth, the new 10-year global change research program, launched a new website in March.

Thieme Publishers, IUPAC, and the Editors of SYNTHESIS, SYNLETT, SYNFACTS, and Science of Synthesis announced the 2014 Thieme-IUPAC Prize awarded to Prof Martin (Marty) Burke of the University of Illinois.