Volume 46, Issue 1

Every two years, IUPAC partners with one of our member associations to host chemists from all over the world and to organise the World Chemistry Congress. In the August 2023, I had the extraordinary privilege to attend IUPAC|CHAINS in The Hague, organized by the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society. The Congress was accompanied by the IUPAC General Assembly and Council Meeting, two key events on the IUPAC biennial calendar, and I was present at both for the very first time.

Sometimes one idea can change the course of your life. It happened for me in the Fall of my sophomore year at the College of Charleston. A lecture delivered by Dr. Frank Kinard, my professor and mentor at the College of Charleston, inspired me to pursue a career in environmental chemistry. Frank was a beloved professor at College of Charleston for 41 years who also served as secretary of the American Chemical Society Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology for 17 years. More importantly, he loved working with and mentoring students [1].

The scholarly publishing landscape is in a period of unprecedented transformation. Against the backdrop of international unrest and concerns around sustainability and climate change, publishing is facing its own set of unique challenges. The accelerated transition towards open science, the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of research and the emergence and rapid improvement of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) are transforming the way that we discover, consume and perceive research outputs. Peer review remains a critical process at the very heart of the publishing process, and our most powerful tool for evaluating the rigor, credibility, and interest of scholarly research [1]. The first record of an editorial pre-publication peer review dates back to 1665 and to the journal “Philosophical Transactions” [2]. With a history of more than 350 years, the concept of peer review has remained relatively unchanged, but with so many significant changes within the wider publishing industry, visible signs of strain are starting to emerge in the peer review workflow.

After over 100 years of developing standards for chemistry, IUPAC is moving forward towards the “Digital IUPAC” era which embraces modern practices working with data, a propensity towards Open Science and application of the FAIR Data Principles. In a recent webinar hosted by *Chemvoices platform, Fatima Mustafa, WorldFAIR Chemistry project coordinator, moderated a discussion with Leah McEwen, the chair of the IUPAC Committee on Publications and Chemical Data Standards (CPCDS), and Ian Bruno, CPCDS titular member, to enlighten the chemists community on efforts around digitizing IUPAC.

In 2020, the Analytical Chemistry Division (Division V) established two awards honoring excellence in analytical chemistry. The IUPAC Analytical Chemistry Medal honors significant lifetime contributions to the aims of the Analytical Chemistry Division of IUPAC and the Emerging Innovator Award in Analytical Chemistry recognizes outstanding work undertaken by an emerging analytical scientist that corresponds to the aims of the Analytical Chemistry Division of IUPAC. These awards recognizing outstanding analytical chemists are conferred and award lectures are presented during General Assemblies.

The 2022 Franzosini Award was given to Yongheum Jo, in recognition of his contribution to the IUPAC Solubility Data Project, at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the IUPAC Subcommittee on Solubility and Equilibrium Data, held in Bragança, Portugal, on 12 September 2022, during the 20th International Symposium on Solubility Phenomena and Related Equilibrium Processes.

The multimedia series Unlocking Science, produced in partnership with BBC StoryWorks, the International Science Council (ISC) Members and other partners, is voted the best in the ‘Video Series’ category at the prestigious Digital Communications Awards (DCA).

Held on 27-28 October 2023, in Salzburg and online, the 2023 CODATA General Assembly elected a strong and diverse Executive Committee and approved eight Task Groups and one Working Group. The full summary of the General Assembly, including presentations, results of voting and the recordings can be consulted on codata.org.

On November 1, IUPAC has launched two additional translations of the Periodic Table (PT) Challenge: German and Romanian.

The IUPAC Polymer Division, Subcommittee on Polymer Education and the Committee on Chemistry Education have launched a Polymer video competition.

IUPAC has released its call for proposals to identify the top ten emerging technologies in chemistry with the results to be announced in 2024.

The call for the 2024 IUPAC—Solvay International Award for Young Chemists is open!

The IUPAC Committee on Chemistry Education (CCE) is soliciting nominations for three types of awards which will be made during the 27th International Conference on Chemistry Education (ICCE2024) in Pattaya, Thailand, on 15-19 July 2024. These prizes recognise outstanding work being done in any part of the world to promote excellence in the teaching and learning of chemistry. The awards are:

The Prize is intended to reward an original work in chemistry, of benefit to mankind, society or nature. The Grand Prix will be awarded for the nineteenth time in 2024 to one or several persons, irrespective of nationality. It carries a monetary award of 35,000 Euros.