Volume 47, Issue 1

In November 2020, during the early phase of the COVID pandemic, Prof. Nili Cohen, then President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, invited me to a personal meeting in Jerusalem. She wanted to discuss my involvement with IUPAC as a long-time member of the IUPAC Bureau. Prof. Cohen mentioned that in the long history of IUPAC, the Union had only one President from Israel. Prof. Joshua Jortner, who served as the Israel Academy President from 1986-1995, was later elected the 28th IUPAC President (1998-1999).

The Hazard Information Profiles (HIPs) published in 2021 by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the International Science Council (ISC) offer scientifically sound definitions for 302 hazards, supporting the multi-hazard approach of the Sendai Framework.

Global Conversation on Sustainability (GCS) 2023 was enthusiastically welcomed by researchers of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). Highly committed to international organizations such as IUPAC and ISC, the promoters participated to the 2023 edition of the Global Conversation on Sustainability hosting a local in person event held in one of the major CNR institute for chemistry research. The format was a round-table discussion involving colleagues of different age, gender, experience, and area of expertise, who participated to an informal dialogue with the aim of reflecting and sharing aspects of the respective research activities contributing to Sustainable Development Goals. From many chemistry research areas, it emerged a wide-ranging of subjects, which stimulated an interesting and purpose-oriented discussion. Therefore, GCS 2023 at CNR prompted a reflection on how improving chemists’ impact on sustainability including laboratories’ practises and on considering communication becoming part of scientific process.

It’s been 20 years since a paper in the journal Science showed the environmental accumulation of tiny plastic fragments and fibres. It named the particles “microplastics.”

The IUPAC Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (IUPAC CIAAW) regularly reviews literature data, leading to the identification of advancements in measurement science which leads to formal revisions of the recommended atomic weights of the elements (known as the standard atomic weight). This occurs rather infrequently, each element being affected, on average, once every two decades.

IUPAC raised $1 million as an endowment to create a significant award recognizing advances in Sustainable Chemistry.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in partnership with PhosAgro Group and IUPAC, has awarded research grants in the field of green chemistry to the world’s top young scientists for the eighth consecutive year. The first grants to talented young scientists for green chemistry research were awarded 10 years ago, in September 2014.

Chemistry and its adjacent subject areas are undergoing a revolution when it comes to data management, and topics such as sustainability, energy, food security, and health. As the global organisation that provides a common language for chemistry, advocates the free exchange of scientific information, and fosters sustainable development, IUPAC must plan its scientific strategy to foresee the next areas in chemistry that will need clear guidelines on standardisation and evaluated chemical data. Since January 2024, IUPAC is governed by its Officers and the Executive Board, under the oversight of the Council, while IUPAC scientific activities are overseen and managed by the Science Board.

The International Award for Advances in Harmonized Approaches to Crop Protection Chemistry recognizes individuals in government, intergovernmental organizations, academia, and industry who have exercised personal leadership for outstanding regulatory, public policy, and/or educational contributions supporting international harmonization of crop protection chemistry. The award is administered by the IUPAC Advisory Committee on Crop Protection Chemistry, a subcommittee of the Chemistry and the Environment Division of IUPAC, and is presented on a roughly biennial basis.

The IUPAC-SOLVAY International Award for Young Chemists is intended to encourage outstanding young research scientists at the beginning of their careers. The awards are given for the most outstanding Ph.D. theses in the general area of the chemical sciences, as described in a short essay. The award is generously sponsored by Solvay.

As environmental, technological and societal change join forces to disrupt human and planetary health, the world must get better at tracking and responding to a host of emerging challenges, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Science Council (ISC), released last July.

Morton Z. Hoffman, a beloved professor, esteemed researcher, and devoted family man, passed away suddenly on September 24, 2024. A giving humanitarian with a vibrant and always present sense of humor, Mort was born on April 22, 1935, to Martha and David Hoffman and raised in the Bronx with sister, Anne Hoffman (survived by).