Volume 47, Issue 2

The Executive Board and the Science Board of IUPAC commenced their governance responsibilities at the beginning of the 2024 biennium. As Vice-President, I was given the honour of being the inaugural Chair of the Science Board, and in this column I will update the IUPAC membership on the work of the Board during its first year of operation, and explain some of our future workplans.

Chemistry’s role in Malaysia’s progress achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is reviewed in a special topic article recently published in Pure and Applied Chemistry [1]. Readers interested in exploring this topic further, should check out [1] and the references provided therein for more comprehensive details.

This work discusses reuse of chemical data across disciplines and the role of various data initiatives and projects including PARC, NORMAN-SLE, MassBank, WorldFAIR, PSDI and NFDI4Chem to facilitate increased data sharing. Improved machine-readable chemical data supports global research and interdisciplinary methodologies crucial for sustainable development and achievement of UNESCO’s Open Science priorities and the UN Sustainability Development Goals. Examples of success and ongoing approaches include integrating toxicology and chemical exposure data using ontologies, linking specialised chemical data collections with larger repositories such as PubChem, and developing IUPAC International Chemicals Identifier (InChI) extensions for nanomaterials and mixtures. National data infrastructure projects in the UK and Germany focus on digitising and standardising chemical research data management workflows, aiding scientists in data collection, storage, processing, analysis, disclosure, and reuse. These global initiatives aim to enhance chemical data interoperability to solve real-world problems, foster collaboration, and promote innovation while considering sustainable data resources beyond individual projects.

My first IUPAC meeting in 2008 was with inorganic chemists of Division II who serve the chemical community by developing standards for nomenclature, terminology, definitions, and data/quantities. How can they do it? That’s how I learned about the IUPAC reflectivity principle: Adopted standards should reflect the current use as much as possible and with high consistency. Since ~30 years ago, the current use was gradually becoming easier to evaluate, even for quantities such as valence characterized by one of those colleagues as “valence is all things to all people.” Valence in general refers to the atom’s ability to bond other atoms, yet it is also used as a quantity. How to define that quantity under the IUPAC reflectivity principle?

To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February, IUPAC is pleased to announce the recipients of the IUPAC 2025 Awards for Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering:

In 2024, the Franzosini Prize was presented to Cezary Gumiński and to Christian Ekberg, and the very first Balarew Award was presented to Märt Lõkov

Each biennium the Analytical Chemistry Division presents two awards for outstanding contributions to the field of analytical chemistry. The IUPAC Analytical Chemistry Medal recognizes lifetime achievement in any field of analytical chemistry evidenced by sustained and outstanding research contributions, by active involvement in international partnerships and by commitment to the training of the next generation of analytical chemists.  The IUPAC Emerging Innovator Award in Analytical Chemistry recognizes outstanding research achievements by an early career stage scientist in the field of analytical chemistry.  Both awards will be presented during the IUPAC General Assembly in July 2025.

The King’s University is pleased to announce that chemistry professor Peter Mahaffy is the 2025 recipient of the George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education. The award, granted by the American Chemical Society (ACS), recognizes two key areas of Mahaffy’s teaching and research: understanding and relating to chemistry as a human activity and reimagining the teaching and learning of chemistry by using “systems thinking” tools.

Scientist, educator and humanitarian Zafra M. Lerman received Cardozo School of Law’s 24th International Advocate for Peace Award. The award, which originated in 2000, is presented annually by the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution to a person, organization, or group that is exemplary in the field of conflict resolution.

The Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW) invites applications for the Student Observer Grant to attend its biannual meeting in Tokyo, Japan, 1-5 September 2025. This grant is intended to support undergraduate students, graduate students, or recent PhD graduates (maximum two years post-PhD completion, or a similar stage of academic development) who have (hands-on) expertise in isotope ratio analysis and atomic weight determination or in data processing in this field.

The US National Committee for IUPAC of the National Academy of Sciences ( i.e. the US NAO) is pleased to announce the following individuals have been selected as 2025 Young Observers to attend the 53rd IUPAC general Assembly and 50th World Chemistry Congress, to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 12-19 July 2025:

The International Science Council (ISC) convened its 3 rd General Assembly from 26-30 January 2025, in Muscat, Oman. This event was held alongside the Muscat Global Knowledge Dialogue fostering discussions on global science policy and collaboration. This significant gathering brought together global leaders in science, policy, and innovation to discuss critical issues shaping the future of science and its role in addressing global challenges.

Bryant William Rossiter, age 93, passed away of natural causes on December 22, 2024, at Intermountain Health Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah. Born 10 March 1931, in Ogden, Utah, to Bryant Baddley Rossiter and Christine Elaine Peterson, he was the eldest of three children.