A number of consultations put forward by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) are currently open. You can take a look at them here.
If you would like to contribute to an EuChemS response, please drop us a line.
European Commission Public Consultation on ‘Climate Pact’
Deadline: 27 May 2020
You can take a look at it here.
Resignation of ERC President M. Ferrari
After three months of Presidency, Mauro Ferrari resigned his position as president of the European Research Council (ERC). M. Ferrari submitted his resignation on 7 April 2020.
In the meantime, one of the ERC´s three Vice-Presidents will assume M. Ferrari’s responsibilities until a new ERC President is selected by a Search Committee that the European Commission will set up.
As a reminder, M. Ferrari took over the position of ERC President from Jean-Pierre Bourguignon in January 2020. M. Ferrari’s end-term was expected on 31 December 2023.
You can read the statement made by the ERC Scientific Council here and M. Ferrari’s declaration here.
ERC 2019 advanced grants results
On 31 March 2020, the European Research Council (ERC) announced the 185 winners of the ERC 2019 advanced grants. In total, 450 million euros will be allocated to the winning researchers. As part of the Horizon 2020 programme, this funding will help strengthen Europe’s knowledge base in all fields of research. According to the ERC Press Release, these new projects are expected to create 1,800 new jobs for post-doctoral fellows, PhD students and other research staff.
The list of 185 winners is divided in three main domains: Physical Sciences and Engineering, Life Sciences and Social Sciences and Humanities. Among the winners in the field of chemistry, some of the listed research topics are “Chemical Space for Antimicrobials on a Peptide Basis” of Jean-Louis Reymond, “Old Chemistry for Advanced Materials: Empowering Carbon Chemistry Using Lost Chemistry” of Markus Antonietti, “Chiral Aqueous-phase Chemistry” of Bernd Winter and “Artificial Translation with Dynamic Foldamers: Relaying Encoded Messages into Chemical Function” of Jonathan Clayden. To discover the full winners list in the field of chemistry, please download the Physical Sciences and Engineering list and the Life Sciences list.
Researchers who would like to compete for an ERC Advanced Grant have from 14 May to 26 August 2020 to apply for the next round of funding. More information about it here.
Budget for Horizon Europe: no agreements yet
The next seven-year EU budget for Horizon Europe is still being debated. Due to the current world health crisis, the budget had to be revised and a proposal will be released by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. Indeed, governments currently face national difficulties directly impacting their economic and health system and are preparing for a post-crisis recession, which does not facilitate long-term budget planning.
In the current environment, the European Commission is looking for alternatives. Among them, extending the 2020 budget to 2021 is being discussed: the member states (except for the UK) would pay into the EU budget on the same GDP formula as in 2020. Therefore, research would get the same share in 2021 as it does in 2020. Otherwise, operating on a monthly basis is also a potential option.
Read more about it here.
EuChemS Secretariat team has grown to three full timers
As of 1 April 2020, EuChemS Secretariat now has for the first time ever three full timers working on supporting the community of chemists in Europe. In just a few years, since the Secretariat has started its work from Brussels, it has grown for a factor of three, which shows how activities of EuChemS have increased since 2011. Due to the current health-crisis situation, all the team members are working remotely until further notice.
The Secretariat is responsible for the day to day administrative management of the society.
Discover more about EuChemS Secretariat team here.
ESEC3 – The 3rd Employment Survey for European Chemists
All chemists and chemical engineers are very much encouraged to take part in this survey. By doing so, they will cocreate future landscape for job opportunities and related matters, as they wish to have them, as the outcomes of this survey will be made available to policy makers and others who are in a position to shape the future in Europe.
This survey looks into the current education and employment situation of chemists and chemical engineers across Europe. Understanding job market needs, the challenges and opportunities facing chemists and what drives people to study and work in their respective fields will prove invaluable to better understand the current landscape. In turn, it will allow those directly impacted, as well as universities, institutions, companies, and policymakers to focus their efforts on facilitating or improving certain measures whilst encouraging those that are so far successful.
The online survey is available on the following link: https://www.euchems.eu/esec3/
8th ICSD
ICSD 2020: 8th International Conference on Sustainable Development
09 – 10 September 2020
Rome, Italy
Website: https://ecsdev.org/conference/8th-icsd-2020
Annual Conference on EU Law in the Food Sector 2020
Annual Conference on EU Law in the Food Sector 2020
14 – 15 May 2020
Brussels, Belgium
Website: https://bit.ly/2IOpE7L
AIM 2020 Advanced Inorganic Materials
Green and Unconventional Synthesis, Approaches and Functional Assessment AIM 2020 (AIM 2020 Advanced Inorganic Materials)
25 – 26 June 2020
Bari, Italy
Website: https://bit.ly/3d8lhCD
MMM School 2020
XIII International School on Organometallic Chemistry “Marcial Moreno Mañas” (MMM School 2020)
17 – 19 June 2020
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Website: https://bit.ly/2TUcLzk
7PYCheM
7th Portuguese Young Chemists Meeting – 7PYCheM
20 – 22 May 2020
Bragança, Portugal
Website: https://bit.ly/2x3wvr6
Call for European Young Chemist Award (EYCA)
The aim of the European Young Chemist Award (EYCA) is to showcase and recognize the excellent research being carried out by young scientists working in the chemical sciences. In particular, the award is intended to honor and encourage younger chemists whose current research displays a high level of excellence and distinction. It seeks to recognize and reward younger chemists of exceptional ability who show promise for substantial future achievements in chemistry-related research fields.
EYCA is this year sponsored by the Italian Chemical Society, the Italian federazione Nazionale degli Ordini dei Chimici e dei Fisici and EuChemS. EYCA prices are given every two years during the EuChemS Chemistry Congress.
Call for Elected Members of the EuChemS Executive Board
The call for nominations for three (3) vacancies for elected members of the EuChemS Executive Board is open. You are kindly invited to make nominations through the online form by Thursday 30 April, midnight CET. The nomination of female candidate is particularly encouraged.
EuChemS Chemistry Congress fellowship scheme
The call for submission is open for the EuChemS Chemistry Congress fellowship scheme.
The aim of this grant is to support early career researchers (bachelor, masters and PhD student) actively attending the EuChemS Chemistry Congresses. Eligible candidates are those whose abstract submitted to an ECC has been accepted as a poster or oral presentation of any type.
Grantees will be selected on a random basis, provided that they fit conditions for applying. The selection ensures equal representation of men and women, as well as considers geographic distribution.
Deadline for submitting applications: 31 May 2020.
You can submit your application here.
Consultation on ‘Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan’
Deadline: 07 May 2020
You can take a look at it here.
Public consultation on the active substance Carbon dioxide
Deadline: 20 April 2020
You can take a look at it here.
Consultations for ‘Food safety – list of substances in food prohibited or permitted under scru-tiny (hydroxyanthracene derivatives)’
Deadline: 01 April 2020
You can take a look at it here.
ISE petition for a more ambitious Horizon Europe budget
Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) started a petition asking for a more ambitious budget allocation to Horizon Europe. ISE kindly invites researchers, students and research organisations to sign the petition to their representatives in local governments and to the European Council.
You can sign the petition here.
EuChemS attended the debate “Towards Gender Equality in Science: Are We on the Right Track?”
On 6 March, EuChemS attended the debate “Towards Gender Equality in Science: Are We on the Right Track?” organized by the Spanish Scientists in Belgium (CEBE). The event took place in Brussels, Belgium. The speakers were Nellie Konijnendijk, Human Ressources advisor equality at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Professor Flora de Pablo, researcher at the Center for Biological Investigation for the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Daniel Pérez, researcher at the quantum technology lab of Chalmers University and Tania Van Loon, President of Belgian Women in Science (BeWiSe).
This roundtable was organized in support of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The 4 scientists started the meeting by presenting data and graphs depicting the current gender gap situation in their respective institutions and countries. Although their research was done individually, all came to the same conclusion: the higher the level of research is in STEM, the less women are represented. Following this presentation, they discussed the challenges to greater equality and critically analyzed the current measures on this matter. Encouraging young girls to pursue studies and careers in STEM, gender quotas and how to better include men were the main discussions topics.
EuChemS 8th Chemistry Congress – ECC8
The 8th EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC8) is getting closer. ECC8 is organised by the Portuguese Chemical Society (SPQ) and with the support of the Portuguese Electrochemical Society (SPE), and will take place from 30 August to 3 September in Lisbon, Portugal. Registration is possible until 15 August 2020.
The theme of 8th EuChemS Chemistry Congress is ‘Chemistry the Central Science’, focusing on the central role of chemistry at the interfaces with biology, material and environmental sciences, both for the progress of humankind and for the solution of fundamental problems of modern societies. As of today, 8 plenary lectures were announced and confirmed for the scientific program.
You can have a look at it here.
The preliminary program will be fully available on 1 June, while calls for abstract and fellowship scheme are currently open. You have until 25 April to submit your Poster Communications. The call for application for EuChemS Chemistry Congress fellowship scheme is open until 31 May.
Do not miss out on any ECC8-related event and follow the Congress official social media accounts!
EuChemS 2020 annual meetings
EuChemS is getting 50 years old this year. We will celebrate our birthday on 3 July in Prague, exactly on the date and at the place where it was originally founded.
For detailed schedule of all EuChemS 2020 annual meetings, please see the visual below.
More EuChemS anniversary-related news will be announced in the coming weeks, stay tuned!
ECHA launched the EU Chemicals Legislation Finder
The EU Chemicals Legislation Finder (EUCLEF) is the European Chemicals Agency – ECHA’s new online service to access an overview of 40 pieces of EU chemicals legislation. This online service was launched on 11 March and is free to access.
The purpose of EUCLEF is to offer organizations a better understanding on their obligations across different UE laws, by compiling them in one place. It includes legislation on occupational health and safety, environment, product control and many more. EUCLEF also comes with a dedicated regulatory advice service that helps companies on the content of different legislation and related regulatory obligations.
A 9 minutes video tutorial on ‘how to use EUCLEF’ is available on ECHA’s YouTube channel.
Discover more about EUCLEF here.
EuChemS is preparing to answer European Climate Pact consultation
On 4 March 2020, the European Commission presented a proposal to implement the European Climate Law in order to enshrine in legislation the EU’s political commitment to become the first neutral continent by 2050. The purpose of the Climate Law is to prevent any going back regarding the European Union’s commitment and to give directions, transparency and predictability concerning the European Green Deal.
Simultaneously, the Commission announced the launch of a public consultation to gather input from various stakeholders in order to shape the European Climate Pact. The Commission will launch the Pact before the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) that will take place on 20 November 2020 in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
You can take a look at the European Climate Pact consultation here
EuChemS is preparing to answer the survey and is taking this opportunity to ask for input in order to provide feedback and suggestions regarding the European Climate Pact initiative to the European Commission.
Learn more about EuChemS’ survey here. EuChemS expects your input to the EuChemS’ response to the open consultation by 10 April.
ESEC3 – 3rd Employment Survey for European Chemists
The 3rd Employment Survey for European Chemists of the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) is open until 31 March 2020. This survey is open for all chemists and chemical engineers. Participation in this Europe-wide survey will help build a broad yet precise picture of the employment and salary situation of chemists and possibly reveal other cross-cutting issues.
EuChemS invites you to complete the questionnaire and to share it.
You can participate here: https://www.euchems.eu/esec3/
ESEC3 is jointly organised with the 2020 Comprehensive Salary and Employment Survey of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and supported by the European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN), European Chemistry Thematic Network Association (ECTN), the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), and by the European Federation of Managerial Staff in the Chemical and Allied Industries (FECCIA).
You must be logged in to post a comment.