1 European Highlights

1 European Highlights, BNU May 2019, Brussels News Updates

EuChemS attends ECTN General Assembly in Krakow

EuChemS was once again pleased to have been able to attend the European Chemistry Thematic Network Association (ECTN) General Assembly in Krakow, Poland in April. Discussions focused on the recent developments regarding the Eurolabels® as well as the EChemTest®. Collaboration between EuChemS and ECTN is also set to continue, notably with the next joint project for the Employment Survey of European Chemists.   

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EU Research and Development Directorate-General attempts to tackle bureaucratic functioning

The European institutions have long been criticised for their bureaucracy and lengthy reaction time. The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (referred to as DG RTD) is attempting to change that by approving a new “matrix” design and structure for their administration. The new structure, more reminiscent of company designs, is aimed to significantly make things more flexible and modern. Whilst in the past specific policy areas were clearly divided, the new design allows much broader overlap and enables teams to work on a greater diversity of topics or to relate them better to each other. The DG RTD hopes to also work in a more efficient manner with the other Directorate-Generals, whose areas of focus also often overlap. Read the full ScienceBusiness article here. You can also download the new organigram here.

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Mauro Ferrari, a leading nanoscientist, appointed next President of the European Research Council (ERC)

The European Commission appointed on 14 May, Mauro Ferrari, an Italian nanoscientist known for his leadership role in the founding of the field of nanomedicine, as the next President of the European Research Council (ERC). He will take up his new role in January 2020 for a 4-year term of office, replacing the current President, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon.

Read the European Commission’s press release here.

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1 European Highlights, BNU May 2019, Brussels News Updates

EU and my Food

As the European elections quickly approach, the European Union’s Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has launched a campaign to highlight the important role the EU plays in showing how ingredients, processes, packaging and labelling are assessed to ensure nutrition and health claims are backed by science. Visit the EU and my Food website for interesting articles on the different ways EFSA contributes to food safety (including the recent assessment of the safety of insects in our diet!).

Food safety has also long been on EuChemS’ radar. Working with the EuChemS Division of Food Chemistry, we have provided the European institutions with important feedback, notably on the setting of legal limits of industrial trans fats in foods. More recently, EuChemS participated in a high-level meeting between EFSA and its academic stakeholders on the risks of pesticides.

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European Commission begins planning for Horizon Europe

Planning for the implementation of the 9th research framework programme, Horizon Europe, officially began early May with a meeting of the shadow programme committee, responsible for supervising the preparation of the implementation plan.

The initial meeting aimed at finding agreements on the ‘goals, method and steps for the strategic plan’ as well as on how the proposed Missions (high-ambition, high-impact initiatives on challenges that European citizens face), will be run and how the selection process for mission board members will be put into place. The results of the meeting will then be shared with EU national governments after which public drafts will be released from June to October, when they will be open to feedback from stakeholders.

EuChemS has closely followed the negotiations surrounding Horizon Europe, publishing a comprehensive position paper that emphasised the need to maintain excellence as a core criterion, boost the budgets for the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) as well as ensure that third countries can continue to take part in the programme. You can read our position paper here.

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1 European Highlights, BNU May 2019, Brussels News Updates

The Finnish Chemical Society celebrates its 100-year anniversary

On 26 April, the Finnish Chemical Society met in Helsinki to celebrate its 100-year anniversary. Founded in 1919, vibrant and one of the largest scientific societies in Finland, it also prides itself in providing opportunities for chemists and chemical engineers to network, investing in the development of high-quality education in chemistry and supporting young chemists in their studies and early careers.

EuChemS President Pilar Goya attended the celebrations that took place at the University of Helsinki.

Pekka Joensuu, President of the Finnish Chemical Society; Pilar Goya, EuChemS President; Heleena Karrus, General Secretary Finnish Chemical Society
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Chemistry in Europe 2019-2 newsletter published

The latest edition of our quarterly newsletter Chemistry in Europe, prepared with contributions from our team, members, professional networks and invited guests is now available. Take a look for an editorial by IUPAC Past President Natalia Tarasova, an interesting insight into EuChemS’ analysis of the transition to Open Access publishing and the contentious Plan S, as well as news from our young chemists’ network (EYCN), EuChemS’ recent overseas meeting with the American Chemical Society, and plenty more besides. Want to receive the next Chemistry in Europe directly in your inbox? Subscribe here!

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1 European Highlights, BNU May 2019, Brussels News Updates

EuChemS weighs in on debate over the future of scholarly communications

An expert group, set up to support the policy development of the European Commission on Open Science, published in January 2019 a report on the ‘Future of scholarly publishing and scholarly communication’, later opened to feedback by the members of the High-Level group of the Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP) that also advises and supports the Commission in developing policies for the transition to open science. Through a Position Paper, EuChemS has outlined its vision of the role and function of different actors in the scholarly communication system; the future of the evaluation of research and the types of scholarly contributions, venues and paths for dissemination; the future of business models; and finally concrete measures actors, such as learned societies, can put into place to move forward. The position paper is available here.

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EuChemS Historical Landmarks Award plaque unveiled at Ytterby mine, Sweden

From left to right: Annette Lykknes, Vice Chair of the EuChemS Working Party on the History of Chemistry; Brigitte Van Tiggelen, Chair of the EuChemS Working Party on the History of Chemistry; Malin Forsbrand, mayor of Vaxholm municipality; Nineta Hrastelj, EuChemS Secretary General; Pilar Goya, EuChemS President, Nineta Hrastelj; Helena Grennberg, President of the Swedish Chemical Society (Svenska Kemisamfundet)

Famous for being linked to the discovery site of some eight chemical elements, Ytterby mine, deep in the Stockholm archipelago, celebrated the unveiling of the EuChemS Historical Landmarks Award plaque in recognition of the role it played in the history of Chemistry and shared European cultural heritage.

The mine was awarded the 2018 EuChemS Historical Landmarks Award at the European level following the recommendations of the Landmark Selection Committee and the decision of the EuChemS Executive Board.

The celebration, which took place on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 April included an excellent symposium on the history of the mine and its discoveries, as well as the pivotal role it played in the history of Chemistry. Over 100 people attended the symposium and the ceremony, including representatives from the Swedish Chemical Society, the local municipality, Ytterby town, the Ytterby Gruva Foundation, as well as from EuChemS.

EuChemS President Pilar Goya, together with Malin Forsbrand, Municipality Chairman, unveiled the plaque at the entrance of the mine.

Many rare earth elements were discovered in the mine, including yttrium (discovered in 1794), erbium (1842), terbium (1842), ytterbium (1878). The discovery of gadolinium, scandium, thulium, and holmium are also linked to the Ytterby mine.

The mine and the elements discovered there drew many scientists from Sweden, as well as from across the Nordic countries, and from further afield in Europe, making it a unique historical and scientific site of centuries worth of international collaboration and ventures.

The mine was officially closed in the early 1930s, and was subsequently used as a military storage facility for fuel, food and water during the Cold War. The programme was stopped in the mid-90s, after which the mine was emptied of fuel. Scientists have more recently begun studying the inside of the mine again, noting the existence of unique bacterial life forms on the walls. There are hopes that by 2025, the tunnels and the inside of the mine will be made open to visits by the public.

Read more about the EuChemS Historical Landmarks Award here.

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The future of gender equality in European research and innovation

EuChemS attended an important conference on the future of gender equality in European research and innovation on 11 April 2019, organised by Gender Action, an EU supported project. Speakers provided both an overview of the current state of affairs as well as concrete examples of how gender bias, discrimination and unequal opportunities can be addressed in universities, research institutions, and projects. A core focus of the conference was how to ensure that the future EU research framework programme, Horizon Europe can ensure that proper integration of gender mainstreaming is incorporated. You can read the Briefing Papers prepared by Gender Action here.

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EuChemS at the American Chemical Society meeting in Orlando

EuChemS President Pilar Goya and EuChemS Secretary General Nineta Hrastelj made their way to Orlando, USA, for the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) yearly National Meeting at the beginning of April 2019. They were invited to present the work and latest initiatives being prepared by EuChemS at the ACS Committee on international activities / subcommittee for Europe meeting, where they also discussed how to further develop collaboration – and in particular, with a focus on how chemistry can contribute to many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Such collaboration was recently demonstrated at the workshop on Horizon Europe, education and employability, organised by EuChemS and held in the European Parliament on 7 March 2019. A relevant and timely contribution from LaTrease E. Garrison, Executive Vice-President for Education at the ACS was provided by video, in which she analysed the state of employability of chemists in the USA. EuChemS and the ACS have moreover recently worked together on developing the upcoming joint employability survey for chemists in 2020 following the recent publication of EuChemS’ second employability survey for European chemists in 2018.

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European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) seeks to restrict intentionally added microplastics

At the latest Committee for Risk Assessment meeting of the European Chemicals Agency, and on which EuChemS sits, the latest updates on ECHA’s calls for the banning of intentionally added microplastics took centre stage. The proposed restriction aims to ban uses that result in releases to the environment, labelling requirements for other uses where only residual releases are considered to occur, as well as reporting requirement for downstream users on uses exempted from the ban. Polymers as a whole should not be placed on the market as a substance of its own or in a mixture as a microplastic in a concentration equal or greater than 0.01% w/w.

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Obituary: Sergio Facchetti

It is with a heavy heart that we have learnt the news of Sergio Facchetti’s passing on the morning of Saturday 30 March 2019.

Sergio Facchetti, born in Borgo Ticino (Novara – Italy), was a leading scientist who gave outstanding service to the field and image of chemistry in Europe, as well as to EuChemS and its predecessor FECS, and for this we are eternally grateful.

His life’s work has had major and influential consequences, and his contributions to the field led to concrete transformations in science. Sergio worked in the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre laboratories in Ispra, firstly in the Radiation Chemistry Group of the NUCLIT corporation (1959-61), and subsequently as a European Official (1961-97) becoming the head of a division of over 100 people and coordinator for the Environmental Research Agency. His main work was on the identification of environmental pollutants – and it was through studies carried out in connection with the Seveso disaster of 1976 that he made his most far-reaching contributions. His work led to his appointment as adviser to the United States Government and originated the lead isotope experiments which eventually led to the banning of lead in fuels – an achievement he later recognised as one of his proudest moments. He was later coordinator of the Eureka project 674 on “Advanced Mobile Analytical Laboratory” – a project intensively used in many field investigations.

In addition to his work, Sergio was able to play a crucial role in the support of Chemistry as a whole, serving on the board of the CNC (1998-2017) and the Italian Chemical Society, founding in 1971 its Mass Spectrometry Division and serving as Vice-President from 1996 – 1998. He also occupied the posts of Vice-President of the European Chemistry Council and of the European Chemist Registration Board.

Sergio retired from the EuChemS Board in 2017 after an astonishing 47 years of continuous work on the Board of both FECS and EuChemS. Sergio was a highly active member of the community, continuously proposing new ways in which EuChemS could broaden its scope and increase its impact, whether through the organisation of major conferences, including the hosting of seven lectures during the EXPO Milan, or other initiatives.

In 2018, Sergio was awarded the EuChemS Award for Service for his tireless efforts and success in promoting chemistry and EuChemS’ work over the years. Whilst he was unable to make his way to Liverpool where the prizes were announced at the 7th EuChemS Chemistry Congress, his colleague and fellow Award for Service awardee Francesco De Angelis read out a letter Sergio had written. In it, he expressed his surprise and gladness at the award, but insisted that his work throughout the years was in his eyes, his duty.

Sergio was not only an inspiring scientist, whose work was characterised by a strong belief in ethical attitudes, but he was also a true gentleman, kind and thoughtful. Sergio’s passing is sad news for chemistry in Europe and sad news for the many people who knew Sergio, and he will be very much missed. But his work and contributions will not be forgotten, nor his incessant work in helping EuChemS and the community it represents be where it is today.

We send our most heartfelt condolences to his family.

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The future of scholarly communications

In January 2019, an Expert Group tasked with advising the European Commission on open science released a report on a future vision for scholarly communications. The report contextualised the current landscape when it comes to scholarly publishing and communications, together with an analysis of perceived shortcomings and a list of recommendations for the various players involved and impacted. Members of the Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP), a high-level task force in which EuChemS is represented by Executive Board Member Wolfram Koch, were asked by the European Commission to prepare a response and remarks on the report. Watch this space for EuChemS’ take on the future of scholarly communications.

In November 2018, EuChemS published a Position Paper on Plan S, a plan set up by a coalition of science funders and supported by the European Commission to push through a rapid transition to open access publishing. You can read the EuChemS Position here.

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EFSA engages academic stakeholders

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) held on 14 March a dedicated workshop with its academic stakeholders, of which EuChemS is one. The session, aimed at building a stronger relationship between the European agency and academic organisations was centred around recent developments on the risk assessment of pesticides, genetically modified plants and the integration of evidence for risk assessment. Speakers included several EFSA representatives together with representatives from SETAC, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

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The EuChemS European Young Chemists’ Network elects new Board

The European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN) Delegate Assembly, held in Bremen, Germany on 17 – 20 March saw the election of a new Board that will guide the EYCN’s actions over the next two years. The new board consists of: Antonio M. Rodriguez, Chair; Maximilian Menche, Secretary; Jelena Lazić, Treasurer, as well as team leaders: Katarina Josifovska, Science; Jovana Milić, Networks; Maxime Rossato, Communications; Miguel Steiner, Membership; Lieke Van Gijzel, Global Connections.

EuChemS President Pilar Goya was invited to present the latest activities and initiatives being undertaken by EuChemS and to welcome the new EYCN Board. Science Communication and Policy Officer Alex Schiphorst also attended the assembly and in a presentation on science and policy, encouraged the EYCN to get involved in the political debate. The Assembly also included allocated brainstorming sessions to deliberate on future projects as well as presentations of member societies’ youth events.

More about the EYCN here.

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EU elections & science

The upcoming elections for the European Parliament could have a direct impact on the future of science in Europe. A rise in populist and anti-EU parties could lead to a reduction of budgets granted to research and innovation, together with growing scepticism towards scientific findings and advice, whether over medical issues or research linked to climate change or food safety. Make your voice heard for science this May!

The European Parliament’s research and industry committee (ITRE), which examines EU legislation related to research, and which negotiated the European Parliament’s vision for Horizon Europe, could also be shaped by incoming politicians. Whilst Committee heavyweights such as Polish politician Jerzy Buzek or Germany’s Christian Ehler are planning on running again, others such as MEP Paul Rübig, who chaired the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Options Assessment panel (STOA) will not. The fate of British MEPs in the Committee is also unknown at this stage. You can take a look at Business Europe’s debrief of those MEPs running and those that won’t be here.

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Horizon Europe: political agreement reached

A political agreement on the EU’s next research and development programme, Horizon Europe, has been reached between negotiators for the European Parliament and national governments following several weeks negotiations and of deadlock over a range of issues.

The preliminary agreement was welcomed by Commissioner Carlos Moedas as putting the EU “on track to launch the most ambitious ever European research and innovation programme” reports Research Europe.

The agreement will still need to be approved by the European Parliament as a whole, with the vote due on 17 April. However, any debate over the budget has not yet taken place as this is inherently tied to wider negotiations of the overall EU budget for the years 2021 – 2027, which is unlikely to happen before the end of 2019 at the earliest.

The agreement also revealed policymakers’ vision for ‘Missions’ in the next programme. The five mission areas (under which specific missions could fall) include:

  • Adapting to climate change, including societal transformation
  • Cancer
  • Healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters
  • Climate-neutral smart cities
  • Soil health and food.

Several partnerships will also be developed. See the full list here.

In August 2018, EuChemS published a position paper together with amendments on the European Parliament’s proposal for Horizon Europe. In the document, we stressed the need to keep striving for excellence, the need to allow countries that have previously participated in EU research programmes to continue being able to do so in the future, as well as the need for more ambitious budgets for the programme as a whole, as well as for the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

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Antimicrobial resistance: no signs of slowing down

A recent report released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reveals that antimicrobials used to treat a variety of diseases continue to witness a drop in their effectiveness. Vytenis Andriukaitis, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety warned that the report “should ring – again – alarm bells”, and that concerted action is urgently needed to prevent the alarm bells from becoming “a deafening siren”. Some of the major diseases such as Campylobacter bacteria and Salmonella are becoming increasingly resistant to fluoroquinolones.

The report does show however, that countries limiting antimicrobial use, have shown a decrease in antimicrobial resistance. Read EFSA’s debrief here.

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‘’Is anyone reading our work?’’

The European Commission is currently preparing a project know as the “Knowledge4Policy” (K4P) platform, a set-up that aims to enable more fluid exchanges between scientists, policymakers and journalists. Beginning of March, the first focus group was held in which several scientists were asked to discuss their worries and their perception of how decision-makers access and use their research findings. But bridging the cultural divide between how scientists think and work and of how policymakers do so is not easy task. The session enabled scientists to share the sort of features in such a platform they would like and to better understand what decision-makers are looking for. Interestingly, one of the recurring statements expressed was the desire to have as much face to face contact as possible with policymakers, a consequence of the fact it remains very hard to know whether one’s research is being read. You can access the full article here.

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Executive Board meeting in Lisbon

On 18 -19 February, the EuChemS Executive Board met in Lisbon, Portugal for the first Executive Board meeting of the year. Discussions focused on a wide range of issues, including upcoming activities and initiatives for the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT2019), as well as next year’s 50-year anniversary of EuChemS (initially known as FECS). Following discussions, the Executive Board was given the opportunity of visiting the congress centre which will host the 8th EuChemS Chemistry Congress in 2020!

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Horizon Europe: deal on time?

Members of the European Parliament have urged that a preliminary deal on Horizon Europe be made ahead of the May European elections, even if some matters, including the budget, would have to be settled after the new Parliament reports ScienceBusiness,.

Negotiations are currently at an impasse over a range of issues, including who would define the ‘Missions’ and the role of the funding programme in bridging the innovation gap between eastern and western Europe.

The Parliament presented several compromises on key issues in order to secure an agreement with the Member States, who will be meeting this week for more negotiation sessions.

In August 2018, EuChemS published a position paper together with amendments on the European Parliament’s proposal for Horizon Europe. In the document, we stressed the need to keep striving for excellence, the need to allow countries that have previously participated in EU research programmes to continue being able to do so in the future, as well as the need for more ambitious budgets for the programme as a whole, as well as for the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

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Women in science

The new edition of the She Figures report prepared by the European Commission puts into focus a clear message: women continue to be under-represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The gender gap has over the past years not changed much. Figures show that the proportion of women researchers in the EU was of 33,4% in 2015, compared to 33% in 2012.

Lutgarde Buydens, Rector at Radboud University in the Netherlands, and one of the speakers at our EuChemS workshop on 7 March focused on the gender gap and the ‘leaky pipe’ – the situation whereby the number of women drops the higher up we climb the academic ladder. Whereas the proportion of women graduate students reaches 50%, this drops to 40% in PhD candidates, dropping down to 35% for associate professors, and 20% for full professors. Professor Buydens moreover emphasised the continued and often unrecognised bias (and implicit bias) expressed in our everyday actions and practices, with direct repercussions in how women are hired, promoted, perceived.

Some ways to counter this bias is to raise awareness of it, install gender and diversity committees in universities and research centres, introduce awareness training sessions for those who hire and select candidates, amongst a range of other issues.

Awareness of the gender gap is most likely at an all-time high, yet the slowness of change is testament to a deeply rooted issue that won’t be solved on its own. Direct and concrete steps are needed to ensure equal opportunities for all. Indeed, the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Breaking the Barriers report starkly states: “continuing at the current rate of change, we will never reach gender parity”.

And on a side note, a separate study by the European Commission has also shown that increasing women’s participation in politics has clear positive impacts on the quality of governance, transparency and accountability!

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Bridging education, employability and EU research funding

How are education, employability and research funding linked, and how can we ensure they are connected in a way that encourages equal opportunities for European chemical scientists? This was the topic for discussion at the EuChemS workshop ‘‘Chemical sciences for Horizon Europe, education and employability’’ in the European Parliament on 7 March, hosted by MEP Lambert van Nistelrooij. Representatives from the European Parliament, European Commission, academia and industry came together to discuss their perspectives and suggestions for the way forward.

The session’s topic based itself on the Employability Survey for European Chemists whose results were published in 2018. The survey displayed a range of issues, whether in terms of talent being inadequately supported, lack of opportunities for certain demographic groups, necessary skills not being taught to students or insufficient information being communicated to those moving from academia to industry. Speakers could therefore base themselves on some of the survey’s findings to look at which steps should be taken to improve the situation.

A number of core issues emerged from the talks, many of which were indeed repeated by the different speakers:

  • The need for improved academia-industry collaboration
  • Recognising the precursor role of high quality (higher) education
  • Recognising the importance of closer collaboration on an equal basis across Europe and beyond
  • Addressing gender bias in everyday practices
  • The urgent need for better communication between all stakeholders
  • Taking notice of the diminishing borders between different scientific disciplines

The variety of perspectives offered by the speakers ensured the session provided an encompassing overview of the issues that exist but also different ways forward. Ultimately, the EU can encourage and provide quality opportunities for scientists, but the right environment needs to be fostered. Only with the involvement of all stakeholders, that talk to each other, listen, and perhaps more pertinently, hear each other, can we ensure results that move in the right direction.

You can download our summary info sheet here.

More information about the speakers and their presentations is available online here.

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Members of the European Parliament warn of ‘snail pace on pesticide innovation’

On 13 February, Members of the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of a non-binding resolution stating that EU Member States are failing to switch from chemical pesticides towards low-risk alternatives, despite it being required under EU law. The Parliament in turn called on the European Commission and Member States to meet their obligations.

With worries over the use of pesticides and their impact on biodiversity in Europe, the Parliament has stressed the need to make significant progress in promoting and incentivising innovation and the development of low-risk or non-chemical alternatives.

The European Commission has been called on to propose an EU-wide binding target for the reduction of pesticide use, as well as immediate bans on the use of pesticides that are at a certain distance from residential areas, schools, nurseries and hospitals.

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