Brussels News Updates

1 European Highlights, BNU February 2016, Brussels News Updates

Parliament Discusses Real Drive Emissions Tests

On the 23 February, the European Parliament Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI Committee) will hold a hearing on real drive emission tests. This hearing will host expert speakers, aiming to inform ENVI on the development of real driving emissions tests.

A key feature of ENVI’s position is that test procedures for certain pollutant emissions should reflect real driving conditions instead laboratory emissions testing.

To further explore this topic there are a couple of interesting recent publication from the European Environment Agency, Explaining road transport emissions – A non-technical guide, and Explaining vehicle emissions – why do laboratory and road measurements differ?.

Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/

1443
1 European Highlights, BNU February 2016, Brussels News Updates

Ex-Post Evaluation of FP7

The evaluation was based on a report by an independent group of high level experts, as well as the Commission’s response to its recommendations published in two legal documents.

The main findings are that FP7 was effective in boosting excellent science and strengthening Europe’s industrial competitiveness, contributing to growth and jobs in Europe. The evaluation also identified ways to improve how the EU funds research and innovation such as avoiding duplication or promoting large-scale simplification. According to the European Commission, many of these issues are already being taken up by Horizon 2020, the successor programme to FP7.

In its 25,000 funded projects FP7 had a vast group of participants with more than 134,000 participations from 170 different countries. The participations came in 86% of the cases from EU countries, 8% from Associated Countries and 6% rest of world.

Source: http://europa.eu/

1166
1 European Highlights, BNU February 2016, Brussels News Updates

EuCheMS Invites – Science: How Close to Open?

On the occasion of the Open Science Conference organised by the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU, EuCheMS is organising the workshop Science: How Close to Open?, taking place in Amsterdam on 5 April.

This event will look into the present and future of intellectual property boundaries in chemistry research and will debate questions such as:

  • Which model for peer-review publishing?
  • Who owns research data and how to share it?
  • Which approach is better for creating innovative products and services?

Together with researchers, publishers, and EU and government officials we hope to build bridges between these different actors and to provide some answers to these questions.

Registration for this event will soon be available!

1213
1 European Highlights, BNU February 2016, Brussels News Updates

EuCheMS Response to the Public Consultation on Antimicrobial Resistance

EuCheMS has submitted an answer to the European Commission´s Public Consultation on antimicrobial resistance. In this answer, which is accessible online, EuCheMS calls for a two-fold solution: more awareness and more research.

This consultation aims to collect views on the EU’s Action Plan against risks arising from antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and is one part of a larger evaluation process which covers the period 2011-2015 in all 28 EU Member States and relevant third countries. The evaluation runs from August 2015 to March 2016. It aims to assess:

  • Whether the key strategic actions contained in the Action Plan were the most appropriate actions to be taken to combat AMR;
  • Which elements worked well or not (and why);
  • Whether the objectives are still relevant to the needs of tackling AMR; and
  • Whether the approach was appropriately holistic.

The evaluation also involves surveys, interviews and workshops to collect views from multiple perspectives, including policy makers at the EU and national levels, researchers, public health experts, and representatives of professional associations and other interested parties who are in a position to comment on the Action Plan and its implementation.

1137
BNU February 2016, Brussels News Updates

Programmatic symposium on ethics in chemistry

Thirteen members and su pp orters of the idea  o f  the EuCheMS working party on ethics in  chemistr y f rom seven countries came to – gether in Frank f urt, Germany, on 25 and 26  September 2015 to exchange views, discuss the administrative structure and to identi fy topics for future activities.  The working party was  f ounded in autumn 2011 and started with a  f ew loosel y  con – nected enthusiasts but soon  g rew to a present  total o f  about 30 members and observers from twelve countries. Durin g  the workin g part y’ s s y mposium at the 4th EuCheMS Chemistry Con g ress in Pra g ue 2012, it became  ob vi ous  t ha t m o r e  n eeds  t o be do n e  t o  c o n – so l i d ate t h e wor k in g  party. At t h e recen  Frankfurt S y mposium the participants de- cided to establish a  f ive-membered steering g roup to distribute tasks onto more shoulders. Following the “The Hague Ethical Guidelines ” ( http://bit.l y /1jaLOSd )  defined b y  an inter- national panel o f  experts in September at the  Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical  Weapons, our assistance in the implemen – tation o f  ethics courses within science  p ro – g rammes at universities should be top prior – i t y . In conjunction wit h  t h e s y mposium, t h e  theatre pla y  b y  Roald Hoffmann “Was Euch g ehört”  ( “Somethin g  that belon g s to you” ) w as presented in Darmstadt and Frankfurt. Hartmut Frank, hartmut. f rank@uni-bayreuth.de w ww.euchems.eu / divisions / ethics-in-chemistr y

1000
BNU February 2016, Brussels News Updates

Green and Sustainable Chemistry – New Chair

cropped-circle.png

EuCheMS would like to welcome Prof. Nicholas Gathergood as the new President of the Division of Green and Sustainable Chemistry.

Nicholas studied chemistry (BSc) at the University of Bath which included a one year industry placement at BP in Sunbury. He completed his PhD with Professor Richard J. Whitby entitled “Chiral cyclopentadienyl lanthanide and transition metal complexes” at the University of Southampton. Postdoctoral research followed with a two year position at Aarhus University, working in Prof. Karl Anker Jorgensen’s group on asymmetric catalytic reactions. In 2001, he joined Prof. Peter J. Scammells and worked at Deakin University, Geelong and the Victorian College of Pharmacy, Melbourne for three years as a postdoctoral fellow. In Australia he worked as a synthetic medicinal chemist on an industry project for GlaxoSmithKline investigating applications of ionic liquid based technologies.

Nicholas became a lecturer in organic chemistry at Dublin City University in 2004 where he supervised 10 PhD students to completion. In 2015, he relocated to Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia as the ERA Chair of Green Chemistry. Currently, he is building a new team of talented young academics to promote a green chemistry philosophy throughout the Faculty, Estonia and internationally.

He organised two Green Chemistry conferences in Dublin which were supported by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency. Networking opportunities and training initiatives have also been organised by Prof. Gathergood through COST action workshops in Ireland and Estonia.

In Dublin, his endeavours led to Irish participation in the creation of the EuCheMS Division of Organic Chemistry and support for the EuCheMS Working Party of Green and Sustainable Chemistry. Between 2007 and 2010 he was Chair of the Society of Chemical Industry, Republic of Ireland section. During this period he worked closely with the Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Chemistry of Ireland, leading to mutually beneficial events.

Nicholas has published over 50 publications including 8 book chapters. He has also co-edited a book, ‘The Role of Green Chemistry in Biomass Processing and Conversion’ published by Wiley. Editorial commitments include Associate editor for Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy and founding editorial board member for Current Opinion on Green and Sustainable Chemistry and Current Green Chemistry.

1262
Brussels News Updates

TEMPLATE – BNU news item

Mauris convallis urna a tempus fermentum a pretium erat nisi in tellus.

Aenean tellus dolor, eleifend tristique orci ac, semper venenatis tellus. Duis ornare lectus finibus purus tempor, nec malesuada tortor ultricies. Nam quis ultrices neque, in cursus dui. Donec sed mollis risus, vel porta nisl. Sed ligula elit, molestie quis commodo sit amet, pretium sed mi. Morbi feugiat aliquam metus sit amet ornare. Donec ullamcorper faucibus tortor quis mollis. Nulla sapien neque, porta sit amet elit ac, condimentum suscipit nibh. Quisque nec scelerisque erat, ac rutrum enim. Ut tincidunt laoreet erat vel vestibulum.

Etiam neque odio, iaculis vel diam ac, porta scelerisque tortor.

Aenean magna libero, vestibulum vitae tortor non, sollicitudin malesuada dui. Etiam imperdiet, erat ac posuere euismod, quam purus euismod purus, eget tincidunt ante mauris at urna. Integer porttitor consectetur congue. In pellentesque dui lectus, ac ornare erat elementum in. Phasellus non consequat tortor. Sed sit amet elit ex.

Pellentesque convallis, ligula a eleifend viverra, dui ex pharetra libero, eget bibendum turpis ex sed mauris.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse sagittis vulputate molestie. Integer pretium leo ut ipsum viverra, a venenatis orci sagittis. Donec condimentum felis eu leo interdum, laoreet tristique urna malesuada. Etiam accumsan sed augue sed interdum.

Nullam commodo a magna eget semper. Nullam ac velit sit amet turpis scelerisque consectetur viverra id orci. Cras cursus sollicitudin ligula a aliquet. Aliquam tincidunt arcu sit amet mauris varius ornare. Nullam commodo a magna eget semper. Nullam ac velit sit amet turpis scelerisque consectetur viverra id orci. Cras cursus sollicitudin ligula a aliquet. Aliquam tincidunt arcu sit amet mauris varius ornare. Aenean eget augue id nisl blandit tempus a nec tellus. Ut in metus vitae justo fermentum congue eu in turpis. Aliquam id tellus at nunc gravida mollis nec eget ante.Aenean eget augue id nisl blandit tempus a nec tellus. Ut in metus vitae justo fermentum congue eu in turpis. Aliquam id tellus at nunc gravida mollis nec eget ante.

1088