Members Perspectives
The European Chemistry Thematic Network: Twenty-five Years of Innovation and Excellence in European Chemistry Higher Education
The European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) is an association of higher education institutions, national chemical societies, chemical companies, and accreditation and quality assurance agencies. It came into being in 1996 when the initial consortium was awarded an EU funded Socrates-Erasmus project. This was then followed by 5 more projects with Chemistry being the only discipline to receive continuous funding until 2015 when the thematic network action in the Erasmus+ programme was discontinued.
Today the ECTN has over 120 institutional members from every corner of Europe and some even further afield. Our remit is to inform, highlight, and promote all the activities of European Chemistry but the network’s raison d’être is the advancement in all aspects of European Chemical Higher Education.
The ECTN boasts the ability to reach a wide community of Chemistry teachers and learners via its vast network of member institutions. Thus, different working groups have been set up in aspects that directly affect Chemistry teaching and learning in the European Higher Education Area such as chemistry study plan design, on-line evaluation tests, degree programme accreditation, lecturer accreditation, university teaching training courses, student competitions, virtual education tools and much more. These working groups function with the synergy produced by their pan-European composition where problems and solutions are addressed and resolved, not at a regional or national level but on a European dimension.
The ECTN are also partners in two active Erasmus+ projects.
(i) STEM Continuous Professional Development at European universities. The aim of this project is to promote discipline-oriented Continuous Professional Development among STEM lecturers (Road Map).
(ii) Digital Support in Chemistry Teaching. The aim of the project is to support digitalization of European chemical faculties.
On 8 and 9 April 2022, the ECTN will hold our Annual Meeting in Budapest, Hungary. This meeting is open to both members and non-members of the ECTN and presentations of the working groups and activities will be given. We invite all of you to take part in this meeting and to find your niche in our community.
More information can be found on the ECTN webpage concerning our annual meeting, current working groups and committees and ongoing Erasmus+ projects.
Sanjiv Prashar
President of the ECTN
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