The IYCN has launched new Committees!

The IYCN is pleased to announce Dr. Robert Richardson (UK) and Lovish Raheja (India) as the Leaders of the two newly established Committees on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and on Science for Policy, respectively.

The EDI Committee aims to pursue diversity and develop strategies to increase EDI among IYCN Members, as well as historically marginalized communities in the chemical sciences worldwide. The Committee strives for EDI in all IYCN projects and activities, working and collaborating closely with the other committees. We aim to organize events and collect and share resources to promote and support EDI within the chemistry community worldwide.

The Science for Policy Committee aims to raise awareness and encourage the participation of early-career chemists globally in science policy by gathering and providing resources and training, collaborating with international organizations, early-career networks, and policymakers, and contributing to relevant discussions. The Committee will also cooperate with other IYCN Committees in organizing events to address global challenges and strive for a sustainable future.

Please keep an eye on the IYCN website and social media channels to follow the projects and activities these two Committees will pursue in the upcoming months!

New IYCN/IUPAC Joint Project “Global Conversation on Sustainability”!

The IYCN is pleased to announce the launch of a new IYCN/IUPAC joint project entitled “Global Conversation on Sustainability” (GCS).

The GCS project is aligned with the goals of IUPAC and the IYCN to tackle the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) by raising awareness and implementing sustainable practices on a chemistry basis. It aims to connect and engage chemists and related professionals from the chemistry enterprise in taking effective actions towards sustainability targeting the SDGs and keeping track of their progress. The project will result in the following benefits:

1) Implement sustainable practices’ culture among the chemistry community;

2) Promote the engagement of young and established chemists and professionals in taking action for the benefit of society and sustainability of our planet;

3) Showcase activities pursued locally that could be applied nationally/internationally;

4) Launch synergies across different countries and continents in implementing sustainable practices;

5) Highlight opportunities for younger chemists to volunteer within IUPAC projects by enhancing the IYCN/IUPAC synergies.

We plan to coordinate a one-day virtual event worldwide every year focusing on sustainability towards a common good. Each event will be independently organized and this year, it will take place on September 25th. Please note it down and actively join us in this global conversation by organizing your own event!

We will soon provide guidelines about the event framework through instructional videos and manuals for easy access to information and to promote the engagement of the chemistry community worldwide. Possible formats include panel discussions, breakout room sessions and lecture series aiming at engaging individuals and/or organizations, chemical societies, academic institutions, industry, government, non-governmental organizations, policymakers, etc in fruitful conversations about actions to be taken in addressing the SDGs.

Please keep an eye on the IYCN and IUPAC websites and social media channels for updates on this project!

Kind regards,

João Borges

Task Group Chair

The IYCN Workshop Series on Professional Development Skills is available on IUPAC YouTube channel!

Dear IYCN Members,

Dear Young Chemists,

Since 2020, the IYCN Conference Presence Committee has been hosting and organizing a series of virtual workshops focusing on professional development skills aimed at empowering early-career chemists in advancing their career development. For that, we counted on the active participation of a great and diverse line-up of invited speakers from around the world, denoting different backgrounds and expertise, who kindly shared their know-how, knowledge and expertise. The topics of the workshops include “science communication, science outreach, scientific writing and publishing, grant writing, management of science and innovation, building a successful online presence, diversity of career paths in chemistry, diversity and inclusion across the chemical sciences, building a successful online presence, and chemists transforming science: from the lab bench to business. You can watch or rewatch them all for free via the IUPAC YouTube channel.

We take the opportunity to invite you to the upcoming virtual workshop under the topic “Non-Traditional Career Paths for Chemists” which will be held on June 20th from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm EDT. We will host three chemists, who will share their career paths and highlight some non-traditional careers in medical writing, patenting and more that those with a chemistry background can pursue. For registration, more information will be disclosed soon via the IYCN website and social media channels.

If there are any other topics on professional development skills that you would like to hear more about, please reach out to us at conferencepresence.iycn@gmail.com.

Kind regards,

Fatima Mustafa

IYCN Conference Presence Committee Leader 2021/2022