After saying a fond farewell to the Higher Education, Industry and Business team where I had my first rotation, I’m now settled in to the Member Services department for my second.
The Member Services team is all about looking at what we can do for our 51,000 members worldwide. From helping with
careers advice and mentoring, to looking after our many
networks and the
Benevolent Fund, it’s a broad mix of activities which makes it a good place to learn about all the work we do for our members.
My role for the next 5 months will be in our
Diversity team, which is responsible for all aspects of diversity in the chemical sciences. In particular, I will be managing
175 Faces of Chemistry, which will profile 175 chemists to show the diversity of people who have contributed to the chemical sciences through the ages, and all in time for our 175 Anniversary celebrations in February 2016. Nominations are welcome from anyone, so if you would like to nominate someone
please let me know!
I will also be helping to organize another of our diversity initiatives – the Joliot-Curie Conference, which this year will be held in Edinburgh on 16-17 September. This event looks to discuss the barriers that hold people back from a career in chemistry and how to overcome them, and focusses on early career researchers. Look out for more information in the coming months!
Having moved from one team to another, it’s really interesting to see how the experiences from one team can help with the other. As a result of my work in our Industry team, I’m more conscious of the need to include representatives from chemical industry in our diversity projects as they can often be overlooked but are extremely important. It also allows me to spot connections between different projects in different teams, which can make a real difference when there are benefits to co-operating.
