I have to say how very impressed I was by the level of professionalism and commitment shown by the organisers (pictured) of this year’s YMS, held in Nottingham on the 13^th of June. I am not blowing my own trumpet here, as whilst I am in the picture, my role in the committee was quite small and low impact (especially when compared to the last YMS!). This was both because the YMS 2012 committee had everything well planned long before I moved to Nottingham and joined, and also because I deliberately did not want the YMS 2012 to be identical to YMS 2010.

In this respect, I was delighted at the success of the education and outreach session, which was the unique feature of YMS 2012. It was a resounding success, and I think it opened the eyes of many of the over 100 delegates from all across the UK and Ireland. The “poor” people in the academic session (myself included) were “forced” to listen to gales of laughter from the outreach session next store whilst we tried to concentrate on “real” chemistry!

Given that the YMS is apparently “my baby” (I still say Amy did all the leg work), I am really proud of the success of YMS 2012, and to fulfilling the last aim of YMS 2010 “ to establish this event as a significant and recurring one in the calendar of the young chemical scientist.” I already have some groups interested in hosting YMS III, and I can’t wait to see how this symposium develops in the future. I will post the formal report on this symposium once it is written, as well as links to upcoming articles in RSC News.