I came across a nice article in C&EN about the value of networking.

If this inspires you to develop your scientific networks, see the attached PDF for a list of RSC Interest Groups available for RSC members to join. Every member can join up to 3 Interest Groups at no extra cost; membership of additional Groups costs just £10 per Group per year.

To join Interest Groups email Membership@rsc.org today.

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On Wednesday the 6^th of April, Professor A. Stephen K. Hashmi, Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences and Head of the Institute of Organic Synthesis at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg delivered a talk organized by the TCD Werner Chemical Society, Trinity College Dublin.
 
Professor Hashmi has been considered a pioneer in the field of gold chemistry since the late nineties. He delivered his talk - entitled "Homogeneous Gold Catalysis: Catalysts, Reactions and Mechanisms" - to capacity audience of undergrads, postgrads and staff members. It was a fascinating demonstration of organic chemistry, explaining the wide range of high yielding organic transformations possible such as asymmetric aldol reactions and nucleophilic additions with a variety of nucleophiles including carbon monoxide.

The talk was also enjoyable to chemists with different interests, thanks to the addition of little pieces of inorganic (showing the coordination chemistry at the gold centre, for example) and physical chemistry (like adding DFT calculations showing the HOMO and LUMO orbitals and explaining the increased efficiency of gold over palladium). Prof Hashmi littered his presentation with fun facts about gold, for example, gold has an E number - E175!
 
The talk was followed by a wine and cheese reception to give more self-conscious people a chance to ask Professor Hashmi questions in a less public setting. The evening was very enjoyable and educational. All attendees learnt something new about gold and gained new respect for the element that’s “not just a pretty face”.

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Aurora Walshe
Vice-President,
Werner Chemical Society

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INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF CHEMISTRY
BREAKFAST MEETING 18th Jan 2011, Fourah Bay College
Universityof Sierra Leone, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE

To launch IYC 2011, the female scientists at the University of Sierra Leone shared a chemical moment in time with other female scientists in Port Harcourt, Nigeria and the University of Cambridge, UK.

Lectures were given by Dr Ronnie Williams, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry, University of Sierra Leone where he shared his enthusiasm in chemistry by illustrating his day-to-day activities from teaching/lecturing to research.
 
Ms Fatmata Kaiwa, a Senior Lecturer and Acting Head of the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, demonstrated her enthusiasm for chemistry by highlighting several projects she has been involved with and how chemistry underpins them. Professor Sahr Gbamanja, Dean of Post Graduate Studies, University of Sierra Leone, contributed to the discussion by presenting a paper entitled ‘Improving Science Education in Sierra Leone’. He began with a brief history of Higher Education in Sierra Leone. He also discussed the great work being carried out by the government in encouraging young people to persue careers in science by the provision of scholarships. He outlined the work being done by Mathematics and Science Teachers (SLAMAST) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to provide workshops aimed at training and retraining Science teachers. SLAMAST can carry out this work thanks to sponsorships recieved from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

 The meeting was further enhanced with students performing various chemistry experiments to mark the event.
 
More information about the event can be viewed here.

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Report on the first PPSG Early Stage Researcher Meeting
Friday 18^th November 2010, RSC, Burlington House

The aim of the PPSG Early Stage Researcher Meeting was to hold a 1-day conference where PhD students and postdocs working in the area of peptide and protein chemistry (broadly defined!) could gain experience of presenting their work, discuss their projects, and be exposed to a broad range of peptide and protein chemistry from around the UK.

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RSCBelgium launched its event programme for International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) on 27 January with a 'heated' debate on climate change.


A capacity crowd of 70 engaged in a Cafe Scientifique style discussion in the Autoworld Museum situated in the Cinquantenaire Park close to Brussels' European quarter. The venue for the 'Cafe Chimique' was Espace53: the retro-chic restaurant 'bubble' in Autoworld. The event brought together two scientific experts on climate change with Belgium section chairman Prof Bob Crichton (centre, below) acting as Master of Ceremonies for the evening. A free bar and snacks were provided by the section to lubricate the discussion.                                                    more...

NUI Galway Energy Night Wednesday 26 Janurary 5.30 - 9.00 pm

NUIG Energy Night was an entirely student and postdoc organised event bringing together the Chemistry, Energy and Physics societies of the National University of Ireland, Galway. It was the first time that so broad a section of students came together at NUIG or any other Irish University to organise such an event, and it reflects the seriousness with which these enthusiastic and energetic students regard the future of energy supply and demand in Ireland. The sponsors of the night were Enerit, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), and Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology (IRCSET). Over 300 delegates from academia, local and national industry, policy-making and the general public attended and participated in Energy Night.

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On 8 January ten schools from the East Midlands region came to the University of Derby for the Top of the Bench regional finals (TOTB).  The 10 schools were selected from 24 during elimination rounds which took place in each county in December.






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