Networks Newsletter - February 2021
Dear colleague,Welcome to the February Networks Newsletter, our way to keep our member network committee members and representatives up to date with RSC activities, services and new initiatives.
This month’s Newsletter contains:
- Upcoming Deadlines
- Upcoming Events
- Spotlight: RSC Division Review - Update for member networks
- Communications from across the RSC
- Latest updates on our policy work
01 February
01 February
08 February
09 February
10 February
11 February
11 February
23 February
25 February
26 February
28 February
01 March
08 March |
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04 February
09 February
18 February
23 February
02-03 March
04 March
18 March |
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| Spotlight: RSC Division Review - Update for member networks |
The Division Review is looking at the function and structure of the nine RSC Divisions; the Advisory Group is currently developing its proposals to present to MCB in March 2021.Read the key findings from the member survey and next steps on the Networks Newsletter blog, and please contact the Advisory Group with any comments or questions.Read about the update and next steps here
| Communications from across the RSC |
Here are updates about events and activities from our Outreach, Careers, Events, International, and Research & Innovation teams, as well as the Chemists’ Community Fund and RSC Publishing.Reminder: One week left to nominate your representativeThe closing date for nominations for the Local Section and Interest Group representatives on Member Communities Board is Monday 8 February.
We have engaged with Mi-Voice, an external electoral services provider, to manage the process for our nominations. You would have received an email from our Interim CEO Helen Pain in early December, sent by Mi-Voice, inviting nominations for the vacancies on our Boards, Committee and Divisions. This email included a personalised link to make your nomination. There are two ways to nominate:
- Self-nomination
- Proposal nomination
Any member can self-nominate or propose another member; all nominations are required to be accompanied by names of two RSC members willing to second the nomination. If you would like more information about the vacancies, or if you have not received an email from Mi-Voice, please contact our Governance team.Contact our Governance team for information or support2020 Annual Report data and the 2021 Annual Report form98 out of 137 member network Annual Reports have been received, describing 313 events in 2020 (not counting individual events as part of series). Thank you to all of you who have submitted your Annual Reports so far. Almost 120 of the reported events were cancelled or postponed due to the pandemic, however you also shared more than 30 new events that came about as a direct result of the "new normal" we experienced in 2020. We are very excited to go through the data in detail and share the outputs with you all over the coming weeks. If your committee has not submitted your 2020 Annual Report yet, please contact the Networks Team as soon as possible. As promised, we have developed the 2021 Annual Report form based on your feedback. We will be sharing the form with Secretaries this week with additional training material and an updated video guide. Planning your 2021 activities?Have you thought about asking our Careers Team how they can support you and your members in 2021?
The team are available to run CV reviews, or present or take part in panel discussions on a wide range of career-related topics such as job searching in your sector, using labour market information in your career development, identifying your transferable skills and managing your CPD, and developing specific skills like leadership, communication or career resilience. We can work with you to shape our support to your needs. You can find out more about what we do by visiting rsc.li/careers.Contact the team to find out more about how they can support you Zoom licence for member networksWe’re pleased to announce that we have now acquired a Zoom Meeting license for RSC Interest Groups and Local Sections to use free of charge. This Zoom license allows up to 300 participants and you can enable up to 50 breakout rooms per session. We still have the GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar accounts to enable more networks to organise virtual events, particularly as Zoom is not accessible at some institutions.
Please use the Zoom Booking form to schedule your Zoom meeting. The booking form allows you to book a test session on Zoom so you can become familiar with the Zoom software. We are currently finishing a user guide for Zoom, and this will be available soon under the Virtual Events section of the Useful Forms and Documents webpage.Book your Zoom meeting hereExciting updates for #RSCPoster 2021As you may know, #RSCPoster is a Twitter poster conference open to all chemists, at every career stage, to share their research with the global chemistry community.
This year, we’re adding two new elements to the #RSCPoster Conference. These are #RSCPosterPitch, short video pitches to accompany posters, in the same way you might give a quick presentation to someone at a physical conference, and #RSCPosterLive, a series of live webinars to accompany the main event.#RSCPosterLive will bring together scientists from across the globe to discuss topics of relevance to the chemistry community, including pathways to becoming professor, mental health in STEM, and how to choose the right PhD or postdoctoral supervisor. The webinars will take place on GotoWebinar, to allow everyone, including people without Twitter, to be able to participate.We would be very grateful if you could encourage your members to sign up for #RSCPoster and direct them to the #RSCPoster Conference webpage for further information about all aspects of the event.
One final thank you to all the Interest Groups who have supported us via sponsorship so far, your help is invaluable. If any further groups are interested in sponsorship opportunities, or if anyone has any other questions, please do get in touch with the team at rscposter@rsc.org.Learn more about and register for the 2021 #RSCPoster ConferenceAwarding 2020 and 2021 40-Year Gold BadgesIn 2019 we implemented an anniversaries engagement plan for our members; this included a new process to ensure that all those entitled to received their 40-year gold badge (the process was shared in this June 2019 Spotlight article).
Obviously, last year we were not in the office to send these, but we will be working with our Brand Centre to get the 2020 badges mailed out as soon as possible. For the 2021 badges, we wish to safeguard all of the members involved in the sending and receiving of the badges, so we will be sending 2021 badges out directly to members. If you would like to send congratulations from the Local Section to members reaching their 40th anniversary of membership in 2021, contact our Membership Team below. Request contact details for gold badge recipients2021 Undergraduate Research Bursaries are openThe Undergraduate Research Bursaries for Summer projects in 2021 opened today for applications and will close on Monday 8 March 2021. The scheme is open to students registered with a UK or Republic of Ireland institution looking for a wage contribution undertaking a 6-8 week research project. We have also updated our scheme this year to make it more flexible, so you can adapt your project should circumstances change.Find out more and submit your application on our websiteRSC Desktop Seminar Lectureship SeriesWe are delighted to announce our inaugural free, online-only RSC Desktop Seminar Lectureship Series, featuring virtual talks by our recent journal lectureship winners. Each session will include an introductory talk by a journal board member as well as a journal lectureship winner.The seminars will take place during a variety of time zones to accommodate our winners from different regions, so we encourage any and all interested to register and attend.Visit the webpage to find the full list of Desktop Seminar and to registerHello from the RSC Public Engagement Officer!Hello Networks! My name is Anna and I am the Public Engagement Officer here at the RSC. It is my job to work with people across the RSC, including members and networks, to support, develop, facilitate and deliver public engagement and outreach activity.I know that there are many of you who are interested in public engagement and outreach, and I wanted to let you know that I am here to support you however you may need. I am currently working on an exciting piece of work looking at what provision the RSC has to empower and enable its members to develop and deliver their own activity and what we should be providing in the future – over the coming months I hope to speak with some of you to get your valuable input.If you need any support or advice regarding any public engagement activity that you do or would like to do please do not hesitate to get in touch! Talk to Anna about your public engagement ideasOur Outreach Fund is open and welcome to applicationsOur Outreach Fund provides financial support to members, individuals and organisations in order to enable them to run chemistry-based public and schools engagement activities.
Our next deadlines are Monday 1 March for both small grant (up to £5,000) and large grant applications (£5,000 to £10,000). Please visit our website for further details on applying during this period or get in touch with the team.Find out more about eligibility, criteria and restrictions hereAnalytical Division celebrates the 100th AMC Technical BriefThe Analytical Division’s Analytical Methods Committee (AMC) has published its 100th Technical Brief.AMC Technical Briefs are free to access and provide reliable and up-to-date technical information about aspects of analytical science. Read the full article here
| Latest updates on our policy work |
With a programme of activities spanning research funding, mobility of scientists, open access, chemicals regulation, teacher supply, curriculum and much more, our goal is to shape the development of policy relevant to the chemical sciences.UK-EU deal: Horizon EuropeFollowing influencing by the research and innovation community, including the RSC and its members, the UK will associate to Horizon Europe, (subject to ratification of the deal and finalisation of the Horizon Europe Programme regulations). This will provide researchers and businesses access to all pillars of Horizon Europe (including the European Research Council and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions), as well as:
- Joint Research Centre activities
- Article 185 and 187 partnerships
- The European Institute of Innovation and Technology
- The European Research Infrastructures Consortium 12 January 2020
- The European Research Area Committee.
- Euratom Research and Training Programme
- European Joint Undertaking for ITER (‘F4E’) and the Development of Fusion Energy
- Copernicus
The UK will not participate in the new European Innovation Council fund, which provides equity based investment to SMEs, however UK entities will still be eligible to apply for the grant elements of the European Innovation Council. UK researchers will still be able to lead projects and participate in collaborative projects as they have done in previous European Framework programmes. Our Brexit Preparedness pages contain up to date information about EU Funding, Mobility and Immigration and Chemicals RegulationChemicals strategy and future chemicals policyIn 2021 the government is looking to develop a new UK-wide chemicals strategy. During 2020, the RSC championed the way in our foundational work ‘A chemicals strategy for a sustainable chemicals revolution’. We are calling for UK investment in a green and sustainable innovation strategy and our interim chief executive Helen Pain shares the importance of scientists in this vision in her Opinion piece. There are many opportunities to get involved as the UK develops a new chemicals strategy from new jobs in the civil service to a new public consultation expected in the Spring of 2021. This year also sees evolution of the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and with the new trade and cooperation agreement in place, those developing a UK strategy will need to be cognisant of what is also happening in the EU on this topic. The RSC has been working with the United Nations Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) Beyond 2020 program. Following engagement with senior scientists internationally, we call for a new intergovernmental panel for chemicals and waste to be established that is on a par with the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). The role chemical pollution plays in global health inequality, climate change and biodiversity loss needs to be higher up on national and global policy agendas, with greater involvement of scientists bringing their insights and experience to the table. Download and read our full chemicals strategy policy position
A tailored version of the Networks Newsletter is sent to all member network committee members each month, the complete version is published here. Please read the online version and get in touch with suggestions for what you would like included or feedback about what we've sent you!Send us your feedbackStay safe,The Networks Team
Fiona, Aurora and Debbie
