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Report of IUPAC Activities
2001

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. MEMBERSHIP
  3. VITAL STATISTICS
  4. ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS
    4.1. MEETINGS
    4.2. FINANCES
    4.3. SECRETARIAT
  5. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN DURING 2001
    5.1. SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS
    5.2. EDUCATION/TRAINING ACTIVITIES
    5.3. ACTIVITIES INVOLVING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVES
    5.4. JOINT ACTIVITIES WITH OTHER ICSU MEMBERS
    5.5. PUBLICATIONS
    5.6. SPECIAL PROJECTS AND NEW INITIATIVES
  6. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE PLANS

1. INTRODUCTION
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) was formed in 1919 by chemists from industry and academia. Over eight decades, the Union has succeeded in fostering worldwide communications in the chemical sciences and in uniting chemistry - academic, industrial, and governmental - in a common language.

IUPAC has long been recognized as the world authority on chemical nomenclature, terminology, standardized methods for measurement, atomic weights, and many other critically evaluated data. The Union sponsors major international meetings that range from specialized scientific symposia to CHEMRAWN meetings with societal impact.

The year 2001 continued the transitional period of assessment and planning begun in 2000. After 2001, the current structure of Commissions responsible for specific areas of chemistry will be replaced by Task Groups working on limited duration projects. This new organization will enable the scientific work of IUPAC to better address the needs of the global chemical community and to lead to more rapid completion of projects. The new structure will take effect at the beginning of 2002. The year 2001 has seen the implementation of the new project approval system, the assessment of activities including education, nomenclature, relations with industry, and the preparation within various Divisions of the implementation of a new working mode accommodating the foreseen replacement of permanent Commissions by temporal Task Groups.

2. MEMBERSHIP
The members of IUPAC are National Adhering Organizations. These are either National Academies of Science, National Chemical Societies, or associations of Chemical Societies. The NAOs pay National Subscriptions and can name delegates to the IUPAC Council, the Union's highest governing body. In addition, IUPAC has Associate National Adhering Organizations, Associated Organizations, Affiliate Members, and Company Associates. Members of IUPAC bodies who complete their service become IUPAC Fellows. Information about IUPAC activities will remain available to them via a free subscription to the newsmagazine, Chemistry International, and the IUPAC website.

3. VITAL STATISTICS
IUPAC has 44 National Adhering Organizations, 21 Associate National Adhering Organizations, 32 Associated Organizations, 4494 Affiliate Members, and 109 Company Associates.
IUPAC sponsored 26 scientific meetings in 2001.
IUPAC publishes a bimonthly newsmagazine, Chemistry International (CI), a monthly journal, Pure and Applied Chemistry (PAC), and books. The IUPAC web site can be found at <http://www.iupac.org>. IUPAC also has an electronic newsletter - see section 5.5 for description.

4. ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS

4.1. MEETINGS
The IUPAC General Assembly is held biennially. The 2001 General Assembly was held from 29 June - 8 July 2001 at Brisbane, Australia. This was the first IUPAC General Assembly held in the southern hemisphere. The next General Assembly is scheduled for 9 - 17 August 2003 in Ottawa, Canada.

4.2. FINANCES
IUPAC's operating income for 2001 was approximately USD 1.2 million, operating expenses were approximately USD 1.5 million. Income is mainly derived from National Subscriptions paid by the NAOs and from publications. Expenses are associated with the work of various IUPAC bodies, publications, and for the operation of the Secretariat.

4.3. SECRETARIAT
The IUPAC Secretariat is located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA. The staff of five provides support for the IUPAC officers, IUPAC bodies, and manages the Union's publication activities and its web site.

5. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN DURING 2001

5.1. SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS
IUPAC-sponsored conferences have been mentioned above. The 38th IUPAC Congress was held in July 2001 at Brisbane, Australia, the first Congress to be held in the Southern hemisphere since 1969. Meetings of the Union's bodies were held at various times and places, sometime in conjunction with an international conference of that specific field of interest. The results of the work of the Union's Commissions and Committees can be seen from the list of reports and recommendations published in PAC.

5.2. EDUCATION/TRAINING ACTIVITIES
In addition to the long-established programs of trying to improve the teaching of chemistry at the primary and secondary levels, particularly in developing countries, IUPAC bodies are engaged in educational activities at other levels.

The recommendations of the ad hoc IUPAC Education Strategy Development Committee were adopted by the Council at its meeting in Brisbane in 2001. These recommendations included the renaming the Committee on Teaching of Chemistry to the Committee on Chemistry Education and a change in the direction of IUPAC's activities in chemistry education and the public appreciation of chemistry.

IUPAC has long had educational programs, both in the scientific Divisions and in the Committee on Teaching of Chemistry, but they have been somewhat fragmented. The proposals by the ESDC will provide a framework for developing an overall strategy by which IUPAC can contribute to chemistry education and complement the programs of the national chemistry organizations.

5.3. ACTIVITIES INVOLVING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVES
In 1999, the IUPAC Council approved a program [for a four-year trial period] of providing financial support of up to USD 10 000 each to international conferences to be held in developing or economically disadvantaged countries that are full Members of IUPAC in good standing.

The first applications were due in August 2000 for conferences to be held in 2001. Eight applications were reviewed and financial support was granted to the International Symposium on Green Chemistry, organized in Delhi, India, from January 10th to 13th 2001. Eight applications were received for the second round, for conferences to be held in 2002. The following conferences were funded: Symposium on Photochemistry, July 2002 Hungary, Symposium on Solubility Phenomena, July 2002 Bulgaria, Meeting on Structure and Dynamics of Liquids, Sept. 2002 Greece. IUPAC funds are to be used to pay international travel expenses of eminent invited lecturers whose participation will be critical to the success of the conference.

IUPAC organized a World Chemistry Leadership Conference (WCLM) during the General Assembly in Brisbane. The WCLM assembled the Presidents of national chemical societies, regional chemical federations, and leaders of chemical industry to discuss subjects of importance to the global chemical community. The WCLM consisted of two parts. The morning session was devoted to the single topic of Sharing Responsibility for Our Science - Chemistry Across National Boundaries. IUPAC was requested to address this subject by a resolution of the meeting of chemical society presidents held in Berlin during the IUPAC General Assembly and Congress in 1999. This session considered how the chemical societies of the developed countries planed, using the resources available to them, to work with chemists and chemical societies in developing and economically disadvantaged countries, to strengthen chemistry in those countries and to assist in their development. The afternoon session considered subjects of common interest to the assembled chemical societies and other representatives of the worldwide chemistry community. The report of the WCLM is available on the IUPAC web site and on a CD-ROM by request from the Secretariat.

5.4. JOINT ACTIVITIES WITH OTHER ICSU MEMBERS
IUPAC and the International Union of Physics (IUPAP) have collaborated to produce a report establishing priority claims for the discovery of elements 110-112. This report was published in Pure and Applied Chemistry in 2001.

IUPAC and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) continue to collaborate in the area of biochemical nomenclature through the IUPAC-IUBMB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature (JCBN).

At the end of 2001 IUPAC organized a meeting of the representatives of the education committees of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, the International Union of Mathematics, the International Union of Biology, and the International Union of Biology and Molecular Biology. (see corresponding project) This meeting was sponsored by UNESCO and was held at the IUPAC Secretariat in February 2002. One outcome of this meeting was a workshop to be held at the IUPAC International Conference on Chemical Education in Beijing, 2002 at which representatives of the five Unions will share insights on science education.

5.5. PUBLICATIONS
As reported in Section 3 above, IUPAC publishes a newsmagazine, Chemistry International, a journal, Pure and Applied Chemistry (PAC), and books. The newsmagazine is published bimonthly and is sent to approximately 6000 subscribers, including 400 free copies to chemists in developing and economically disadvantaged countries. It is available free on the IUPAC web site.

PAC contains lectures from IUPAC-sponsored conferences and reports and recommendations from IUPAC bodies. Over 900 copies are printed each month. In 2001, the lectures of 14 conferences and 26 reports and recommendations were published in PAC. One Special Topic Issue was published in 2001. This was based on the Workshop on Electrochemistry and Interfacial Chemistry in Environmental Clean-up and Green Chemical Processes held in Coimbra, Portugal, 6-7 April 2001.

Six volumes of the series Macromolecular Symposia were published in 2001. These are the transactions of IUPAC sponsored meetings in the area of macromolecular chemistry. In addition, in 2001, three reports in the Solubility Data Series were published in the Journal of Chemical and Physical Reference Data and six books were published. In June 2000, an electronic newsletter was launched, initially distributed to all members and bodies associated with the Union. IUPAC e-news is principally intended to inform members by e-mail of recent additions to the IUPAC website. The e-news membership list is open to whoever wishes to join, and has more than 2000 subscribers. The union website is http://www.iupac.org.

5.6. SPECIAL PROJECTS AND NEW INITIATIVES
The area of bio-science continues to be emphasized by, for instance, the new name of the Physical Chemistry Division as the Physical and Biophysical Chemistry Division. This follows the previous change in the name of the Division of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. Interdisciplinary project proposals are especially encouraged in the new project system. In 2000, the IUPAC Prize for Young Chemists was established to encourage outstanding young research scientists at the beginning of their careers. The prize is given for the most outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the general area of the chemical sciences, as described in a 1000-word essay. The 2000 program made four Awards and five Honorable Mentions. These were chosen from 59 applicants from 24 countries. The 2001 program made five Awards and four Honorable Mentions. There were 20 applicants from 15 countries in 2001. The nine winners received a cash prize of USD 1000 and a free trip to the IUPAC Congress, 1-7 July 2001, Brisbane, Australia, where they presented a poster describing their award winning work.

6. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE PLANS
The Union is in the midst of major changes in the way it manages its scientific work as well as how it handles its publications. The effects of these changes are becoming apparent and will keep appearing over the next few years. It is expected that the result will be a more vibrant organization, better able to meet the needs of the global chemical community in both its traditional areas and in new areas of importance to developing and economically disadvantaged countries.

John W. Jost
IUPAC Executive Director

> View 2002 Report


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