Report of IUPAC
Activities
2001
- INTRODUCTION
- MEMBERSHIP
- VITAL STATISTICS
- ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS
4.1. MEETINGS
4.2. FINANCES
4.3. SECRETARIAT
- 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
- 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
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