Great Anniversary
Twenty years after the European chemistry community gathered for the inaugural European Chemistry Congress (ECC1) in Budapest in 2006, we meet again, this time in Antwerp, Belgium, for the 10th EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC10). Over the past two decades, the ECC series has evolved into the flagship scientific meeting for chemistry in Europe, renowned for its scientific excellence and for convening the full diversity of our discipline (Figure 1).
Figure 1. From Budapest to Antwerp: the 20th anniversary of ECC.
A Turning Point for Chemistry
ECC10 takes place at a pivotal moment for the chemical industry. Our discipline faces unprecedented expectations: enabling deep decarbonisation, designing true circularity at the molecular level, securing resilient supply chains for food, health, and advanced materials, and doing so while remaining globally competitive in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical landscape. Europe embodies this tension acutely. It is home to world-leading research institutions and extraordinary scientific talent, yet it faces structural challenges in translating scientific leadership into industrial scale, resilience, and long-term competitiveness. This structural tension has become central to Europe’s industrial debate. At the European Industry Summit in Antwerp on 11 February 2026 (Figure 2), the Antwerp Declaration Community, representing more than 1,300 companies, associations, and trade unions, issued the Antwerp Call to Alden Biesen, urging EU leaders to adopt bold and coordinated emergency measures to restore industrial competitiveness and safeguard high-quality jobs.
The Call is explicit: Europe is experiencing an unprecedented structural competitiveness shift.
The document calls for the conditions necessary to lead the change, lower energy and carbon costs, a truly functional Single Market, fair global trade, improved access to finance, and demand creation for clean and circular products made in Europe. Its central message is unequivocal: Europe cannot achieve climate neutrality while simultaneously losing the industrial base required to enable it.
Figure 2. Participants at the European Industry Summit 2026.
That this Call to Action emerged in Antwerp, the host city of ECC10 and home to Europe’s largest integrated chemical cluster, is more than symbolic. It underscores the strategic intersection of scientific excellence, industrial deployment, and policy action. At this juncture, chemistry is not merely a scientific discipline; it is enabling infrastructure for Europe’s economic resilience, technological sovereignty, and sustainable prosperity.
What to Expect at ECC10?
Against this backdrop, ECC10 will bring together some of the world’s most prominent chemists, as well as emerging researchers, industry innovators, educators and members of the wider chemistry community. Antwerp is an ideal location for the conference, offering the best of both worlds: a vibrant, human-scale European metropolis with exceptional international connectivity and one of the world’s most important chemical ecosystems at the heart of Europe’s largest integrated chemical cluster.
ECC10’s scientific program spans the full breadth of modern chemistry and has been carefully designed and curated by leading experts in our community. I am deeply grateful to the Scientific Committee for their dedication, intellectual leadership, and significant time commitment in shaping an outstanding and ambitious program, as well as to the EuChemS Professional Networks and Member Societies for their invaluable input and many contributions. The program is structured around eight core congress themes: Catalyzing New Chemistry Solutions, Chemistry Meets Biology & Food Science, Computational Chemistry & AI: The Power of Data, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Innovative Materials, Molecular Design & Reactivity, Perspectives in Analytical & Physical Chemistry, Responsible Chemistry for Society: Education, Ethics, History & Cultural Heritage.
We are privileged to welcome an exceptional group of plenary speakers whose work exemplifies the best of chemical sciences. These include Markus Antonietti (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany), Kim Jelfs (Imperial College London, United Kingdom), Katrien Keune (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Roberta Sessoli (University of Florence, Italy), and Susumu Kitagawa (University of Kyoto, Japan), Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2025. Their lectures will highlight scientific breakthroughs and offer perspectives on how sustainability, data, and global collaboration are reshaping chemistry. Alongside plenary lectures, ECC10 will feature outstanding keynote speakers and award lectures from colleagues recognised by EuChemS for their exceptional contributions to the field.
Exceptional Interest
The response from the community has been extraordinary. ECC10 has received nearly 1,500 abstract submissions. This remarkable engagement reflects both the vitality of our discipline and the urgency of the scientific, technological, and societal challenges we are called to address. In addition, the congress will feature a diverse and dynamic programme of symposia, mini-symposia, and workshops, developed through a community-driven, self-organised process. These formats are designed to broaden and enrich the scientific programme, enabling deeper engagement with emerging and high-impact topics, and offering flexible approaches in terms of duration, style, and content to best serve the needs and interests of the community (Figure 3).
Figure 3. ECC10 at a glance.
A dedicated Industry Day will provide a platform for meaningful exchange between academia, industry, clusters, and investors. Its objective is to accelerate the translation of discovery into deployment, confront structural barriers to scale-up, and strengthen Europe’s innovation ecosystem at a time when strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty are increasingly critical. At a time when Europe must strengthen its innovation pipeline from laboratory to market, such dialogue is essential.
The European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN) will once again play a central role in shaping the congress. EYCN is organizing a dynamic program that goes well beyond early-career development, addressing skills, perspectives, and technologies that will define the future of the discipline. These sessions are designed for anyone interested in where chemistry is heading, and how the next generation will help lead it.
ECC10 is, above all, an opportunity to reflect on twenty years of shared progress, to confront the challenges that lie ahead, and to imagine a future where European chemistry remains scientifically excellent, socially responsible, and globally relevant. At this pivotal moment, chemistry must not only deliver new molecules and materials, but also new ways of thinking, collaborating, and acting.
I warmly invite you to join us in Antwerp for the 10th EuChemS Chemistry Congress. Come to share your science, to learn from others, to build new collaborations, and to contribute to shaping the next chapter of European chemistry.
