Mid-October, chemists from Europe gathered in Larnaca, Cyprus, for three days of discussions, reviewing the activities from the past year and brainstorming on strategic directions.
In the lovely environment of this island country in the Eastern Basin of the Mediterranean Sea, geographically located in West Asia, while politically belonging to the European Union since 2004, discussions on the future of research, science-policy, collaboration with industry, and other topics that chemists in Europe are co-creating were vivid. Exchange of views, harvesting ideas, and sharing good practices led to a list of actions to follow up on in the coming months by the very many volunteering researchers and experts, supported by the EuChemS Secretariat.
Amongst other things, the European Chemical Society has welcomed two new Professional Networks, namely the Working Party on Mechanochemistry and the Division on Glycoscience and one new Member Society from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Another historical milestone is the appointment of representatives from the chemical industry as members of the EuChemS Executive Board as of January 2024.
While the 9th EuChemS Chemistry Congress in Dublin in July 2024 was another highlight, discussions have begun on the 10th EuChemS Chemistry Congress which will be held in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2026.
Busy times are lying ahead, but before diving into the next steps, EuChemS wants to extend its gratitude for hosting the 2023 annual meetings of the European Chemical Society to the Pancyprian Union of Chemists. In particular, our appreciation for hospitality goes to Leontios Philotheou, President of the Pancyprian Union of Chemists and to Elia Elias, its Vice-President. Unfortunately, the meetings were hampered by the absence of colleagues from Israel, who were not able to join on this occasion as the war was declared in their country. In this respect, EuChemS released a statement.
The next year’s annual meetings of EuChemS will be hosted by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) in October 2024 in Berlin.
