RSC Inclusion & Diversity Fund

The Royal Society of Chemistry supports the chemistry community through a huge variety of initiatives, one of which is the RSC Inclusion and Diversity Fund. The Fund does what it says on the tin: provides financial support for products, activities and research projects that further inclusion and diversity in the chemical sciences.

Previous awardees have included projects related to gender, disability, socio-economic background, language, race and ethnicity, the LGBT+ community and more. These have been delivered via initiatives such as data collection and analysis, workshops, conferences and hackathons.

The Fund is currently accepting applications up to the value of £5,000, though funding greater than £5,000 may be considered for one project each year.

For further details and to apply: https://www.rsc.org/prizes-funding/funding/inclusion-diversity-fund/

RSC Atomic Spectroscopy Virtual Symposium ‘A is for Arsenic’ – 24 March 2021

The RSC Atomic Spectroscopy group is one of the RSC’s many interest groups, and one of its primary aims is to “support and promote the use of atomic spectroscopy within analytical chemistry”.

This meeting is the first of a series of virtual symposia to discuss current work and research in the area of atomic spectroscopy, while bringing together researchers from all career stages to discuss their current/recent projects. As the title suggests, the meeting will focus on the use of atomic spectroscopy in the analysis of arsenic. Anyone who has taken an introductory analytical chemistry course may remember reading about the importance of analytical techniques in identifying the scale of arsenic contamination in ground water across the world, so we are quite excited that they’ve chosen this as a starting point for their symposium series. Speakers at the virtual meeting include Prof Julian Tyson (UMass Amherst), Dr Debapriya Mondal (St George’s University, London, UK), Dr Laurie Savage (University of Aberdeen, UK) and Dr Jackie Morton (HSE Science and Research Centre, Buxton UK). Full details and registration links may be found here.

EnvChem2021: 25th June 2021

The RSC Environmental Chemistry Group has just announced the the 2021 meeting on the Chemistry of the Whole Environment (#EnvChem2021) will be held online on Friday, the 25th of June 2021. This meeting, organised by RSC Environmental Chemistry Group and the UK branch of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, provides a forum for early career and established researchers working in environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology to share their latest research findings, and will focus on the following themes:

  • Environmental Processes in Soil, Water and Air
  • Emerging Contaminants
  • Novel techniques
  • Atmospheric Chemistry
  • Ecotoxicology​

Registration is free but closes on the 3rd of May, while abstract submissions will be accepted for both oral presentations and Creative Display Presentations till that date. More information can be found at the RSC Events page, here.



CAMS Conference & Virtual Poster Session – 16 & 17 Sep 2020

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The Community for Analytical Measurement Science (CAMS) is an industrially-led, strategically connected community, dedicated to supply world class analytical measurement science (AMS) training, research and innovation. The CAMS Institute aims to be the focal point within the UK for skills development in metrology and metrological applications in the chemical and biological sciences, as well as a centre for measurement science education and training, providing skills that support life-long learning. The CAMS Conference 2020 is a free virtual (via Skype) event running on 16-17 September, consisting of 4 live sessions, interactive Knowledge and Skills Exchange Workshops, with a parallel CAMS Virtual Poster Competition, where attendees can discuss their current research, good practice or novel idea in the field of analytical measurement. Click here to register today!

RSC SSG Short Course at HTC-16: Fundamentals of Chromatographic Separations

The 16th International Symposium on Hyphenated Techniques in Chromatography and Separation Technology (HTC-16) will be taking place in Ghent from the 29th to the 31st of January, 2020. The conference is being organised by the Royal Flemish Chemical Society (KVCV) and the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Separation Science Group (SSG). The conference is organised every other year, and focuses on state-of-the-art developments in separation technologies and hyphenated techniques. In three parallel sessions over a total of three days, leading researchers from academia and industry will be presenting plenary lectures, keynote lectures, tutorials, oral and poster-flash presentations, on fundamental and practical aspects of LC and GC, including UHPLC-MS, 2D-LC, GC(×GC)-MS, and SFC.

Three short courses are also planned for Tuesday the 28th of January, the day preceding the start of the main conference. One of these short courses, entitled ‘Fundamentals of Chromatographic Separations‘ will be led by members of the RSC SSG, and will demystify commonly encountered chromatographic terms and descriptors, not only explaining them theoretically but describing their practical effects. Topics covered will include:

  • The impact of temperature on retention factors, efficiency and selectivity
  • The role of the stationary phase: why would you choose one phase over another?
  • What role do column dimensions play – including length, internal diameter and film thickness if applicable?
  • Why are there so many C18’s and 5%diphenyl/95%dimethyl polysiloxane phases, and how do they differ?
  • Why do smaller (sub-2µm) fully porous and/or superficially porous (coreshell) particles provide significant benefits in LC efficiency?
  • What impact does changing the carrier gas have on GC efficiency?
  • How does changing the LC solvent alter retention factor and selectivity?

Further details and registration information can be found at the conference website, here. You can register for HTC-16 all the way till the 19th of January, but there are only a limited number of places on the short course, so register today!

 

Calling all @RoySocChem members/ECRs: apply to attend the Commonwealth Chemistry Congress in Trinidad & Tobago – closes 10 Nov 2019

The very first Commonwealth Chemistry Congress (CCC) will take place in Trinidad and Tobago from the 18th to the 21st of May 2020, and will focus on the following topics:

  • Biodiversity and Natural Products
  • Energy and Materials
  • Food and Agriculture
  • Green Chemistry and Catalysis
  • Health and Wellbeing
  • Water and Environmental Chemistry

The CCC aims to create partnerships for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, strengthen scientific capacity, inspire and elevate the role of the chemical sciences to society and policy makers, and celebrate achievements in chemistry. Each Commonwealth country will be represented by three ECRs, who will be fully funded to attend the meeting! Applications are invited from early career chemists (i.e. up to 10 years after completion of your PhD, excluding career breaks), who are also members of the RSC, living and working or studying in the UK. Detailed eligibility criteria and application materials can be found here: https://www.rsc.org/news-events/articles/2019/oct/commonwealth-ecc-funding/

Applications need to be submitted by the 10th of November, and applicants will be notified of the outcome by the 30th of November.

Calling all ECRs: apply for an SSG travel bursary to attend HTC-16 in Ghent

The 16th International Symposium on Hyphenated Techniques in Chromatography and Separation Technology (HTC-16) will be taking place in Ghent from the 29th to the 31st of January, 2020). The conference is being organised by the Royal Flemish Chemical Society (KVCV) and the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Separation Science Group (SSG). The conference is organised every other year, and focuses on state-of-the-art developments in separation technologies and hyphenated techniques. In three parallel sessions over a total of three days, leading researchers from academia and industry will be presenting plenary lectures, keynote lectures, tutorials, oral and poster-flash presentations, on fundamental and practical aspects of LC and GC, including UHPLC-MS, 2D-LC, GC(×GC)-MS, and SFC.

The HTC conferences have always actively promoted and encouraged the participation of early-career researchers (ECRs) and young scientists, with one of the parallel sessions entirely devoted to ECR presentations. The SSG will be offering several travel bursaries for ECRs (including PhD students) to attend HTC-16. Each bursary will cover registration fees for the conference, though additional funds to cover associated travel costs may be made available in November and will be announced via the SSG website.

To be considered for the travel bursary, the ECR (defined as an individual within 10 years of their first degree or industrial post) must be a member of the RSC, and submit a completed application form to Dr Lee Williams (lee.williams@sunderland.ac.uk) and Dr Arundhuti Sen (arundhuti.x.sen@gsk.com) by 5 pm on Friday, 6th December 2019. The application form, containing additional application criteria and details, can be found here. Applicants will be informed of the committee’s decision by Friday, 20th December 2019.

Emerging Separations Technologies 2019: 28th March

There’s little more than a week to go before our 2019 Emerging Separations Technologies symposium at Burlington House, and the anticipation is building! The ubiquity of liquid chromatography, SPE etc. in analytical labs is often misread as an indication of the maturity of separation science as a scientific discipline. As a result, it is easy to overlook the continuous and often remarkable advances in instrumentation and software that are critical for the continued application of such separation techniques. This one-day symposium, organised together with the Chromatographic Society, will focus on emerging technological innovations which are dramatically improving the pace, accuracy, sensitivity or analyte coverage of routine analytical separations. As usual, the symposium program will be run alongside a vendor exhibition, with plenty of opportunities to network, and lunch will be provided by the excellent Burlington House team.
Registration details and a full agenda may be found on the RSC Events website, here, and registration closes on the 27th of March. Discounted registration rates apply to members of the RSC, ChromSoc and the BMSS, as well as to students; special ChromSoc bursaries are also available for students wishing to attend.

Upcoming meeting: Latest Advances in the Analysis of Complex Environmental Matrices, 22nd Feb 2019

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Separation Science Group, the  Environmental Chemistry Group, and the Water Science Forum are very pleased to announce a joint meeting on the Latest Advances in the Analysis of Complex Environmental Matrices, to be held on Friday the 22nd of February 2019, at the RSC’s Burlington House venue in London.

As suggested by the title, this meeting will highlight advances in the analysis of complex environmental matrices such as soils, sediments, water and air, by GC, HPLC, MS and cheminformatics-based approaches. The programme includes talks on a diverse and fascinating array of topics, including (but not limited to) the use of machine learning for ecotoxicology, automated sample preparation methods for pesticide analysis and the use of GC x GC TOF for remote atmospheric monitoring. The keynote lecture will be delivered by Dr Emma Schymanki (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg), on the use of environmental cheminformatics for the identification of unknown chemicals. Registration is open till the 19th of February, and further details, including a full agenda, can be found here.

Registration update: Advances in Clinical & Forensic Analysis 2018

We’re only two weeks away from the SSG & ChromSoc’s Advances in Clinical and Forensic Analysis 2018 meeting, which will take place on the 27th of November at Burlington House in London. This one-day meeting features the latest innovations in the field, presented by leading researchers from across the UK. As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, the meeting this year is a special one for the SSG, as it celebrates the career and achievements of our Keynote speaker, Prof Dave Perrett. While most separation scientists know of Prof Perrett as a world-renowned expert in bioanalytical science, his students at Barts Medical School know him even better as an inspiring and creative educator. It is thus fitting that students can now register for this meeting at no cost. Retired members of the RSC can also register for free, and registration details for everyone can be found at: http://www.rsc.org/events/detail/35855/advances-in-clinical-and-forensic-analysis-2018

If you’re still undecided about attending, we’ve put together a selection of recent high-impact separation science publications from some of our speakers – hopefully this will convince you to register today!