End of term report

During my presidency, I’ve valued maintaining existing friendships, forming new relationships and continuing to underline the message that chemistry truly is international. I’ve written in these pages before about the celebration of ongoing collaboration with the German Chemical Society (GDCh), which stretches as far back as the founding of both of our societies in the middle of the nineteenth century.

The founding fathers of our own Chemical Society included German chemists August Wilhelm von Hofmann and Justus von Liebig. From the first days of the fledgling GDCh they exemplified the value of international collaboration and friendship, paving the way for the shared mission of our two societies, which has continued to this day and will continue for many years to come.

The discoveries from experiments conducted by the original members of those societies are now the subject of some of the earliest topics we teach in school, and I’m intrigued to imagine what the students of the future will be learning about in another 175 years.

We do this because these students will be the ones who make the scientific breakthroughs and discoveries of tomorrow, and – crucially – they’ll be authoring and reviewing the papers in our journals, becoming members, gaining accreditation, going into teaching themselves and championing the cause of chemistry and the sciences. Even children as young as six years old are beginning to make decisions about whether science is 'for them', so teachers at all levels have a huge impact on the future of chemistry.

I recently hosted an event for almost 100 inspirational school chemistry teachers, in the grand surroundings of Burlington House. Our celebration began with a series of talks from leading figures in chemistry education, including my colleague on the Royal Society of Chemistry Council, Nobel Laureate Professor Ben Feringa. Ben told this future generation of leaders in chemistry education about the inspiring moments he remembers from his schooldays. He said: "I learned certain things then that I have taken with me the rest of my life. I wish every child – at least once during their life – should have one truly inspiring teacher."

My working visits to other countries on behalf of the Royal Society of Chemistry have been equally inspiring. In India and China, I saw such enthusiasm from students for learning chemistry and our shared, global, molecular language.

Over these two years, I’ve witnessed our growth in a variety of ways, welcoming partners from all over the world. We now have almost 10,000 members in 120 countries outside the UK, and we accredit chemistry degree courses as far and wide as Ireland, India and Malaysia. We have offices and representatives in more than ten countries and almost half of the papers we publish in our growing portfolio of high quality chemical science journals comes from China alone.

In 2010, for every chemistry paper published, there were 1.24 nationalities of author. That figure has grown every year, reaching 1.32 nationalities per paper in 2017, a worldwide trend that shows the importance of UK scientists continuing to look beyond our borders if they are to compete and contribute globally.

Brexit – challenges and opportunities

Our international partnerships are a two-way journey and we all benefit from the creation and spread of shared knowledge.

EU and UK decision makers are continuing their discussions to determine what the EU and UK’s future relationship will look like. There is a renewed sense of urgency around the talks, given that an agreement needs to be reached in time for the meeting of the European Council in October. A deal would need to be ratified at this meeting in order to give sufficient time for both the UK and European parliaments to vote on it.

As Science Minister Sam Gyimah wrote in the last issue of Voice, the UK government sees cooperation on science and innovation as a key part of the future UK–EU relationship. In a speech at Jodrell Bank Observatory a few weeks ago, the UK Prime Minister confirmed her desire for ‘a deep science partnership with the European Union’. She went on to say the UK would be willing to pay an appropriate cost for association to Horizon Europe (the next EU science funding framework programme) in return for ‘a suitable level of influence’. All this is subject to negotiation, and we need the government to deliver on it.

What we’re doing now

The Royal Society of Chemistry, working with other organisations, has called for continued cooperation and collaboration between UK and EU scientists ever since the result of the referendum. Last month, we were one of over 50 signatories to the Future Partnerships statement, which outlines a vision for an ambitious and close future partnership between the UK and Europe.

The signatories of the statement come from across Europe and include the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS), of which we are a leading member. As evidenced by EuCheMS’ own statement, the European chemistry community is united in wanting the UK and EU to continue to collaborate through the movement of people and UK participation in EU funding programmes.

We have been vocal in calling on the UK government to ensure that they address our community’s three priorities: funding and collaboration; mobility; and regulation. As we approach a critical phase in the negotiations, we, like many others in our community are calling on the UK and the EU to reach a deal on science and innovation that will support growth, prosperity and advancement of science across Europe and beyond.

Chemistry means change

Ours is not a lone voice in pushing for the UK to continue its leading role in global scientific endeavour. Our asks strongly align with those put forward by our colleagues in other organisations, such as the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society. We continue to work closely with other organisations to make sure that the voice of the science community is heard by negotiators on both sides.

Colleagues within the Royal Society of Chemistry will continue to engage with civil servants in key Government Departments to make sure that our community’s views are heard by UK government. Throughout the summer, we will continue to work closely with our partner organisations, our community and policy makers towards securing the best outcomes from the negotiations for our community.

As I learned on a visit to China, the Chinese characters for chemistry translate as 'the study of change'. What will undoubtedly come after the UK finally leaves the EU is a change for our community and we are preparing to meet that change head-on.

Next month we will continue our crucial contribution to international chemistry collaboration, when the EuCheMS Congress in Liverpool will bring leading European chemists to the UK. We are looking forward to hearing from leading speakers from around the world – on the theme of Molecular Frontiers and Global Challenges – including plenary talks from the UK’s Chris Dobson, as Stephanie Dehnen from Germany and Ben Feringa, Nobel prizewinner from the Netherlands.

The congress presents a great opportunity to connect with people, particularly from all over Europe but also beyond. My term as Royal Society of Chemistry president has given me the opportunity to see first-hand how those connections benefit us all, and will continue to do so in future.

It has been my pleasure to take on the presidential badge of honour, complete with its image of Joseph Priestley and its Perkin-inspired Mauveine ribbon. Next week, I will pass the badge of honour to Professor Dame Carol Robinson and I hope she will enjoy her term as president as much as I have.