Minutes
of Commission Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 12-13 June 1998
Corish and Rosenblatt reported on the recent events concerning the
future role and organization of IUPAC activities. The IUPAC Executive
Committee (EC) on 4 April 1998 discussed the report of the Strategy
Development and Implementation Committee (SDIC). The ad hoc SDIC was
appointed in 1997 to develop a strategic plan for the Union and to
suggest the procedure to redirect IUPAC's major scientific activities
toward a project-based system, to replace the existing Division/Commission
structure. The EC accepted the SDIC report and decided unanimously
to recommend that the Bureau approve the SDIC proposals at their meeting
in September 1998. These proposals will provide new policy for IUPAC's
future development. IUPAC President Jortner sent a letter to commission
officers on 21 April 1998 asking for a wide-ranging discussion of
the details and ramifications of the SDIC proposals.
The summary of recommendations on the organization and management
of scientific activities and the summary of formal actions required
were distributed to members of Commission II.3. Under the SDIC proposals,
the IUPAC Council will be asked in 1999 to terminate all existing
commissions at the end of 2001. Instead of commissions, the division
committees are to become the focus of scientific work in the Division,
and to have overall responsibility for initiating, developing, and
managing the work of the Division. The committees would solicit ideas
for projects from National Adhering Organizations (NAO), National
Chemical Societies, Regional Federations, IUPAC Fellows, and participants
at relevant IUPAC symposia. Future projects would be carried out by
Task Groups appointed for the (usually short-term) duration of the
project and funded adequately to permit completion of the project
in the planned time frame. A committee on Project Evaluation Criteria
was recently established to advise the EC and the Bureau on criteria
for the evaluation of project proposals, on the mechanism for approval
of such proposals and allocation of resources, and on criteria for
the assessment of the outcome of the projects. Corish is a member
of this committee.
Corish asked for responses to the proposals in the SDIC Report by
31 July. In particular, opinions and proposals were sought relevant
to the following items: (i) Division Committee-nomination and election
of the Committee and Officers, size and responsibilities of the Committee;
(ii) future of the Commissions of Division II-the need for long-term
Commissions after 2001; and (iii) Project-Driven System-how will it
work within the Division, how should the proposed Task Groups be organized
and managed? Members of Commission II.3 were asked to communicate
their comments to Chairman Spear.
Project Reports
Potential
New Projects
New projects will be affected by future IUPAC policy to support short-term
projects, not titular members. The Bureau meeting in September will
shed more light on this matter. Commission II.3 may propose important
projects, for example, concerning materials. New commission members
should be engaged in projects within their area of expertise.
Other
Topics
HTMC-X in 2000
Hilpert reported that the conference will be held at Jülich from
10-14 April 2000 (Monday-Thursday). Mail asking for IUPAC sponsorship
was sent to Jost, and HTMC-X has been announced in Chemistry International
as approved. An international advisory committee has been established.
Plenary lectures are foreseen as covering general overviews of alloys,
ceramics, thermodynamic modeling, and CVD (coatings). Keynote lectures
will be delivered by younger scientists. A visit to Jülich KFA
laboratories will be arranged for Friday, 15 April. Hands-on demonstrations
of thermodynamic databases will be organized. A proceedings volume
may be issued by the Jülich Institute. The first circular will
be issued shortly, and the conference will be announced in materials-related
journals.
HTMC-XI in 2003
Rosenblatt
reported that he will contact prospective organizers within months.
The actual deadline for determining the location of HTMC-XI is the
HTMC-X meeting in April 2000 (see above).
Commission II.3 Meeting in 1999
The commission meeting will be during the General Assembly in Berlin,
7-14 August.
Report from CTC
Kizilyalli reported. CTC Chairman Bradley
summarized the future actions and some dilemmas at the CTC meeting
in Geneva. His observations were distributed to Commission II.3 members.
CTC launched an international critical review of chemical education,
with the important objective of providing the basis for transmitting
chemical principles into associated disciplines, such as materials
chemistry and chemical biology. The plan is to produce approximately
10 manuscripts on suitable subjects and publish them by June 1999.
CTC will work out the details of a formal agreement with UNESCO to
secure funding for this project. Comments concerning this action are
solicited.
D. Kolar
Secretary of Commission II.3
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