Vol. 27 No. 6
November-December 2005

From the Editor

For IUPAC, its members, and governing bodies, the biennial event that is the General Assembly is a major activity. While the schedule is packed with all sorts of committees meetings, workshops, and task groups, the GA is most of all a unique opportunity for attendees to meet with hundreds of chemists from all over the globe. They make up the IUPAC network and come to the GA serving many different functions, but all with the same goals of creating a better world.

In Beijing: IUPAC President Leiv Sydnes (center) with IUPAC staffers Fabienne Meyers (left), Paul LeClair, Enid Weatherwax, Erin Carter, and Chris Brouwer, CI Production Editor.

For example, this past August a chemist from Kenya traveled to Beijing as a fellow of the Safety Training program to share with the Committee on Chemistry and Industry his experience as a safety officer in a chemical plant. A task group with fellows from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Australia met relentlessly for days over issues related to metrological traceability. Scientists from the world over held a lively discussion to identify IUPAC's niche in improving public understanding of chemistry. Young observers from Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, India, Russia, Turkey, UK, and USA participated in various committee meetings. The Union Officers—currently from Norway, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and Switzerland—convened with as many groups as possible to grasp the state of IUPAC affairs. And finally, delegates from 45 countries and observers from a few more gathered for the Council meeting.

The GA is not like any other conference; it is a place where scientists meet not thinking about their own research, but about how they can help promote the norms, values, standards, and ethics of the science, which, according to IUPAC's Mission, is what IUPAC is all about.

In this issue of CI and the next, you will find accounts from some of the meetings held during the GA and the World Chemistry Congress, organized concurrently by the Chinese Chemical Society and the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Science. It is not extensive coverage, but it will hopefully give a flavor of what happened in Beijing this past August under the IUPAC banner.

The GA and Congress provide an opportunity for the IUPAC family to build special relationships with the local hosts and they help involve the scientific community in that region in IUPAC activities. For that reason, IUPAC is eager to rotate the leadership of the Congress and move the events to various locations around the world. In recent years, the GA/Congress was held in Brisbane, Australia (2001), and in Ottawa, Canada (2003). In August 2007, the GA/Congress will be held in Torino, Italy, and two years later, in Glasgow, Scotland. Hope to see you there!

Fabienne Meyers
[email protected]
www.iupac.org/publications/ci

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