PART II - STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE UNION
II.1 ORGANIZATION
The organization of the Union comprising its Council, a Bureau and
Executive Committee, Divisions, Standing Committees and other appropriate
bodies determined by the Council should serve the Statutory Objectives,
and enable all the world chemists to be represented within the Union.
Any structural changes require careful preparation and thorough discussions.
The Council constitutes the Supreme Governing Body of the Union,
with the Bureau acting for the Union during intervals between meetings
of the Council. The elected members of the Bureau represent the international
dimension of the Union activities. It would be extremely valuable
if the elected members of the Bureau, who are thoroughly familiar
with IUPAC, will become actively involved in some specific tasks within
the Union.
II.2 RATIONALE FOR CHANGES IN THE STRUCTURE AND
FUNCTION OF THE DIVISIONS
Changes in the structure and activities of the Divisions should be
based on important developments in the scope and organization of the
chemical sciences (section I.3) which rest on:
(A) Changes in the World of Chemistry.
(A1) The interdisciplinary nature of modern chemistry is reflected
in the merging between traditional research disciplines. This is manifested
in the erosion of boundaries between inorganic, organic and biological
chemistry. Another important consequence of these developments is
strong overlap between modern analytical and physical chemistry.
(A2) The erosion of borderlines between academic and industrial research.
Examples involve trends in modern material science, biological chemistry
and analytical methods for environmental monitoring.
(A3) The boundaries of modern chemistry are fast expanding to encompass
new areas in the realm of material science and biology, where molecular
information is essential. The diversification of chemical research
requires the extension of the Union's scope of activities.
(B) Gaps in the Scientific Activities of IUPAC.
(B1) Material science. The boundaries of chemistry have expanded
into most significant activities in material science (e.g., high temperature
superconductors, advanced materials, materials for electronics), with
important contributions of chemistry to interdisciplinary research
with broad applications.
(B2) Biological chemistry. The boundaries of chemistry span highly
significant areas of biological research (e.g., molecular biology
materials, chemical basis of biotechnology, chemical pharmacology,
chemical basis of immunology). Biological chemistry is of intrinsic
scientific significance and will concurrently induce new technologies.