The inaugural Commonwealth Chemistry Congress (CCC) is to be held at the University of the West Indies, in Trinidad and Tobago, from 18–21 May 2020.
The Congress 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 our discipline. A key aspect that differentiates the CCC from any other scientific meeting is the underlying principle of equal representation for all Commonwealth countries and a unique focus on creating an enabling environment for early career chemists.
Each Commonwealth country will be represented by three early career chemists who will be fully funded to attend.
Benefits for Attendees
The Congress will provide opportunities for early career chemists to:
- network within their peer group
- form connections with others who are further ahead in their career
- present and discuss their own work
- participate in topical panel discussions
- hear inspiring keynote lectures from leading practitioners
Applicant Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to represent the Canadian Society for Chemistry as an Early Career Chemists at the congress you must be:
- a chemical scientist in the early stages of their career (up to 10 years after completion of PhD excluding any career breaks)
- a member of the Canadian Society for Chemistry
- working in academia, industry or a science institution
- living and working or studying in Canada
Application Procedure
If you meet the eligibility requirements and are interested in joining the First Commonwealth Chemistry Congress, please submit your application using the following form which includes:
- A letter of application stating clearly why you should attend and in particular:
- how your research contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- a personal statement indicating why you want to participate and the impact and benefit that you foresee to your future development as a chemist by attending this Congress
- A short curriculum vitae
- An abstract indicating the topic you would like to contribute to and the research that will form the basis for your poster presentation
- A one-minute video where you describe the work you will present during the Congress should be submitted as a separate file or YouTube link. This video can be taken using a mobile phone or webcam. Alternatively, participants can submit a screen recording of a PowerPoint presentation with audio discussing their work.
Completed applications should be submitted to Conference@ChemInst.ca by 24 January 2020, 12:00 pm EST with the following title “ECC Application-Commonwealth Chemistry Congress-FirstName-LastName” as a PDF.
Application Evaluation Procedure
Each chemical society or university responsible for the evaluation will score the applications against the criteria described above.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome by 15 February 2020.
About the Congress
One of the major activities of Commonwealth Chemistry – the Federation of Commonwealth Chemical Societies – is to organize regular biannual chemical sciences congresses.
The Congress will uphold the core values of the Commonwealth as being aspirational, inspirational and a provider of role models. The underlying theme will be the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the relevance of the chemical sciences to their implementation.
Topics for the Congress
The Congress 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 Canadian Society for Chemistry is working closely with the Royal Society of Chemistry and associations from many other commonwealth countries to bring together the chemistry community around the world, supporting the Commonwealth Chemistry initiative—the Federation of Commonwealth Chemical Societies and the First Commonwealth Chemistry Congress.
For additional information or support regarding the application procedure, please email conference@cheminst.ca.