ACS COMMENT
Helping Chemists Thrive Through Global Connections H. N. CHENG, CHAIR, INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE, AND MIKE MORELLO, CHAIR, DIVISIONAL ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE
and its members. Many technical divisions global environment is a goal of the Ameriare already actively involved in internationcan Chemical Society’s Divisional Activial collaboration. To build on the success of ties Committee (DAC) and International these efforts, in July 2013, DAC and IAC surActivities Committee (IAC). The two comveyed the 32 divisions to begin to quantify mittees are uniquely positioned to help identify and share best practices for building collaborations and overcoming obstacles between countries. The ACS constitution provides a simple yet far-reaching principle for DAC and IAC to explore cooperative endeavors in 2014 and beyond: “The SOCIETY shall cooperate with scientists internationally and shall be concerned with the worldwide application of chemistry to the needs of humanity.” Cheng Morello IAC works to serve the international priorities of the society and the needs of chemical practitioners with interthe level of activity, to learn what has been national interests wherever they may be. effective, and to understand challenges that It does this through fostering ACS internainhibit international collaboration. tional collaborations and furthering chemThe survey confirmed that many ACS istry’s role in addressing global challenges, divisions are internationally active. Forty extending the society’s engagements in percent of the divisions indicated that they international education and training, enhave done outreach or specific programgaging developing countries in cooperation ming to engage international scientists in with partner societies, ensuring support of the U.S. or abroad. Many divisions indicated ACS science and human rights initiatives, that they plan to continue to engage intersupporting the development and quality of national scientists in the next three years. the ACS International Center, and sustainDivisions also expressed interest in receiving momentum of the International Year of ing training materials, and some were interChemistry beyond 2011. ested in consulting services, such as cultural DAC, as the representative of ACS technitraining and assistance in obtaining visas. cal divisions, serves as a focal point for assimilating and sharing best practices across A NUMBER OF respondents reported barthe divisions. This permits divisions to apply riers in engaging international scientists, best practices for global outreach that insuch as high perceived cost of ACS memclude fostering connections among persons bership, language barriers, logistics coordiwith common scientific interests, promotnation, fund transfer, travel costs, and liming connections across multidisciplinary ited financial resources of divisions to fund areas of chemistry, demonstrating the promeeting cosponsorships. Prior discussions fessionalism of chemists within their area with divisions in 2011 elicited suggestions of specialization, rendering service within that ACS take more of an international role their field to scientific and lay communiby either hosting or cosponsoring interties, promoting education and training, and national meetings, holding more virtual stimulating interest in and emphasizing the meetings, providing visa tracking and asimportance of their areas of science. sistance, and reducing registration fees for The expanding globalization of chemisinternational members. try provides further opportunities for ACS IAC and the ACS International ActiviCOURTESY OF MIKE MORELLO
COURTESY OF H. N. CHENG
HELPING CHEMISTS THRIVE in this new
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ties Office have been involved in several of these issues. We try to facilitate visas when we can. We have been involved with international scientific meetings in collaboration with our sister chemical societies, such as the Chemical Sciences & Society Summit, a collaboration among six countries; the Asia-America Chemical Symposium, a collaboration with the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies; and the Transatlantic Frontiers of Chemistry, involving ACS and German, British, and Brazilian societies. We also participate in key regional chemical conferences, such as the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry World Chemistry Congress, European Association for Chemical & Molecular Sciences, Asian Chemical Congress, and Latin American Federation of Chemical Associations meetings. DAC continues to foster international collaboration through Innovative Project Grants. Working with the Committee on Meetings & Expositions, DAC helped institute the visa application instructions that appear when users submit a national meeting abstract. DAC also modified the annual report form to more readily capture best practices for international activity. In addition, ACS has built a new online resource, called the ACS International Center (www.acs.org/ic). The website contains comprehensive information on educational opportunities and international work experiences for the benefit of ACS members and potential members. Still, many of the barriers cited above do not have obvious answers. So how can DAC and IAC best enable technical divisions and chemists with international interests to thrive in the global chemical enterprise? We welcome your thoughts. Stop by our booth at the ACS Leadership Institute at the InterContinental hotel in Dallas in January 2014, or send an e-mail to
[email protected]. Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of ACS.
