How Does ACS Promote International Experience and Global Mobility

Chapter 4

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How Does ACS Promote International Experience and Global Mobility? Bradley D. Miller* Office of International Activities, American Chemical Society, 1155 16th Street NW, Othmer Building Room 1119, Washington, D.C. 20036, U.S.A. *E-mail: [email protected].

With the rise of the internet and ease of access through mobile technology, globalization is occurring at a rate faster than ever before. Employers are increasingly recognizing international experience as added value in job candidates, and many now believe that studying abroad is essential to the education experience. Recognizing the impact a this experience can have on a student’s life, the American Chemical Society has developed relevant programs and activities that promote international experience and global mobility. Two programs are highlighted in this work: International Research Experience for Undergraduates programs (IREU) and ACS International Center™. The ACS International Center (www.acs.org/ic) features listings on more than 350 scientific collaboration and research opportunities from over 100 different funding organizations in 15 different regions worldwide, surpassing any other such database of opportunities in chemistry. Anyone interested can easily search for these opportunities on the International Center website. The ACS IREU program provides talented chemistry and material science students with a cross-cultural experience at the best research laboratories abroad. Reciprocally, it gives international students the opportunity to study at domestic REU sites at U.S. universities. Both programs facilitate global networking and catalyzes international collaborations.

© 2015 American Chemical Society Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


Introduction Maintaining an international presence and cooperating with scientists around the world is important to ACS. ACS has 25,000 members in over 100 countries, with approximately 200 programs and projects having an international component and 4,500 yearly international attendees to ACS meetings. ACS Publications also have a heavy international presence, with 67% of articles written by international researchers and 4,700 worldwide organizational Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN) subscribers. Furthermore, 65% of the content in the Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) is from an international origin, and over 70% of the patent applications ACS receives come from Asia. In view of the importance of international activities, ACS has organized many activities and programs that can help its members to acquire international experience (1). For example, for several years we funded a program called Global Research Experiences, Exchanges and Training (GREET), where several teams of students were sent to universities overseas to carry out research work (2). We currently provide Global Innovation Grants (GIG) (3), that often support international educational and exchange programs. We also organize many international meetings in collaboration with our sister chemical societies, such as Asian American Chemical Symposium (with Federation of Asian Chemical Societies), Chemical Sciences & Society Summit (with Royal Society of Chemistry, German Chemical Society, Japan Chemical Society, and Chinese Chemical Society), Transatlantic Frontiers of Chemistry (with German Chemical Society and Royal Society of Chemistry), and ACS Global Innovation Imperatives. Two programs that are described in more detail in this article are the ACS International Center™ (4) and the ACS International Research Experience for Undergraduates (IREU) programs (5). Both of these programs are intended to facilitate educational and cross-cultural experiences at cooperating research laboratories abroad.

A Global Look at the International Experience The role younger generations play in driving globalization is becoming larger every year. In 2011/12, more than 283,000 students studied abroad for academic credit. This is 3% more than the previous year (262,000) – and an all-time high (Figure 1). The majority of these students are studying at the undergraduate level, a little over an eighth are studying at the graduate level, and about 1% are studying at the doctoral level. The majority of these students are studying social sciences while abroad. Only 9% are studying physical or life sciences and just 4% are studying engineering (Figure 2). The most popular study abroad destinations for U.S. students are the U.K., Italy, Spain, France, China, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Costa Rica, and Japan – in that order (Figure 3). 48 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


Figure 1. Number students studying abroad by academic year. Figure provided by the Institute of International Education. (2014) Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/opendoors. (Reprinted with permission.)

Despite the increasing number of U.S. students studying abroad, an even larger amount of foreign students are coming to the U.S. to study. For instance, consider Germany and China. Of the 283,332 U.S. students who studied abroad in 2011-12, 9,370 went to Germany. Conversely, a total of 9,819 students came from Germany to study in the U.S. during the same time period (Figure 4).

Figure 2. Number of students studying abroad by field of study. Figure provided by the Institute of International Education. (2014) Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/opendoors. (Reprinted with permission.) 49 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


Figure 3. Leading destinations of U.S. study abroad students. Figure provided by the Institute of International Education. (2014) Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/opendoors. (Reprinted with permission.)

Figure 4. Number of American and German students studying abroad in the other’s country from 2009-2013. Graph provided by the Institute of International Education. (2013) Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/opendoors. (Reprinted with permission.) 50 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


Of the 283,332 U.S. students who studied abroad in 2011-12, 34,000 went to China. Conversely, a total of 235,597 students came from China to study in the U.S. during the same time period – that’s over 80% of the total number of U.S. students who studied abroad (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Number of American and Chinese students studying abroad in the other’s country from 2009-2013. Graph provided by the Institute of International Education. (2013) Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/opendoors. (Reprinted with permission.)

Value of International Experience With the rise of the internet and ease of access through mobile technology, globalization is occurring at a rate faster than ever before. Employers are increasingly recognizing international experience as added value in job candidates. Many now believe that studying abroad, learning a foreign language, and learning about other cultures is essential to the education experience. Most people believe that in a global marketplace, spending time abroad and studying in another culture can lead to much personal and professional success (6). In addition, international collaboration can boost the profile of the science for all researchers involved. In a recent article, the authors divided publication success into two categories: journal placement and citation performance. Analyzing all papers published between 1996 and 2012 in eight disciplines, they found those with more countries in their affiliations performed better in both categories. Furthermore, collaboration with certain countries provides more scientific impact than others (7). 51 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


ACS International Research Experiences for Undergraduates Overview ACS recognizes the impact a study abroad experience can have on a student’s life, which is why ACS has developed the International Research Experience for Undergraduates (IREU) programs (5). These programs provide talented chemistry and material science students with a cross-cultural experience at the best research labs abroad (Figure 6). Reciprocally, it gives international students the opportunity to study at domestic REU sites at U.S. universities. This nurtures the global networks of these programs and catalyzes future international collaborations. The programs are designed to attract and retain more underrepresented minorities in the sciences, and provide a global scientific experience to students at institutions with limited access to research.

Figure 6. Three U.S. ACS-IREU 2010 student scholars conducting chemistry research in laboratories in Glasgow, Scotland; Lyon, France; and Perugia, Italy and one German student conducting research in Irvine, CA. Photos courtesy of the ACS and were taken by the student participants (top-left clockwise): Markus Dörr, Julie Longo, Roselynn Cordero, and Erik Agueta. 52 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


In the ACS IREU programs, students will develop their verbal and written communication skills while gaining a sense of respect and for, and understanding of other cultures. Students placed in international programs – and international students placed in domestic programs – will develop an international scientific perspective, while sharing their own experiences from home with their international peers. In doing so, students will integrate themselves within the global scientific community. These experiences improve the participation, longevity, and career options of students in STEM fields. Since the program’s inception, a number of alumni have reported that the experience was rewarding and gave them an increased appreciation for careers in materials research, as well as additional employment skills. By the numbers, three-quarters of IREU alumni reported that the experience influenced their career decisions, and nearly 4/5ths of alumni have gone onto graduate or professional school. Of the 138 ACS IREU alumni who graduated by June 2011, 15 of them co-authored publications resulting from their projects. For the summer of 2014, 17 student, hailing from colleges all across the United States (Figure 7) were selected to conduct research in Germany, Italy, Singapore, or the U.K. through the program. They spent 10-12 weeks working on frontier chemical and materials science research project with a focus on sustainable energy, under the guidance of faculty members and graduate student mentors. They have all submitted the reports of their research to the ACS Office of International Activities (OIA). These reports were reviewed by members of ACS International Activities Committee (IAC), who provided guidance and suggestions. The students will give posters of their work at the ACS national meeting in Denver in March 2015. In addition, they will give a talk about their experiences at a symposium organized by OIA and sponsored by IAC at the Denver meeting.

Figure 7. Institutions of the students selected for the 2014 IREU program. (Courtesy of the American Chemical Society.) 53 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


ACS International Center The ACS International Center™ is a great resource for students interested in global mobility and international experience (4). It features listings on more than 350 scientific collaboration and research opportunities from over 100 different funding organizations in 15 different regions worldwide (Figure 8), as well as other global opportunities. Experience levels for these programs are high school, undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, professional, senior, and faculty/academic. The twitter handle, @ACS_IC (8), provides up-to-the-minute information on upcoming application deadlines and new program announcements. The center also has live webinars and archived presentations from international organizations with information on how and where to apply. The center’s forums provide opportunities to discuss issues in international mobility and program specifics with ACS experts. In addition, one can receive news updates on international programs, events, and resources by signing up for the the monthly ACS International Center newsletter.

Figure 8. Regions where ACS offers programs include Turkey, The Netherlands, U.S., UK, Brazil, China, India, Singapore, South Africa, Japan, Hungary, France, Italy, Germany, and Portugal. (Courtesy of the American Chemical Society.)

The concept of the ACS International Center was created by Dr. Joseph Francisco, Past President of ACS. The site went live on December 31, 2012, and now houses over 600 unique opportunities, hand-collected and curated, surpassing any other such database of opportunities in chemistry. The website receives an average of over 3,000-4,000 unique visitors per month, a number which continues to grow with each passing month. The growth of the website is owed in large part to contributions from ACS International Center. The ACS International Center is affiliated with 24 different embassies, institutions and international organizations who have joined hands with ACS 54 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


to promote these international exchange opportunities to those seeking to gain an intellectual experience abroad. These include: The American Friends of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Fulbright New Zealand, NL Agency, EURAXESS, German Research Foundation (DFG), French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), The German Center for Research & Innovation (GCRI), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Embassy of the Republic of Singapore, The Luso-American Development Foundation, Boren Awards, Japan Science & Technology Agency (JST), ConRuhr U.S.A., The Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), Contact Singapore, Embassy of France in the U.S., China Environment Forum, United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), Inter-American Foundation, American Association of University Women, and the Global Language Network.

The Transnational Practice of Chemistry and Allied Sciences and Engineering: Study, Research, and Careers without Borders ACS will be holding a national meeting on March 22-25, 2015 in Denver, Colorado. In view of the current trends, 2015 ACS President Dr. Diane Schmidt will collaborate with the International Activities Committee and Office of International Activities to organize a symposium on “Transnational Practice of Chemistry and Allied Sciences and Engineering: Study, Research and Careers without Borders.” This symposium will feature experts from industry, academe, and government labs who will provide perspectives on the “global-readiness” of STEM graduates in the U.S. and the world at large. The speakers are given below: • • • • • • • • •

Dr. Diane Schmidt (2015 ACS President) Dr. Judy Benham (Past Chair, ACS Board of Directors) Dr. Thomas M. Connelly, Jr. (Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation Officer, DuPont) Dr. Deva Hupaylo (Head, Industry Verification Branch, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) Dr. Jay Steven Siegel (Dean, Tianjin University, School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology) Dr. Luis Echegoyen (Professor of Chemistry, University of Texas at El Paso, Former Director, NSF Chemistry Division) Dr. Joe Francisco (Dean, Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska) Ms. Angela Diaz (Washington Liaison for Education, Science, and Technology California Council for Science and Technology) Dr. H.N. Cheng (Chair, ACS International Activities Committee)

It is expected that the appropriate talks at this symposium will be converted into written manuscripts to be included in an ACS book in order to reach a wider audience. 55 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.

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For more information on the ACS international programs, see www.acs.org/ international (accessed April 3, 2015). ACS GREET program; http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/global/ international/greet.html (accessed April 3, 2015). ACS Global Innvoation Grant program; http://www.acs.org/content/acs/ en/global/international/regional/eventsglobal/global-innovation-grant.html (accessed April 3, 2015). ACS International Center™; http://www.acs.org/ic (accessed April 3, 2015) ACS International Research Experience for Undergraduates; http://www/ acs.org/ireu (accessed April 3, 2015). Employers like students and recent grads with international experience. TalentEgg;http://talentegg.ca/incubator/2010/04/05/employers-likestudents-and-recent-grads-with-international-experience/ (accessed April 3, 2015). Smith, M. J.; Winberger, C.; Bruna, E. M.; Allesina, S. The scientific impact of nations: Journal placement and citation performance. Plos One 2014, 9, 1–6. For up-to-the-minute information on international programs, follow us on twitter @ACS_ic.

56 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.

How Does ACS Promote International Experience and Global Mobility

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