4th EucheMs chemistry congress

Monday, 27-Aug 2012 | tuesday, 28-Aug 2012
s622
chem. Listy 106, s587–s1425 (2012)
Education and History, Professional chemists Ethics, Employability, labels
Chemistry for Cultural Heritage
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ALCheMiCAL CryPtoGrAPhy
M. nováK 1
1 Institute of Chemical Technology, Social Sciences, Prague 6,
Czech Republic
Having had no rational way of notation, medieval European
alchemists used a very complicated system of diverse graphical
symbols for description of chemical substances, laboratory
devices and operations. These symbols, besides their shorthand
role, also serve as a specific cryptographic system, for very often
the alchemists tried not only to depict their experimental results,
but also to conceal them from the Christian church, avaricious
noblemen and possible competitors. Origin of alchemical symbols
was diverse: some symbols stood for simplified images of
instruments or substances, some ones distinctly proceeded from
Egyptian hieroglyphs or ancient Greek glyphs, on certain symbols
influence of other graphical systems, e.g., Phoenician and
Hebrew alphabets, Tironian notes, etc., can be traced. Of course,
in most cases invention of an alchemist, usually influenced by
esoteric concepts, played a not negligible role. In spite of a useful
shorthand role the alchemical symbols, just due to their
cryptographic effects and multiplicity, complicated
intercommunication between alchemists and have complicated
reading of alchemical documents up to the present days. On the
other hand, the idea to describe chemical elements and
compounds by certain glyphs, whose originally graphic form was
step by step transformed to the alphabetical one, represented the
basis of contemporary chemical logograms – probably the most
perfect nomenclature system among other professional ones.
European Chemistry thematic Network – i
4 th EucheMs chemistry congress
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the roLe of eCtn And eC2e2n in the
deveLoPMent of hiGher eduCAtion in
CheMiStry in euroPe
A. SMith 1
1 Ecole Superieure de Chimie Physique Electronique, Chemistry,
Villeurbanne, France
Created in 1996 as part of the Socrates-Erasmus programme,
the European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) is a network
that brings together all the actors in higher education in chemistry
in Europe (universities, national chemical societies, and the
chemical industry). The network has been continuously funded
under the Erasmus or LifeLong Learning programme, and the
current (fifth) three-year project is called the European Chemistry
and Chemical Engineering Education Network (EC2E2N), and
involves both chemistry and chemical engineering higher
education. There are 118 partners from 27 European countries in
this project.
This presentation will outline the major activities and
achievements of the network since its inception, concentrating on
activities not discussed in other presentations in this session.
Past activities have included: the definition of what
constitutes core chemistry in bachelor programmes throughout
Europe; the creation of bachelor and master frameworks for
chemistry and at the interface of chemistry and chemical
engineering; identifying key generic skills; summer schools for
newly appointed university teaching staff; employability of
chemistry graduates; entrepreneurial skills; internet-based
chemistry and chemical engineering tests at several levels and
covering all areas of chemistry; linguistic issues in chemistry
education; the image and attractiveness of chemistry; improving
learning outcomes in chemistry and chemical engineering; and a
database of chemistry programmes at bachelor and master levels
as an aid to student mobility.
These areas will be briefly discussed to show how the
network has played an important role in the development of higher
education in chemistry over the past 16 years.
AUGUst 26–30, 2012, PrAGUE, cZEcH rEPUbLIc