RSC News - pp7-14 - Royal Society of Chemistry

NEWS
Spotlight on RSC
Interest Groups
Bio-Organic Group
RSC works to influence policy
Sean McWhinnie, RSC science policy manager, provides an update of the
RSC’s science policy initiatives
THE BIO-ORGANIC GROUP is one of the
largest Groups within the RSC with almost
700 members. The Group’s activities reflect
the rapidly growing interest in bio-organic
chemistry which can be defined as the
application of chemical principles and
techniques to solve biological problems. This
encompasses: the synthesis of natural
products and other biologically active or
medicinal compounds, the use of microorganisms
or enzymes as synthetic reagents
(biotransformations); the biosynthesis of
secondary metabolites; and the elucidation,
by chemical means, of biological pathways
and reaction mechanisms. The development
of gene manipulation technology and the
availability of genomic information
continuously provide an enormous number
of new opportunities for developments in
bio-organic chemistry.
The Group organises various scientific
meetings on behalf of its members. In
2003, topics included the chemistry and
applications of nucleosides, nucleotides and
nucleic acids as well as recent advances in
the chemistry and biochemistry of
carbohydrates. A particular highlight of the
Group’s calendar is a one-day meeting
featuring 20-minute talks by up to 16 finalyear
postgraduate students, highlighting
novel ideas and fascinating results of
science at the interface between chemistry
and biology. Meetings for 2004 include:
– Chemistry of the Cell, University of
Birmingham, 30 March 2004
– International Symposium on Bio-Organic
Chemistry (jointly with IUPAC) University
of Sheffield, 28 June – 1 July 2004
– Biennial Autumn Meeting on Bio-Organic
Chemistry, University of Leicester,
September 2004.
– Postgraduate Meeting, University of
Leeds, December 2004
● New members of the Bio-Organic Group
are always welcome. For details email
Mark Bamford at Mark.J.Bamford@gsk.com
or Stan Roberts at smrsm@liv.ac.uk
For full details about all of the Interest
Groups see www.rsc.org/lap/rsccom/dab/
subgroup.htm
THE RSC’S ACTIVITIES IN SCIENCE policy range
from liaising with the Research Councils, to
making submissions to the House of
Commons Science and Technology Select
Committee. For the most part, our agenda is
set for us in terms of the policy statements
produced since we are often responding to
consultation documents from bodies such as
the Higher Education Funding Councils and
government departments or to requests for
evidence from Select Committees. The recent
past has been a particularly busy period as
there have been many consultations dealing
with university funding.
Issues concerning the funding of chemistry
in universities have come into particularly
sharp focus over the past few months since
three universities have announced that their
chemistry departments are to be closed. The
reasons for closure vary but the RSC believes
that, relative to other subjects, chemistry is
particularly expensive and consequently
bottom-line financial management decisions
tend to affect chemistry adversely. The RSC is
currently undertaking research to assess the
true cost of chemistry in universities in order
to work out by how much university
chemistry is under funded. We hope to have
the outcome of this study in the next few
months.
An on-going area of interest for the RSC has
been the careers of women in academic
chemistry. At present, women represent
almost 40 per cent of the undergraduate
intake – a healthy figure relative to physics
and engineering – but the proportion of
female chemistry professors is less than
two per cent. Only civil engineering has a
lower proportion. Two projects carried out
for the RSC by Evaluation Associates have
looked at ‘factors affecting the career choices
of chemistry graduates’ and at ‘the
recruitment and retention of women in
academic chemistry’.
The first study established that retention
was the key issue and that if the position
was to improve enough to make women
want to stay in chemistry, the culture had to
change. The second report, launched in
January 2003, recognised that the difficulties
for women of sustaining academic careers,
and progressing to the level which reflects
their abilities, often relate to the organisation
and culture of science, engineering and
technology, and the departments and
institutions in which they work.
The report identifies what it is about the
culture in certain departments and/or
universities that causes women to apply
for and accept posts, and what encourages
them to remain in these departments and/or
universities. Further work is planned in this
area but with a focus on industry.
The RSC is also planning policy work with
the Institute of Physics during 2004 and
hopes to undertake a joint study looking at
ethnic minorities in chemistry and physics.
Amongst the variety of other policy
activities the RSC undertakes, liaison with the
research councils forms a major part.
The RSC’s most frequent and long standing
contact is with the EPSRC’s Chemistry
Programme; we also have fruitful
relationships with the Materials and Life
Sciences Interface Programmes through the
Materials Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Forums. The RSC has increasing contact with
the BBSRC, and hopes to develop a stronger
relationship with NERC now that the
Environment, Sustainability and Energy Forum
has been established.
Another major policy activity is being
overseen by the Environment, Health and
Safety Committee. This committee is
coordinating the RSC’s response to the
European Commission’s proposed REACH
regulations (see article on page 5).
The RSC is currently working on a policy in
respect of the proposed European Research
Council so that our views are clear in advance
of any future consultation on the issues. The
RSC intends to develop policy in a range of
other areas over the coming months.
● Full details of all the RSC’s policy
activities can be found at
www.rsc.org/lap/polacts/polindex.htm
● If you have any comments or questions,
please contact Sean McWhinnie at
Burlington House (address on page 16) or
email mcwhinnies@rsc.org
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