New IYC Blog feature

As part of SusChem's celebration of International Year of Chemistry, we are introducing a new feature to the SusChem News Blog to promote some of our favourite chemistry and biotech blogs, websites and chemical writing around the world.

Links to our favourite sites are in the 'SusChem Favourite IYC Links' section in the right navigation. We will change the featured links on a regular basis with some of our favourites and new sites that we come across during 2011.

But if you have a recommendation, please do not hesitate to contact us with a suggestion for a link.

IYC marathon down under
To kick off the new section we present an Australian chemist, Magdeline Lum, who has has vowed to write a blog on an interesting piece of chemistry every day throughout International Year of Chemistry. She is keeping up so far! Support her efforts at the Chemistry 365 blog.

IYC launches today

Today (27 January) 2011 sees the official launch of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC 2011) at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris.

SusChem will be celebrating IYC 2011 at its Stakeholder annual event to be held in the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, the Netherlands on May 17. The meeting has already been recognized as an official IYC 2011 event.

SusChem will also be present at the two-day launch event in Paris in the exhibition area featuring the SusChem Smart Energy Home concept. The technology platform will be contributing enthusiastically to this year-long celebration of chemistry as the solution-provider for the challenges facing society today.

IYC 2011 is a joint initiative of UNESCO and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) under the unifying theme “Chemistry – our life, our future”: a sentiment that is at the heart of SusChem thinking.

FP7 rules simplified

European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn today (24 January 2011) announced three initiatives that will have an immediate impact on the administration of FP7 projects.

On her first day in office Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn had pledged to cut the red tape associated with EC Research Framework Programmes, and today she made a first delivery on that pledge.

Simplification
At a press conference announcing the changes Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn stated: "We need to replace Kafka with common sense, we need to send red tape to the shredder, we need simple and clear rules, consistantly and rigourously applied."


The three changes announced today will save millions of Euros and provide better value for EU taxpayers she claimed.

“The changes outlined should significantly reduce the administrative burden involved in participation in FP7 projects - especially for SMEs,” commented Ger Spork, Innovation Manager at Cefic. “This in turn will encourage innovative SMEs along value chains to get involved with important collaborative research and innovation programmes in the future.”

Flexible, consistent
The first change will allow more flexibility in how staff costs are calculated and reported to the EC. Currently many organisations are obliged to establish parallel accounting systems simply to comply with FP7 reporting requirements. From now on EU research grant-holders can apply their normal accounting systems when requesting reimbursement. In addition special certificates setting out how payments for staff are calculated will no longer be required.

The second measure looks to encourage further involvement of SMEs. In young, small companies it is often the case that owner/ managers do not have a formal salary and this disqualifies them from recieving payments under FP7. Now a flat-rate payment system will be introduced that will allow their contribution to projects to be recognised. This will hopefully open up FP7 to many more dynamic SMEs.

The final element looks to build a consistent approach to the implementation of FP7 through the establishment of a steering group at Director-General level. A number of DGs and EC agencies are involved in managing FP7 activities and this has led to a diversity of management practices. The steering group will ensure that a single set of rules applies to all aspects of participation in FP7.

The Commissioner expects these simpler rules will be better respected and allow abuses to be easier to detect. These three changes can be immediately implemented under the Commission's own area of competence. The Commissioner also expects further simplifications under proposals that will need to be debated with the European Parliament and European Council.

A video of the press conference by Commissioner Quinn is
available until 31 January 2011.

The press release on FP7 simplification is available here.

Paul-Joël Derian talks to International Innovation

An extensive interview with SusChem chairman Dr. Paul-Joël Derian has just been published in International Innovation.


In the interview Dr Derian describes SusChems's remit and impact, its current successes and looks forward to the future.

The full Q&A article can be accessed on the magazine's website. International Innovation is published by Research Media Ltd - Europe's leading portal for scientific dissemination.

SusChem looks forward to 2011

The International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) will be an exciting time for all SusChem stakeholders with events throughout the world and throughout the year. IYC2011 is a amazing opportunity for the whole chemistry community to show the world how the molecular sciences are providing solutions to the significant challenges facing our society today.

The 2011 SusChem Stakeholder event will also embrace this theme under the working title of 'SusChem Partnering for Sustainable Growth' and will be part of the IYC 2011 programme. The 9^th annual SusChem Stakeholder event will take place on 17 May in the historic Beurs van Berlage conference facility in central Amsterdam.

The Beurs van Berlage building (see below) was built at the beginning of the 20^th century as the third incarnation of the Amsterdam stock exchange and was a controversial and innovative architectural project at the time. However, this iconic building is now acknowledged as marking the birth of modern Dutch architecture and is a contemporary and stylish conference and exhibition complex situated between Amsterdam's Central Station and de Dam square.


Supporting EU2020
SusChem is looking towards 2011 and the Amsterdam stakeholder event as an opportunity to demonstrate the key role that sustainable chemistry can play in providing a basis for sustainable growth in Europe. Specifically SusChem is working hard to support the European Union's ambitious targets set out in the EU2020 strategy.

This strategy is looking to achieve smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for Europe and its citizens through a number of initiatives including the creation of an effective and efficient Innovation Union.

One of the bases of this Innovation Union will be new Innovation Partnerships. SusChem is well placed to make significant contributions to Innovation Partnerships in a wide range of sectors and SusChem's ambition is to lead one of the partnerships.

The Amsterdam Stakeholder event will discuss a number of questions around the EU2020 Strategy such as: How can sustainable chemistry contribute to the different Innovation Partnerships? How can collaboration along the value chain be encouraged to accelerate innovation? And how can the Member States be motivated to respond more effectively to the challenge?

All these questions and more will be debated in Amsterdam on May 17, 2011. Reserve the date in your diary or agenda now!

Seasons greetings
Finally on behalf of the SusChem Newsblog and the whole SusChem team we wish you a very happy festive season and a prosperous, peaceful and productive New International Year of Chemistry in 2011.

Investment Forum on Sustainable Chemistry

The second 'Sustainable Chemistry, Innovative and Competitive Companies' Conference will take place in Barcelona on February 17 to 18. The event will be held at the IESE Business School (the graduate management school of the University of Navarra) and is jointly organised by IESE, SusChem España and Foro Química y Sociedad.

The conference aims to provide competitive insights and advantage to the chemical and pharmaceutical value chains. With the chemical industry at the start of most value chains and supplying its products to all sectors of the economy, it is at the forefront of the transition to a more sustainable society.

The second 'Sustainable Chemistry, Innovative and Competitive Companies' event has two distinct strands: the first part on Thursday February 17, will show new developments successfully implemented by the Chemical and Pharmaceutical industries in different areas, with special emphasis on new plant, reaction and process design, and on materials technology.

The second part on Friday February 18 will involve an expert panel session giving their insights on '2050: the Future of Industry'. This will be followed by the first Investment Forum on Sustainable Chemistry.

Sustainable innovation
The theme for the first day is 'Sustainable chemistry: innovating solutions to present and future challenges'. Presentations will showcase a range of new approaches including: the Future of Manufacturing; Engineering and Construction of Process Plants as the Basis of Sustainability and Competitiveness; New Materials and Solutions for Energy Efficiency in Construction; and New Developments on Ground and Water Decontamination through Chemical Reduction.

The session will be opened by a plenary presentation by Ger Spork Innovation Manager at Cefic and SusChem coordinator. Ger will speak on 'European Innovation Partnerships: the role of chemical industry as solution provider'.

Among solutions for increased sustainability presented during the first section of the conference will be a set of case studies from the SusChem-inspired F³ factory. The F³ factory is a collaborative research programme for strengthening the European chemical industry’s global technological leadership through faster, more flexible production methods.

Future industry, future investment
On the second day an expert panel will indulge their views on the future development of the industry over the next few decades in the '2050: the Future of Industry' debate. Participants include Dr. Gernot Klotz, CEFIC Executive Director, Research & Innovation. This debate will be chaired by Juan Roure, professor of Entrepreneurship and a member of IESE’s International Advisory Board.

Following the debate, the aim of the Investment Forum is to support the creation and development of entrepreneurship in Sustainable Chemistry by creating a reference meeting platform for enterprises and potential “business angel” investors who are interested in projects with high growth potential.

Participants will carry out short ‘elevator pitch’ presentations of projects at the initial phase and looking for development finance. The nature of these innovative projects will also give some excellent ideas on the future direction of a sustainable chemical industry.

More information
For more information on the conference visit the dedicated website or contact SusChem España Technical Secretary Cristina González. Please note that registration before 31 December 2010 attracts a 20% discount on conference fees.

New skills for innovation

What skills set does the next generation of chemical industry workers need to drive innovation and competitiveness in the sector? This was the question underlying a recent survey of employers in larger companies undertaken for the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) that has just been published. The launch of the report coincides with the announcement of a new European Commission initiative on jobs and skills.

The survey sought views on the skills required to ensure a competitive chemical and process industry in Europe and provide the sort of attractive future career opportunities that the industry will need to attract the best brains in Europe.


The report found that the most important initiative to improve innovation will be to provide future engineers and scientists with a multidisciplinary and broad skill set. Students need to acquire understanding of different scientific, technical, business and personal skills so they can easily adapt to new tasks, job functions or even different scientific areas and work effectively in interdisciplinary environments.

The findings of the report fit in well with the European Commission's communication on 'An Agenda for new skills and jobs' that was launched at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 23 November. This initiative sets out 13 key actions aimed at reforming labour markets, upgrading skills, matching skills to market and creating new quality jobs across Europe.

At the Communication launch Mme. Androulla Vassiliou, EC Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth (below) said: "Today it is more than ever crucial that all citizens receive high quality education and training to equip them with the skills they need to find work. Lifelong learning must become a reality in Europe. For that to happen, a joint effort of all partners – governments, employers, trade unions and citizens – is essential."


IPR, innovation, vision
In addition to core technical competencies, the Cefic survey found scientists in business needed to have a basic understanding of intellectual property law, innovation management (from research to sales) and strategic and visionary management skills. In contrast engineers needed business skills such as well structured project management abilities, competence in innovation management to generate new business, and understanding of suppliers and customers.

Good creative thinking will remain the most important personal skill for scientists who have to generate new ideas contributing to new business, high-quality communication skills will be required to ensure effective collaboration between scientists from different disciplines and also with business people and the ability involve a wide spectrum of different disciplines to develop solutions, meant team work skills will be key to foster successful innovation.

For engineers communication skills are also essential to promote ideas both internally and externally towards customers and business partners. Team work is also crucial and problem solving skills entailing analytical and reasoning skills will remain essential.

Higher education
Future human resources needs of the chemical sector and higher education curricular must be better aligned in order to enhance innovation the report concludes. The next crucial step is to ensure an effective collaboration between the chemical industry and academia and to respond to the identified needs through tailored concrete actions.

Issues such as integration of business and related skills in scientific curricula or broadening the scientific multidisciplinary skill base must be addressed to ensure that innovation can successfully complement research.

More details
The survey was initiated following a recommendation from the final report European Commission’s High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the European Chemical Industry published in 2009 and used structured telephone interviews with high-level industry representatives working in a selection of companies with a total combined workforce of over 300 000 employees in Europe.

The full Cefic Study on Skills for Innovation can be downloaded from the Cefic website or requested by emailing Sophie Wilmet at Cefic Research & Innovation.

In addition Gernot Klotz, Cefic Executive Director for Research & Innovation, has been interviewed by Alex Scott of Chemical Week discussing the future skills needs for the chemical industry. The article and a video interview is available to Chemical Week subscribers.