Newsletter 02 ACE MEMBER n° European Association of Chemistry and the Environment March 2002 Welcome! to this, the second issue, of the newsletter, designed to distribute information and news relating to chemistry and environment. We hope you enjoy reading. Please forward this letter to colleagues you think may be interested. European Association of Chemistry and the Environment Newsletter, n°2, pp. 1-8, 2002. new friends. We hope you will join us at the 2002 CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Best wishes, 1. What is the ACE? Stephanie DUDD (Editor) http://www.u-bourgogne.fr/ACE 2. A novel Award for young scientists http://www.u-bourgogne.fr/ACE 3. ACE Environmental Chemistry Award 2001 4. A novel ACE collaboration network 2. A NOVEL AWARD FOR 5. Employment: positions available 6. Reports from the 2nd ACE meeting, Dijon, 2001 YOUNG SCIENTISTS 7. Past meetings reviews ACE European Young Researcher of the Year Award 8. Next ACE meetings Deadline for nominations: July 1, 2002 9. Other forthcoming meetings 10. ACE member publications A special Stable Isotope session was 11. Thesis reviews organised at the 2001 ACE symposium in Dijon 12. Forthcoming ACE Springer book in the memory of Dr. Gareth RIELEY (1969 – 13. European projects update 1998). Gareth was a bright and committed young 14. Feedback request British scientist who’s outstanding contribution to 15. New ACE members environmental and biogeochemical sciences 16. Humour (e.g. Nature 352, 425, 1991) should stand as a 17. Editorial information benchmark to other young researchers. In his memory, the ACE European Young Researcher of the Year Award has been established. The 1. WHAT IS THE ACE? award is aimed at recognising the achievements EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: of young researchers in improving our scientific DUDD Stephanie N. A very warm welcome to all members understanding of environmental processes. Nominations for the award are invited before ASSOCIATE-EDITOR: of the Association of Chemistry and the st LICHTFOUSE Eric Environment (ACE) and everyone who joined 1 July 2002. The award together with a prize of us at the recent symposium held in Dijon. 500 Euro and a free meeting registration, will be ART-EDITOR: ELBISSER Brigitte If you are hearing about the association presented at the 2002 meeting in Geneva. for the first time then please read For further details see: CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS: http://www.u-bourgogne.fr/ACE/ Achim ALBRECHT, on. We encourage you to participate in this Michele ARESTA, highly successful and rapidly expanding Gisèle BOUCHARD, organisation. New members to the association Frederic J. DOUCET, Stephanie DUDD, are always welcome and details regarding Montserrat FILELLA, membership are available at: Mark FITZSIMONS, http://www.u-bourgogne.fr/ACE Mehran HABIBI-REZAEI, Daniel HUNKELER, The ACE is primarily educational Andrew HURSTHOUSE, Branimir JOVANCICEVIC, training focused, providing a responsive, Roland KALLENBORN, enthusiastic and open forum encompassing Uuve KIRSO, all aspects of environmental chemistry. We Adrian P. KYBETT, Keith B. LODGE, concentrate on the promotion of interaction Eric LICHTFOUSE, between different disciplines, and provide Marie Joëlle MENU, backing to a number of European and Eric MEUX, International projects. For example, we are Jean-Pierre Le MOING, 3. ACE ENVIRONMENTAL Soltan MONTASER, collaborating with Molecular Diversity Bernd NOWACK, Preservation International (MDPI) to CHEMISTRY AWARD 2001 Edwin De PAUW, establish an International archive centre for Anatoly RESHETILOV, The 2nd ACE Environmental Chemistry Award, Didier ROBERT, pure compound samples of pollutants, Pascal ROCHE, operated by the MDPI samples handling in the form of a Daum artwork, was presented Philippe SCHMITT-KOPPLIN, centre in Basel, Switzerland. during the 2001 meeting to Céline XHROUET, Jan SCHWARZBAUER, Caroline NADIN and Edwin De PAUW from the Kristiina WÄHÄLÄ, Nicky WARREN The diverse scope of interest of our University of Liège, Belgium, in recognition of members is highlighted at the ACE their poster presentation entitled “Prevention of symposium, held in December each year. dioxins de novo formation on sintering process The meeting is renowned as a leading forum fly ash using amine compounds”. for the communication of ideas, promoting Congratulations to you Céline and good luck new collaborative projects and making writing up your PhD! 4. A NOVEL ACE COLLABORATION referees, should be included. Review will begin NETWORK immediately and continue until the position is filled. An International Collaboration Network Database maintained by the ACE will be installed [email protected], [email protected] in 2002. The aim of the Network is to be an nd information-based platform for collaborations 6. REPORTS FROM THE 2 ACE among ACE members. It will be particularly MEETING, DIJON, 2001 useful for members who are willing to build international projects; for young scientists who are looking for employment and useful contacts; and for members who are willing to work abroad. The database will be available to all ACE members. The basis of any scientific co- operation is useful information about potential co-operation partners, e.g. about research fields, future research interests, and analytical or technical equipment/facilities. Therefore the database will contain all such information as electronic files with a restricted access for ACE members. Contact: Dr. Jan SCHWARZBAUER [email protected] 5. EMPLOYMENT: Environmental Chemistry POSITIONS AVAILABLE Participants enjoyed steaming local mulled wine at the opening “ice-breaking” party Look at the ACE web site for our full list of vacancies... of the 2nd European Meeting on Environmental http://www.u-bourgogne.fr/ACE Chemistry in Dijon in December 2001. The Ph.D. Fellowship conference attracted representatives from The Botanical Institute, University of Bergen, thirty-one European and other nations, with Norway is offering Visiting Fellowships for 3 - 280 participants in total. Around 50% of the 9 months duration for doctoral students as part attendees were Ph.D. students and younger of the European Union 5th Framework Marie scientists, attracted by the low registration fee for Curie Host Fellowship Scheme. Fellowships students (149 Euros), the promise of quality job are available for 2002 and 2003 in the opportunities in the environmental sciences, and quantitative palaeoecology and ecology in the opportunity to keep up to date with all northern and arctic areas (QPALEN) and the major themes topical in environmental quantitative palaeoclimatic reconstruction from science today. lake sediments (QPALCLIM) training sites. Applicants must be nationals of a European The meeting and poster sessions covered Union Member State or be able to provide proof both fundamental and applied aspects of the of having resided in a Member State for at least environment: air, water, soil, sediment and food the last five years prior to their application and pollution, green chemistry, ecotoxicology, toxic must be under the age of 35. metals, organic pollutants, stable isotope, and analytical methods for environmental science. In http://www.uib.no/bot/mcts/qpalen/index.htm an invited lecture, Prof. Dr. Antonius KETTRUP http://www.uib.no/bot/mcts/qpalclim/index.htm. from the Inst. of Ecological Chemistry, Munich, [email protected], [email protected] described environmental sample banking in Post-Doctoral Position Germany. He stressed the need to couple trace A one year position for a plant biologist in the analysis and ecotoxicological tests in order to field of photosynthesis and leaf gas exchange give a realistic evaluation of pollutant toxicity. is available beginning 2002 in the framework of In an era where organisations are retreating a European Community program. The research into quite narrow areas of environmental is based at the Laboratoire d'Ecophysiologie de chemistry, it was refreshing to see such a breadth la Photosynthèse, UMR 163 CNRS-CEA, DEVM, of interesting topics, which also demonstrated CEA/Cadarache, 13108 St-Paul-lez-Durance the importance of integrating chemical research cedex, France. The project will use original with other environmental processes. This is a biophysical approaches developed by the host real strength of ACE and laboratory combining gas exchange participants found it measurements, mass spectrometry and leaf enjoyable and thought chlorophyll fluorescence. Project will benefit provoking to listen to talks from resources of the host laboratory for on subjects outside of their biochemical and molecular approaches. own area of specialisation. Candidate should possess some background in the field of photosynthesis and interest in gas Mark FITZSIMONS exchange or in mass-spectrometry. As it is an European Community position, the candidate Green Chemistry must be a national from EC or from an The topics covered in the “Green chemistry” Associated State or have resided in the EC for sessions of the recent 2nd European Meeting of at least five years prior to his appointment. Environmental Chemistry (Dijon 2001) are Applications should be addressed to Bernard particularly noteworthy, as they brought to Genty or Gilles Peltier. CV, summary of the fore the importance of green synthesis in research experience and names, addresses, e- the minimisation of pollution, particularly for mail and phone numbers of two academic industrial organic synthesis. 2 The use of the carbon dioxide as a reactant team, who together studied the photocatalytic was presented by Angela