Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft (SCG)
«2022 represented for most of us the so much expected light at the end of the tunnel! After two years of cancelled or virtualized events, we finally could proceed with most of our activities the way they should have been. In particular, the Spring meeting and the general assembly (in Geneva), on one hand, and the Fall meeting (in Zürich) were a formidable opportunity to reconnect with each other. The joy that could be read on everyone’s face was a clear testimony of the necessity of human interactions in our activity. And this is an important message for us at the SCS, that we should continue to promote the organization of many meetings, a strategic orientation what was taken some years ago and recently intensified. »
Prof. Christian Bochet, President of the SCS
After two years of limited opportunities to hold on-site events due to the COVID pandemic restrictions, the SCS was finally able to return to normality with its activities. After two online events in the beginning of the year, we had the opportunity to successfully hold close to twenty on-site symposia and congresses respectively and were able to generate an important contribution to the exchange between academia and industry.
One of the highlights was the second Swiss Chemistry Science Night at the Casino Bern, where more than 120 invited guests enjoyed the evening and celebrated the SCS Award Winners 2022.
In addition to the well-established activities that are part of the SCS program for years and are mentioned later in this annual report, we focused on the following, new or specific initiatives in 2022:
- establish of a task force to address the structural deficit be-tween Universities, Government, and Industry to offer adequate career entry opportunities.
- provide event organization services for third parties and support partners to implement onsite or virtual conferences.
- further develop the IT infrastructure for SCS events.
- extend the SCS Partnership program to 23 companies.
- collaborate with LS2 to expand the intellectual property and patent seminar program to include industrial participants.
The Swiss Chemical Society is a not-for-profit organization. Its programs are financed through sponsoring contributions, publishing, revenues from activities, and the membership-fees. Part of the programs of the society receive support from the SCS-Foundation. The foundation accepts financial contributions from institutional and private donors for activities exempt from taxation. We would like to thank all our members, sponsors and partners who supported us financially and logistically in 2022.
Furthermore, we related to many organizations to support and implement all the interesting projects and initiatives.
Please enjoy reading through the 2022 annual report that shows again a very active and lively society.
Prof. Christian Bochet, President
David Spichiger, Executive Director
Catherine E. Housecroft, University of Basel, took over as Editor-in-Chief in 2022 to produce, together with the guest editors, ten excellent issues of CHIMIA.
In 2022 (volume 76) the following 10 issues were published with the help of the named guest editors:
1-2 Mass spectrometry at Swiss Academic and Industrial Institutions
Renato Zenobi, ETH Zurich, and Urs Schaltegger, University of Geneva
3 Empa – Material Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future
Antonia Neels and Arndt Remhof, Empa
4 Laureates: Junior Prizes of the SCS Fall Meeting 2021
Hans Peter Lüthi, SCS Foundation, and Eva Hevia, University of Bern
5 Medicinal Chemistry
Karl-Heinz Altmann, ETH Zurich
6 Frontiers in Ultra-fast Spectroscopy and Dynamics
Hans Jakob Wörner, ETH Zurich
7-8 SCS Laureates and Awards & Fall Meeting 2022
Christian Bochet, University of Firbourg / President of the Swiss Chemical Society
and Catherine Housecraft, University of Basel
9 Young Chemistry Professors and Ambizione Fellows in Switzerland
Catherine Housecraft, University of Basel
10 Polymers, Colloids and Interfaces
Esther Amstad, EPFL Lausanne
11 Chemical Ecology
Matthias Erb, University of Bern
12 NCCR Transcure – Excellence in Membrane Transport Research 2010–2022
Hugues Abriel and Jean-Louis Reymond, University of Bern
Issues 4 and 7/8 containing the SCS laureates articles and the program of SCS Fall Meeting are regular features of the annual program. The column section with the Swiss Science Concentrates, Highlights of Analytical Chemistry, Highlights in Polymer and Colloids Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology Highlights, Chemical Education, Flow Chemistry and Universities of Applied Sciences is well-established and with the Conference Reports give a regular insight into the activities of the SCS and the Divisions. The Society information pages provide news and information about current and future events.
The CHIMIA.ch website went live in January 2022 consolidating all CHIMIA activities on one site: journal information, submission, editorial activities, and publication.
After some initial teething problems, the site is now working well: submissions proceed without problem and the CHIMIA back catalogue is available to 1990. At present the back catalogue only includes the scientific content. The community content should be uploaded by the end of the year. CHIMIA OJS Technical Documentation (for system admin) and CHIMIA OJS Editorial/Publishing Documentation (for EB) have been prepared to ensure that the website can continue to function in the event of the Webmaster or the Technical Editor being unavailable. Digitization of the CHIMIA back catalogue 1947-1989 is now in planning.
After its renaming in spring 2020 the brand of Chemistry Europe is now well established. Founded 25 years ago with the creation of Chemistry A European Journal, the societies’ flagship publication, Chemistry Europe is an association of 16 European chemical societies, representing over 75,000 chemists. Chemistry Europe journals are published by Wiley-VCH.
SCS holds 5% of shares of Chemistry A European Journal and participates as co-owner of ChemElectroChem, ChemPlusChem, ChemistryOpen, ChemCatChem, ChemPhotoChem, Batteries & Supercaps and Chemistry Select. SCS supported the marketing initiatives of Chemistry Europe on its website, during SCS events and in CHIMIA.
Chemistry Europe supported the following Events:
· SCS Spring Meeting 2022
· Swiss Photochemistry Symposium 2022
· SwissCat Symposium 2022
· Peptide Therapeutics Forum 2022
· SCS Fall Meeting 2022
· Swiss Summer School «Chemical Biology»
Awarded biannually since 2015, the CE Fellows program honors exceptional members of the Chemistry Europe societies. In 2022 two Swiss members were honored: Stefan Matile University of Geneva and David Spichiger, Swiss Chemical Society.
After its relaunch in 2016 and comprehensive marketing and promotion measures in the past six years, including the celebration of the 100th anniversary in 2017, we see an encouraging increase of the journal’s reputation. In 2022 Helvetica published 3 communications, 1 perspective, 6 reviews, 8 full papers and 29 research articles. Starting from 2023, Helvetica will publish Synthetic Procedures, a new article type especially for process chemists.
Prof. Christophe Copéret and Prof. Jeffrey Bode, both ETH Zurich, served as Helvetica editors for six years and established Helvetica as a Swiss based, high-quality journal. Both editors steped down at the end of 2021 and are succeeded by Prof. Eva Hevia, University of Bern and Jérôme Waser, EPFL Lausanne. The new Editors-in-Chief established new editorial boards, one specifically with Early Career researchers.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15222675
The Division of Fundamental Research and the Division of Analytical Sciences hold shares of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) and Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (ABC) respectively.
19.- 21.01.2022 European young Chemists Meeting (EyCheM 2022), Online Conference and
University of Fribourg
31.01.2022 DMCCB Basel Symposium 2022: «Intrinsically Disordered Proteins as drug Targets»,
Online Conference
22.04.2022 SCS Spring Meeting 2022, «Biosupramolecular Chemistry», University of Geneva
01.-05.05.2022 SCS Conference on Stereochemistry 2023 (Bürgenstock Conference),
Hotel Waldstätterhof, Brunnen
19.-20.05.2022 CHanalysis 2022, Dorint Hotel Blüemlisalp, Beatenberg
17.06.2022 Swiss Photochemistry Symposium 2022, HEIA-Fribourg
27.-29.06.2022 SCS Seminar on Flow Chemistry 2022, Le Domaine de Notre Dame, Villars-sur-Glâne
(Fribourg)
30.06.2022 SwissCat Symposium 2022, University of Bern
25.-26.08.2022 Peptide Therapeutics Forum 2022, Zentrum für Lehre und Forschung,
University of Basel
08.09.2022 SCS Fall Meeting 2022, Irchel Campus, University of Zurich
11.-15.09.2022 Swiss Summer School 2022 «Chemical Biology» Eurotel Victoria, Les Diablerets
16.09.2022 Swiss Chemistry Science Night 2022, Casino Bern
28.09.2022 Symposium on Flow Chemistry & Artificial Intelligence: “Towards the close Loop”,
ILMAC Lausanne, Expo Beaulieu Lausanne
09.-14.10.2022 14th Swiss Course on Medicinal Chemistry 2022, Alpine Classic Hotel Leysin
07.-08.11.2022 SCS Seminar on Intellectual Property (IP) 2022 – Hands-on Workshop for Scientists in
Life Sciences, Hotel Schloss Gerzensee
16.03.2022 youngSCS Online Seminar: Publishing Sector, Online Conference
27.04.2022 youngSCS Online Seminar: Grant Application, Online Conference
03.05.2022 Section Chemistry and the Environment (SCE) Young Scientist Event 2022, Syngenta
Research Center, Stein (AG)
10.05.2022 Career Workshop led by the ETH Career Center (organized by Chemtogether and
youngSCS), ETH Hönggerberg, Zurich
13.05.2022 From Lab to Production – Insights into Process Chemistry 2022/1, ETH Hönggerberg,
Zürich
18.05.2022 DIAC Annual Member Meeting 2022 and Visit of Empa Dübendorf, Empa, Dübendorf
19.05.2022 youngSCS Industry visit, Bruker Switzerland AG, Fällanden
31.05.2022 Career Track & Networking-Apéro in Basel – Connecting University & Industry,
University of Basel
11.10.2022 youngSCS Industry visit, Givaudan SA, Vernier (Geneva)
10.11.2022 From Lab to Production – Insights into Process Chemistry 2022/2, University of Basel
Delegates from the Swiss Chemical Society:
· Executive Board: Christophe Copéret, ETHZ
· Division of Organic Chemistry: Jeffrey Bode, ETHZ
· Division of Inorganic Chemistry: Kay Severin, EPFL
· Division of Analytical Chemistry: Franka Kalman, HESSO/VS
· Division of Chemistry and the Environment: Thomas Bucheli, Agroscope
· Division of Nuclear and Radiochemistry: Andreas Türler, PSI
· Division of Food Chemistry: Laura Nyström, ETHZ
· Division of Organometallic Chemistry: Martin Albrecht, Bern
· Division of Chemistry in Life Sciences: Input via EFMC
· Division of Computational Chemistry: Hans Peter Lüthi, ETHZ
· Division of Physical Chemistry: Stefan Willitsch, Basel
· Division of Education: Dr. Markus Müller, Kanti Frauenfeld and Klemens Koch, PH Bern
· Division of Solid State and Materials Chemistry: Greta Patzke, University of Zürich
· European Young Chemists' Network EYCN: Chrysanthi Papadimou, University of Neuchâtel
International Award Committee for the EuChemS Lecture Award (IACL): Dr. Hans Peter Lüthi, ETH Zürich
SCS maintains also contact with other international organizations like Eurachem, SusChem Europe (ETP), IUPAC and partner societies from its neighboring countries.
2022 has been a very fruitful year for the young Swiss Chemical Society, which started successfully with the 3rd European Young Chemist's Meeting, gathering 145 participants from all over the world. In spring, two workshops were then held online on working in the publishing sector and on applying to the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Actions grant. Two very prized on-site industry visits were held, first at Bruker in Fa?llanden and at Givaudan in Verbier. The youngSCS could also publish a science vulgarization article in the children magazine KALEIO (May/June 2022, 9, 28-29). Two panel discussions were organized at ETH Zurich, one on Energy, Power & Environment challenges co-organized with the NEO network, and the second on the Teacher’s Diploma co-organized with WiNS (Women in Natural Sciences). The youngSCS also sponsored the best poster award at the PCC Christmas Symposium which was held at the University of Basel in December. The youngSCS active members had the opportunity to meet and discover the cities of Zurich in May and of Lausanne in November, and to visit the campus of ETH Zurich and EPFL. While monthly senate meetings are usually online, two meetings were held in person, in July during the Summer retreat in Gorgier and in December during the Glühwein event in Bern, to discuss the future directions and events organized by the network. Luc Farrera Soler, University of Geneva, stepped down as president and handed over the mandate to Marie Perrin, ETH Zurich, for 2022-2023.
Many exciting events are expected for 2023, starting with the come-back of the traditional Swiss Snow Symposium, 19th edition in January and the UniDays, 2nd edition in March.
Marie Perrin, President youngSCS
At the SCS Fall Meeting on September 8, 2022, Metrohm and DSM again sponsored the very renowned Best Presentation Award Program. A total of 40 presenters (18 winners and 22 runners-up) with a total prize sum of CHF 42’750 were honored for their extraordinary presentations. See CHIMIA 10/2022, A883 for the list of all winners.
This year, six Alfred Werner Scholars of the class of 2020-2022 successfully completed their MSc studies. You will find the reports on their MSc thesis projects along with their career plans in the 2022 December issue of CHIMIA.
Based on an initiative of ETH Professors J. Bode and M. Kovalenko, the Alfred Werner Fund Allocation Committee made stipends available for Ukrainian scholars. In September, seven Ukrainian students started their Master studies at ETH Zürich. In addition, six other international students, nominated by the Swiss universities that accepted them for their Master studies programs, were selected for an Alfred Werner Scholarship. With a student from Greece and from Romania, we now count 33 nationalities among the 71 scholars. The integration of the scholars in our community is a key aspect. In 2022, we had two Meet&Greet events, one online, involving all scholars, and another one with the youngest generation of students physically present. The online event was hosted by Novartis; the traditional company visit took place at the Givaudan Innovation Campus in Kemptthal, letting the students quote by a participant- discover a whole new field that accommodates chemists and biochemists equally.
The “pool” of Alfred Werner Scholars has become an interesting source for the recruitment of talented and well-integrated chemists. More and more, we see scholars taking a position in Swiss chemical/pharmaceutical industry. This year, Merck Sigma-Aldrich joined the group of program supporting companies.
The Web Page of the Foundation (www.scs-foundation.ch) presents some of the scholars, gives more background, in particular on the history of the program, and offers statistical information. From the Web site you can also download the 2013-2021 Alfred Werner Scholarship Program Activity Report.
The SCS Foundation Board would like to thank DSM, Firmenich, Givaudan, Idorsia, Lonza, Merck Sigma-Aldrich, the Metrohm Foundation, Novartis, Roche, Syngenta as well as a number of private donors for their continued support.
Scholarships granted since 2013: 71
Countries of origin of our scholars: 33
Gender ratio of the scholars: 35:36
Through the «Chemistry Travel Award», contributions towards the cost of participation at an international conference in the chemical sciences are granted to selected PhD students. The award is sponsored by the Platform Chemistry of the SCNAT and the Swiss
Chemical Society. Students from all fields of chemistry and from any Swiss institution were invited to participate. 45 winners were honored with the Chemistry Travel Award 2022. The winners were announced in CHIMIA 7-8/2022, A722f.
To complement the activities of our traditional divisions and sections, SCS has implemented additional thematic networks in recent years.
The networks were quite active, organizing on-site events and providing platforms for personal interactions with the community members.
As of December 2022, the SCS maintains the following thematic networks:
· Analytical Sciences (DAS)
· Catalysis (SwissCat)
· Chemical Ecology (ChemEco)
· Chemical Education (ChemEdu)
· Chemistry and the Environment (SCE)
· Computational Chemistry / Artificial Intelligence (CC)
· Flow Chemistry (FlowChem)
· Food Chemistry (Swiss Society for Food Chemistry)
· Green & Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem CH)
· Industrial & Applied Chemistry (DIAC)
· Inorganic Chemistry (IC)
· Intellectual Property (IP)
· Mass Spectrometry (Swiss Group for Mass Spectrometry)
· Materials Chemistry (MatChem)
· Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology (DMCCB)
· Organic Chemistry (OC)
· Photochemistry (PCS)
· Physical Chemistry (PC)
· Polymers, Colloids & Interfaces (DPCI)
· Fundamental Research (Umbrella for OC, IC, PC, CC)
As of December 2022, the SCS maintains the following social networks:
· youngSCS
· Swiss Women in Chemistry (SWC)
· Honorary Members
· Alfred Werner Scholars
· Chemistry Europe Fellows
Members of the Division of Analytical Sciences (DAS) enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to again meet in person after the lifting of pandemic-imposed restrictions. The divisional spring meeting CHanalysis in Beatenberg, preceded by a working retreat of the DAS board, was very well attended and lively (see DOI: 10.2533/chimia.2022.720 for a meeting report). At that occasion, the division's most important prize, the Simon Widmer Award, was offered to Andrew deMello (ETH Zurich). DAS also had a strong presence at the SCS Fall Meeting. For 2023, CHanalysis will be a longer event from 29-31 March (https://cha23.scg.ch), again in Beatenberg, and we are organizing the EuChemS meeting Euroanalysis 2023 in Geneva on 27-31 August (https://www.euroanalysis2023.ch) and Eurachem 2023 on 22-26 May. In October 2023, Marc Suter has stepped down from the DAS Board after many years of valuable service. Davide Bleiner (Empa) is now designated vice-president. Continuing education courses organized by DAS, now under the umbrella of SCS Academy, were again well attended. The team extends a warm thanks to Esther Wolff, who stepped down from her important role as course coordinator at the end of the year.
Prof. Eric Bakker, President DAS
Personal highlights for me were the DIAC events we held in 2022, on the one hand the Process Chemistry Colloquies at ETH Zurich and University Basel with the great interest in applied industrial chemistry and the lively discussions with PhD students as well as the members meeting at EMPA with an exciting tour through the EMPA laboratories and networking with all participants. Another highlight was the first appointment of the DIAC Fellow, Dr. Denis Gribkov (Syngenta Crop Protection AG) and his exciting award lectures at University Bern and at Novartis.
Prof. Roger Marti, President DIAC
After the hiatus of the pandemic, the year 2022 saw the resumption of on-site scientific activities in Switzerland. In this context, the Division of Fundamental Research could relaunch its successful SCS Lectureship programme, for which eminent overseas scientists are invited to Switzerland for lecture tours, and its financial support for international scientific conferences organised by the Swiss Chemistry community.
Prof. Stefan Willitsch, University of Basel
We were all delighted to start in presence events again in 2022, which were all exceptionally well attended. Our highlights were the first edition of the Summer School in Chemical Biology, which took place in Les Diablerets 11-15 September, and the 14th edition of the Leysin School in Medicinal Chemistry 9-14 October. Both events saw unusually lively discussions among all participants and highlighted the importance of DMCCB events for networking and education in our community at both national and international levels.
Prof. Jean-Louis Reymond, University of Bern
Throughout 2022, the restrictions for personal encounters that had been in place during the Covid period were revoked, and students were allowed to fill the lecture rooms again in 2022; a breath of fresh air spread through the community of lecturers and teachers. Accordingly, the Division of Chemical Education contributed to various live events such as the SCNAT Ethics Series or the "Zentralkurs" of Swiss chemistry high school teachers. Furthermore, some of the members supported the organization of the International Chemistry Olympiad, which will take place in 2023 at ETH Zurich. The Division looks very positively towards activities in 2023, which will be enriched with another DCE Symposium in August 2023.
Prof. Jan Cvengros, President DCE
On June 17, 2022, nearly 70 photochemists from all over Switzerland and beyond gathered again face to face at the Haute Ecole d’Ingénieurie et d’Architecture in Fribourg (HEIA-FR) for the SCS Photochemistry Symposium to discuss their latest findings in the field.
The organizing committee consisting of the board of the SCS Photochemistry Section put together a program consisting of 3 invited talks, 9 oral communications, 10 elevator-talks (3 min) and a poster session with 21 posters. All the participants were happy to meet face-to-face again. The general assembly of the section was held during the day.
The composition of the executive committee of the photochemistry section has not been modified in 2022. Some changes will be made in 2023.
Prof. Olivier Nicolet, President PCS
Our highlight of the year was the first-time event on job opportunities for young environmental scientists in chemical industry in May 2022, hosted by Syngenta at their Stein site. The over 30 participants were very satisfied with the event, and we plan to repeat it in 2024. Beyond, we continued to strengthen our SCE community by hosting, for the third time, a session at the SCS Fall meeting. With 33 abstract submissions, our still young section attracted a lot of interest and competed will with the more established themes in SCS.
Prof. Kathrin Fenner, President SCE
SusChem Switzerland is the Swiss entity of the SusChem European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry. This year we published a CHIMIA Issue on the topic Empa - Material Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future, Vol. 76 No. 3 (2022) as a thematic issue. Furthermore, we brought together the unique diversity of Swiss leading academic institutions and chemical industries in order to discover and implement innovative solutions, with favorable environmental impact for next generations.
Dr. Edouard Godineau, Co-Chair of the SusChem network
2022 was a great example of how SCS networks can create synergies, with the Flow Chemistry and AI networks co-organising the ILMAC symposium. This is how we engage with new thinking and help drive innovation.
Dr. Claudio Battilocchio, President of the Flow Chemistry Section
There was no SACC Spring Meeting 2022 organized. The SACC organized the Computational Chemistry session within the SCS Fall Meeting on September 8, 2022. There was a total of 8 contributed talks and three invited presentations by Ali Hassanali, The International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Carine Michel, École Normale Supérieure of Lyon, and Arndt R. Finkelmann, Syngenta Crop Protection. In addition, a poster session was held.
Board Members: Prof. Jürg Hutter (University of Zurich), Prof. Tomasz Wesolowski (University of Geneva), Prof. Markus Meuwly (University of Basel), Prof. Ursula Röthlisberger (EPFL), Dr. Daniele Passerone (EMPA), Prof. Jeremy Richardson (ETHZ), Dr. Torsten Luksch (Syngenta), Prof. Sergey Churakov (University of Bern)
Prof. Jürg Hutter, President SACC
· Verein Schweizerischer Amts- und Spitalapotheker (GSASA)
· Swiss Association of Computational Chemistry (SACC)
· Swiss Society for Food Chemistry (SSFC)
· Swiss Group for Mass Spectrometry (SGMS)
· Verein Schweizerischer Naturwissenschaftslehrerinnen und –lehrer (VSN)
· Life Sciences Switzerland LS2
We further established the SCS Partnership as a new strategic tool to strengthen our collaboration with industrial partners and to align our activities to the community’s requirements.
As SCS Partnership company, institutions enjoy all the benefits of a “classical” corporate membership and make the difference through
· Active involvement in the strategic alignment of the society (board-, committee-, and jury-membership)
· Becoming Swiss Industrial Science Awards stakeholders
· Guests at the Swiss Chemistry Science Night
Arxada, BASF, Büchiglas Uster, Carbogen Amics, Casale, Chemspeed, Clariant, Dottikon, DSM, Firmenich, Givaudan, IBM Research Europe, Idorsia, INEOS, Merck, Lonza, Mettler Toledo, Metrohm, Roche, Sika, Syngenta, Novartis, SpiroChem
Bachem AG, Bubendorf; Büchi AG, Uster; CABB AG, Pratteln; CIM Chemicals AG, Zug; Ivoclar vivadent AG, Schaan; Helsinn Advanced Synthesis SA, Biasca; MDPI AG, Basel; Metalor Technologies SA, Marin; METAS, Federal Institute of Metrology, Bern; Omya International AG, Oftringen; Plasmion GmbH, Augsburg; Rolic Technologies Ltd, Berlin; SAS Institute GmbH, Heidelberg; Schärer & Schläpfer AG, Rothrist; Shimadzu Schweiz GmbH, Reinach; SICPA SA, Prilly; Siegfried AG, Zofingen, Société Suisse des Explosifs, Brig; Thermo Fischer Scientific (Schweiz) AG, Reinach; UCB Farchim SA, Bulle.
Executive Board ExB
· Prof. Christian Bochet, University of Fribourg
SCS President
· Dr. Yves Auberson, Novartis Pharma AG
Projects and partnerships, SCS Vice-President
· Dr. Gillian Harvey, Luzern
Chair of the CHIMIA Editorial Board
· Dr. Maud Reiter, Firmenich SA (new)
SCS Treasurer
· David Spichiger, Swiss Chemical Society
SCS Executive Director
Board of Directors BoD (in addition to the ExB members)
· Prof. Eric Bakker, University of Geneva
President Division of Analytical Sciences (DAS)
· Prof. Stefan Willitsch, University of Basel
President Division of Fundamental Research (DFR)
· Prof. Jean-Louis Reymond, University of Bern
President Division of Medical Chemistry & Chemical Biology (DMCCB)
· Prof. Roger Marti, HEIA Fribourg
President Division Industrial & Applied Chemistry
· Prof. Esther Amstad, EPFL Lausanne (new)
President Division Polymers, Colloids and Interfaces (DPCI)
· Prof. Jan Cvengros, ETH Zurich
President Division Chemical Education (DCE)
· Dr. Hans Peter Lüthi, ETH Zurich (new in this function)
Director SCS Foundation
· Prof. Christophe Copéret, ETH Zurich
Member of the board, EuChemS Executive Board Member
· Dr. Leslie Fendt, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG
Member of the board
· Dr. Corinne Jud, Agroscope
Member of the board
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Stefan Willitsch who stepped down as Presidents of the DFR for his years of dedication and his commitment. As of January 1, 2023, Prof. Thomas Bürgi takes over the presidency for the DFR.
SCS Employees
· David Spichiger, Executive Director (1.0 FTE)
· Gillian Harvey, CHIMIA, Technical Editor (0.6 FTE)
· Hans Peter Lüthi, Director SCS Foundation (0.4 FTE)
· Robert Meyer, Finance & Accounting (0.4 FTE)
· Esther Wolff, Education Courses (0.5 FTE)
· Sarah Schmitz, Business Support (0.6 FTE)
· Céline Wittwer, Events & Communication (0.8 FTE)
We would like to thank Esther Wolff who served as SCS Academy course manager for 5 years and who stepped down by the end of the year as she leaves to take on a new challenge.
The General Assembly 2022 took place during the lunch break of the SCS Spring Meeting on April 22, 2022, University of Geneva.
The assembly approved the annual report, the financial statement and the audit reports, confirmed personnel turnovers in the Board of Directors (BoD) and the Executive Board (ExB) and set the course for the SCS of the next few years. The previous section of this report provides information on the details of the personnel changes.
Prof. Christian Bochet, SCS President and David Spichiger, Executive Director, led the meeting and ensured that all legal requirements were fulfilled. The minutes of the meeting were published in CHIMIA 5/2022, A496ff.
For all SCS events we implemented specific websites and if required platforms for online conferences. In addition, we communicated via our Social Media channels, as well as with flyers and posters. Our Twitter profiles counts more than 2’800 followers.
By sending newsletters, we managed to inform specific groups of the community about events according to their sphere of interest. Furthermore, publications in the CHIMIA journal, such as Columns and Conference Reports give a regular insight into the activities of the SCS and the networks. The Society information pages also provide news and information about current and future events.
The SCS awarded twelve individuals and one group of scientists for their outstanding contributions. A total sum of CHF 79’000 as well as medals and award certificates were given to the winners.
CHF 20'000 and medal in gold; awarded to an internationally outstanding scientist for his/her lifetime achievements in chemical research. The award was given to
Prof. Antonio Togni, ETH Zurich, for his groundbreaking contributions to organic, inorganic, organometallic chemistry and catalysis both in industry and academia as well as for his inspiring approaches to teaching and education. The award lecture took place at the SCS Fall Meeting 2022.
CHF 10'000 and medal in bronze; awarded to a promising young scientist for outstanding independent chemical research. The award was given to
Prof. Fabian O. von Rohr, University of Zurich, for developing sophisticated approaches to the design and preparation of novel quantum materials that show emergent collective quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity or magnetic order, or materials with topologically non-trivial properties.
The award lecture took place at the SCS Spring Meeting 2022.
CHF 20'000 awarded to a person or to a group for outstanding work in industrial or applied chemistry.
In 2022 the SCS awarded the RXN for Chemistry Project Team from IBM Research, namely Alain Vaucher, Daniel Probst, Philippe Schwaller, Theophile Gaudin, Teodoro Laino, Matteo Manica, Alessandra Toniato, Federico Zipoli, Antonio Cardinale, Alessandro Castrogiovanni, Heiko Wolf, Aleksandros Sobczyk, Joppe Geluykens,
for their important scientific breakthrough in the digitalization of synthetic organic chemistry that helps to improve digital workflows with state-of-the-art machine learning technologies.
One award lecture was held at the SCS Fall Meeting on September 8, 2022, and the second will be held at the Freiburger Symposium on April 28, 2023.
The prize is given to honor very successful and established investigators with outstanding achievements over many years. The winner receives a certificate and a cash check of CHF 10’000.
The 2022 prize was given to
Dr. Bernd Kuhn, F. Hofmann-La Roche AG, for his ground-breaking achievements over the past two decades, bringing together novel computational approaches and medicinal chemistry knowledge that led to new drug designs and scientific discoveries that have had tremendous impact on small molecule discovery projects.
The award lecture took place at the SCS Fall Meeting 2022.
CHF 10'000 honors outstanding contribution to the field of metrology in chemistry and/or biology.
The 2022 award was given to
Prof. Xile Hu, EPFL Lausanne, for his outstanding, interdisciplinary research program to develop catalysis for sustainable synthesis of added-value chemicals and for cost-effective production of solar and electric fuels. The award lecture took place at the SCS Fall Meeting 2022.
CHF 4'000 and a medal in bronze: awarded to a teacher working in Switzerland at high school (gymnasium) level for innovation in chemistry teaching. The 2022 award was given to
Dr. Urs Leisinger, Kantonsschule Zug, für seine höchst engagierte und innovative Lehrtätigkeit, sein Engagement in Politik und Lehrerfortbildung sowie für die Entwicklung und Implementierung des Projekts «Molekularium», welches neue Möglichkeiten für den Chemieunterricht erschliesst und welches - ergänzend zum klassischen Theorie- und Experimentalunterricht - Hilfsmittel für den produktiven Einsatz von Computern an Gymnasien bietet.
and to
Dr. Paulo Lubini, Liceo cantonale di Lugano 2 Savosa and Mr. Michele D’Anna, Liceo cantonale di Locarno (retired) for developing and implementing their concepts of energy, entropy, and the chemical potential, the latter being key to a new way of teaching chemistry at high-school level, thus representing to most significant didactic innovation in view of an early and systematic understanding of chemical reactivity and equilibrium.
CHF 1’000 and medal in bronze; presented for an outstanding diploma thesis in Chemistry conducted at a Swiss University of Applied Sciences.
SCS awarded Ms. Stefanie Rychard, HEIA Fribourg, for her outstanding Bachelor project: «Optimisation of extraction methods for the analysis of natural dyes in cultural heritage objects».
Honorary membership is awarded to individuals who have rendered the Swiss Chemical Society great service and/or who have made an outstanding contribution to science. We are proud to welcome three additional extraordinary members into the circle of SCS honorary members in 2022.
Prof. em. Martin Quack, ETH Zurich, became an SCS member in 1983 after he joined ETH Zurich as full professor of physical chemistry. His extraordinary achievements in research were honored with several national and international awards, in particular also with the Paracelsus Award in 2002, the most prestigious award of the SCS. Martin represents ETH and Physical Chemistry in the SCS Division of Fundamental Research for many years and, amongst many other tasks, he is/was responsible for the implementation and organization of the Heilbronner-Hückel Lectureships and the participation of the SCS in PCCP.
Prof. Karl-Heinz Altmann, ETH Zurich,
has been professor of Pharmaceutical Biology at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the ETH Zurich since 2003 after he started his career as R&D scientist in industry (Ciba and Novartis). He was awarded with numerous national and international awards that demonstrate his extraordinary, scientific achievements. Karl-Heinz always contributed actively to the SCS and the chemical community throughout his career, e.g., he chaired the SCS Division of Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology for many years and managed prestigious initiatives like the Swiss Course of Medicinal Chemistry in Leysin.
Dr. Reto Naef, Topadur Pharma AG, Schlieren, started his career at Sandoz and continued at Novartis were he not only contributed significantly to the companies’ R&D success but also managed internal and external development programs for young talents. As director of the Werner Foundation, board member of the SCS Foundation and manager of the KGF/SISF he catalyzed the interaction between industry and academia and enabled many initiatives with his management skills and funding capabilities. As founder and COE of Topadur, he is now an inspiring example of an entrepreneur for the younger generation.
In 2022 the SCS Lectureship Award was given to three world-class distinguished scientists. Over a week, the lecturer gave five presentations and discusses with colleagues at four to five different Swiss research institutions.
The selection of the lecturers follows a bottom-up approach where PIs from all Swiss research institutions can propose candidates. The proram coves all areas of chemistry. The choice among the proposed lectureships is made by the board of the Division of Fundamental Research (DFR).
Prof. Harry Anderson, Oxford University (UK)
«Synthesis & Electronic Delocalization in Pi-Conjugated Nanorings»
«Approaches to the Synthesis of New Carbon Allotropes»
Tour dates: April 4-8, 2022
Tour organizer: Prof. Michal Jurí?ek, University of Zurich
Prof. Jennifer Field, Oregon State University (USA)
«Advancing Environmental Forensics of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances»
Tour dates: May 30 – June 3, 2022
Tour organizer: Prof. Walter Giger, ETH Zurich/Eawag
Prof. Edward I. Solomon, Stanford University (USA)
«Activating Metal Sites for Biological Electron Transfer»
«Geometric and Electronic Structural Contributions to Fe/O2Reactivity: Correlations between metalloenzyme and heterogeneous catalysis»
Tour dates: October 10-14, 2022
Tour organizer: Prof. Christophe Copéret, ETH Zurich
Postponed to 2023:
Prof. David Nesbit, JILA and University of Colorado, Boulder
Cancelled Tours:
· Prof. Abby Doyle, Princeton University (USA)
· Prof. Mark S. Taylor, University of Toronto (CAN)
· Prof. Daniel G. Nocera, Harvard University (USA)
The Heilbronner-Hückel Lecture Series was implemented in 2009 with the first series in 2010 together with the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh). The annual series takes place alternatively in Switzerland and Germany.
As 2022 Lecturer the SCS selected Alois Fürstner, Max-Planck Institute. His group conducts research at the interface between organic and organometallic chemistry. The planed tour was cancelled and shifted to a later date respectively.