SCG: Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft
With pleasure we look back on a very interesting and active year. The Swiss Chemical Society not only continued and developed its well-established activities but again pushed new initiatives to face today’s challenges. We also implemented new programs to incorporate community members whose interest were not covered so far. We successfully organized more than twenty on-site symposia and congresses respectively and were able to generate an important contribution to the exchange between academia and industry. Unfortunately, the growing global instability that last year brought us has not improved, quite on the contrary. It is not the specific mandate of the SCS to solve political problems, but we can still all find a common ground over religious, political or historical disagreements through Science and Chemistry. While a better understanding of the transformation of matter will probably not solve most of the current problems the world is facing, it will certainly help bringing people together and form strong and beneficial communities. And this is precisely the main goal of the SCS. I encourage all of you to read (again) on the Society website its vision and mission statements, which have been reformulated a few months ago. Another major event that last year brough was the public-wide availability of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT. Its use for trivial and time-consuming tasks is certainly a great help. But for us scientists, there is also a great danger. We should all keep in mind that the algorithms feed themselves on published data. Data that has been so far generated by humans, with a (hopefully) critical evaluation of their validity. If AI tools are now blindly used to produce data and publications, which is a growing trend, we will gradually create a recursive picture of reality that will drift away from reality. Science is the observation and understanding of the world as it is, and reporting on it cannot allow lax treatment of facts and ambiguous formulations. In addition to the well-established activities that are part of the SCS portfolio for years and are mentioned later in this annual report, we focused on the following, new or specific initiatives in 2023:
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. We would like to thank all our members, sponsors and partners who supported us financially and logistically in 2023. Please enjoy reading through the 2023 annual report that shows again a very active and lively society. We are looking forward to seeing all of you very soon and I wish you a very successful 2024.
Prof. Christian Bochet, President
David Spichiger, Executive Director
Catherine E. Housecroft, University of Basel, produced together with the guest editors, ten excellent issues of CHIMIA. In 2023 (volume 77) the following 10 issues were published with the help of the named guest editors:
1-2 Artificial Intelligence in Chemical Research Torsten Luksch, Syngenta Crop Protection AG, and Teodoro Laino, IBM Research Europe and NCCR Catalysis
3 NCCR Catalysis Javier Pérez-Ramírez, ETH Zurich, Jérôme Waser, EPFL, Marie Francine Lagadec, Sharon Mitchell and Lauren Gamp, ETH Zurich
4 Laureates: Junior Prizes of the SCS Fall Meeting 2022 Hans Peter Lüthi, SCS Foundation, and Roger Alberto, University of Zurich
5 The Evolution of Flow Chemistry Claudio Battilocchio, Syngenta Crop Protection AG
6 Biocatalysis Rebecca Buller and Katrin Hecht, ZHAW
7-8 SCS Laureates and Awards & Fall Meeting 2023 Christian Bochet, University of Firbourg / President of the Swiss Chemical Society and Catherine Housecraft, University of Basel
9 Swiss TPH: 30 Years of R&D Towards New Drugs for Tropical Diseases Jürg Utzinger and Pascal Mäser, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
10 Challenges in Teaching Chemistry Jan Cvengros, ETH Zurich
11 Chemistry & Soil Claudio Screpanti, Syngenta Crop Protection AG
12 Green and Sustainable Chemistry – Waste Valorization Felix Bobbink, Plastogaz SA and Fabrice Gallou, Novartis Pharma AG
After its renaming in spring 2020 the brand of Chemistry Europe is now well established. Founded 26 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 Europe A European Journal and participates as co-owner of ChemElectroChem, ChemPlusChem, ChemistryOpen, ChemCatChem, ChemPhoto- Chem, 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:
Prof. Eva Hevia, University of Bern and Jérôme Waser, EPFL Lausanne served now in their second year as Co-Editors-in- Chief. In 2023 Helvetica has published the first time since the relaunch in 2016 over 100 manuscripts. Helvetica has published special issues for the late Jack D. Dunitz, Janine Cossy, Robert Deschenaux, Scott Denmark, Andrea Vasella, Alois Fürstner and special collections highlighting the work of female scientists across chemical sciences and finally a collection to celebrate industrial chemistry in Switzerland. For the last one, Helvetica has introduced a new article type: synthetic procedures, especially for process chemists, which is completely unique within the Wiley chemistry journal portfolio. Helvetica will continue to grow and invites all authors in Switzerland and abroad to submit their best papers to Helvetica. Helvetica not only publishes good science but also supports the SCS and the community at a lot of conferences and lectureships with sponsorship and prizes.
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.
Delegates from the Swiss Chemical Society:
SCS maintains also contact with other international organizations like Eurachem, SusChem Europe (ETP), IUPAC and partner societies from its neighboring countries.
2023 has been a successful year for youngSCS. We relaunched the Swiss Snow Symposium after the COVID break and could have several in-person visits to different companies. All these in-person events help to intensify the relationship between young chemists and foster a highly interactive and social environment.
Marie-Désirée Schlemper-Scheidt, President youngSCS
At the SCS Fall Meeting in Bern on August 25, 2023, Metrohm and dsmfirmenich again sponsored the very renowned Best Presentation Award Program. A total of 41 presenters (18 winners and 23 runners-up) with a total prize sum of CHF 42’750 were honored for their extraordinary presentations.
See CHIMIA 10/2023, A710 for the list of all winners
In 2023 twelve Alfred Werner Scholars successfully completed their MSc studies. Reports on their MSc thesis projects along with their career plans were published in the 2023 December issue of CHIMIA. Eight scholars started their doctoral studies, one of them at a university abroad. Two scholars started their career in industry, and two others still are in the process of deciding on their next step. Three of the scholars had the opportunity of an internship in one of the program-supporting companies. Five BSc students coming from China, Canada, Spain, Ukraine, and UK, started their Master studies programs with the support of the Alfred Werner Program. At this point, the “pool” of Alfred Werner Scholars has become an attractive source for the recruitment of talented and well-integrated young chemists. In 2023, following the successful online Meet&Greet event hosted by Novartis the year before, more than thirty scholars, many of the alumni looking to launch their professional careers, were invited to an in-person meeting on Novartis campus. The exchange between scholars and Novartis staff members was much appreciated by both parties, making this the perfect platform to connect the talented young professionals to industry and vice versa. A short review of the 2023 Meet&Greet meeting was published in the November issue of CHIMIA. At the Swiss Chemistry Science Night, three scholars, now PhD students, introduced themselves and the Alfred Werner Program to the audience. The program, with its remarkable track-record, deserves the attention of our community. The Web Page of the Foundation (www.scs-foundation.ch) offers pictures of event, also giving more background on the now 10-year-old program. The SCS Foundation Board would like to thank DSM-Firmenich, Givaudan, Merck Sigma-Aldrich, Novartis, Roche, Syngenta, the Gebert-Rüf and the Metrohm Foundations, as well as our private donors for their continued support.
80 scholarships granted since 2013
33 countries of origin of our scholars
28:42 gender ratio of the scholars
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 2023.
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 2023, the SCS maintains the following thematic networks:
DPCI and MatChem are merged to the Division of Materials Chemistry as of Jan 2024.
As of December 2023, the SCS maintains the following social networks:
I would like to put emphasis on the fantastic (and challenging) unique event of Euroanalysis 2023. Here, I allow myself to remark the support from the SCS DAS and the organizational success by Prof. Eric Bakker, University of Geneva, Dr. Marc Suter. EAWAG, Dr. Franka Kalman, HES Sion, and Dr. Bodo Hattendorf, ETH Zurich. On the line of dissemination, and local community bundling, CHanalysis was held over two days for the first time. The SCS DAS provided financial support for the participation of young scientists and retired members. DAS is also the place where most of the academy offers are driven, also thank to the commitment of Ernö Pretsch. Finally, at DAS we are open for more and more "citizen science" and public events, such as the International Chemistry Olympiads 2023, where analytical lab visits were offered at several Swiss institutions in academia and industry. Such abridging function of DAS is the most exciting part.
Dr. Davide Bleiner, President DAS
The year 2023 was a very intensive and successful year for DIAC. After the SICS meeting in January with a full auditorium of the University of Basel, the traditional Freiburg Symposium on "From Lab to Industrial Application - Trends/Innovation in Process Chemistry & Technology" took place at the end of April. With more than 130 participants it was again a great success, exciting lectures with the highlight of a talk by Nobel Prize winner Prof. MacMillan and many good discussions during the breaks and dinner rounded off the event. Our PRD colloquia took place this year at the University of Bern and EPFL, again with many participants and stimulating exchanges during the following apéro. In addition, Dr. Kurt Püntener from F. Hoffmann-La Roche, DIAC Fellow 2023, presented his work at the Syngenta Syngenta Research Center in Stein as well as at the University of Zurich and Geneva. A final piece of the puzzle in the successful and intensive exchange between industry and academia!
Prof. Roger Marti, President DIAC
A highlight of 2023 was the SCS Fall Meeting in Bern takin place on August 24 and 25. Much appreciated by the young researchers was the summer party that stimulated scientific discussions in front of the posters in a relaxed atmosphere. With the co-organization of the SCS Spring Meeting, the SCS Lectureships and the Heilbronner-Hückel Lecture tour, the DFR actively contributes to a rich overall program of the SCS. Through the SCS Conference Grant the DFR supported the following conferences with a financial contribution of CHF 5'000 each:
It has been a very active year for DMCCB, providing a varied offer of different scientific activities, such as the DMCCB Basel symposium, the DMCCB session at the SCS Fall Meeting, the Peptide Therapeutics Forum and, for the first time, hosting in Basel the EFMC-ISCB taking over the successful series launched by NCCR Chemical Biology. Besides events, the DMCCB has curated and shared with the medicinal chemistry and chemical biology community articles and perspectives through Chimia columns and the DMCCB literature spotlight on LinkedIn, which receive at times more than 3,000 impressions! The DMCCB is also proud to have assigned in 2023 the RGCC cancer research award and the DMCCB symposium best poster award, as well as one travel grant in support of the next generation of medicinal chemists and chemical biologists.
Dr. Fides Benfatti, Syngenta
In 2023 the Division of Chemical Education enjoyed a very active year with several highlights. In July, the International Chemistry Olympiad took place at ETH Zurich, and some members of the division contributed to its flawless organization. At the end of August, we were pleased to welcome around 60 participants at the symposium in Bern, which focused on the challenges of teaching chemistry and formed the basis for the CHIMIA issue on chemistry education.
Prof. Jan Cvengros, President DCE
This year, the SCE not only hosted its fourth session at the SCS Fall meeting with two exciting and thought-provoking keynote lectures by Prof. em. Janet Hering (Eawag/ETH) and ClimeWorks but continued to increase its footprint. We organized a SCE-sponsored session at the Umwelt 2023 (SETAC GLB/GdCH) in Muttenz and invited four young environmental chemists as keynote speakers. Most importantly, however, we nominated a team of environmental chemists and engineers from Eawag for the 2024 Sandmeyer award for their pioneering work on oxidative wastewater treatment, and, to our greatest excitement, saw them winning it against stiff competition.
Prof. Kathrin Fenner, President SCE
2023 has been a very exciting year for the Flow Chemistry Network as we have entered the third year from the creation of this SCS network and have started to plan future activities based on the learnings of throughout the last years. We have contributed to the successful realization of the Ilmac Conference in Basel, which was a great event. We have embarked in establishing a close partnership with the Flow Chemistry Society Europe, which will increase the visibility of the activities planned and enable our network to reach out to the broader community.
Dr. Claudio Battilocchio, President of the Flow Chemistry Section
There was no SACC Spring Meeting 2023 organized. Prof. Jeremy Richardson, ETHZ and Prof. Clemence Corminboeuf, EPFL organized the SACC Computational Chemistry session within the SCS Fall Meeting on August 24/25, 2023, in Bern. There was a total of 10 contributed talks and two invited presentations by Lars Ruddigkeit, Microsoft, and Anna Feldman-Salit, Arcondis Group. 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), Prof. Daniele Passerone (EMPA), Prof. Jeremy Richardson (ETHZ), Dr. Torsten Luksch (Syngenta), Prof. Sergey Churakov (University of Bern) Prof. Jürg Hutter, President SACC
2023 has been a successful year for youngSCS. We relaunched the Swiss Snow Symposium after the COVID break and could have several in-person visits to different companies. All these in-person events help to intensify the relationship between young chemists and foster a highly interactive and social environment.
Marie-Désirée Schlemper-Scheidt, President youngSCS
Swiss Women in Chemistry has grown in 2023 with participation to events such as the IUPAC Global Women’s Breakfast in Zurich in February and ILMAC in Basel in September. The participation of young female scientists gives an incredible sense of community and the feedback we have received is extremely positive. A new round of “Mentors-Mentees” pairing has also taken place with great participation from industrial and academic mentors who offer support and guidance to PhDs and Post Docs. We look forward to another great year in 2024.
Francesca Paradisi, University of Bern
Arxada, Bachem, BASF, Büchiglas Uster, Carbogen Amics, Casale, Chemspeed, Clariant, CSL Vifor, Dottikon, dsm-firmenich, Givaudan, IBM Research Europe, Idorsia, INEOS, Lonza, Merck, Mettler Toledo, Metrohm, Novartis, Roche, Sika, SpiroChem, Syngenta
CABB AG, Pratteln; CIM Chemicals AG, Zug; Comsol GmbH, Göttingen; HAS Healthcare Advanced Synthesis SA, Biasca; Helsinn Healthcare SA, Pazzallo-Lugano; Ivoclar vivadent AG, Schaan; Magritek GmbH, Aachen; MDPI AG, Basel; Metalor Technologies SA, Marin; METAS, Federal Institute of Metrology, Bern; Omya International AG, Oftringen; Pentapharm AG, Aesch; Plasmion GmbH, Augsburg; Primco, Chêne-Bourg; Rolic Technologies Ltd, Berlin; Schärer & Schläpfer AG, Rothrist; Shimadzu Schweiz GmbH, Reinach; SICPA SA, Prilly; Siegfried AG, Zofingen; SimplyScience Stiftung, Zurich; Société Suisse des Explosifs, Brig; Thermo Fischer Scientific (Schweiz) AG, Reinach; TÜV Su?d Schweiz AG, Mu?nchen; UCB Farchim SA, Bulle; Willy A. Bachofen AG, Muttenz
At the end of 2023, Eric Bakker, Jean-Louis Reymond and Esther Amstad stepped down as presidents of their divisions. We would like to thank them for their valuable contributions.
We would like to thank Gillian Harvey who served as CHIMIA Technical Editor for more than 23 years and who retired by the end of January 2024.
The General Assembly 2023 took place during the lunch break of the SCS Spring Meeting on April 14, 2023, at University of Zurich. 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 upcoming 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 5/2023, A357ff.
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 3’400 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 10'000 and medal in bronze; awarded to a promising young scientist for outstanding independent chemical research. The award was given to Prof. Victor Mougel, ETH Zurich, for his research at the interface of molecular, surface, and materials chemistry, encompassing lanthanide /actinide coordination, bioinorganic and materials chemistry as well as electrochemistry and catalysis and especially for the development of high efficiency systems for solar-driven conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbons based on a bioinspired approach. The award lecture took place at the SCS Spring Meeting 2023.
CHF 20'000 awarded to a person or to a group for outstanding work in industrial or applied chemistry. In 2023 the SCS awarded the Ambrofix ((-)- Ambrox) Project Team from Givaudan, namely Dr. Agnes Bombrun, Dr. Boris Schilling, Dr. Eric Eichhorn and Dr. Fridtjof Schröder, for their outstanding research contributions that led to the development of an innovative and even more importantly an industrially viable and sustainable process for AmbrofixTM ((-)-ambrox) using green chemistry and biotechnology. One two award lecture were held at the Freiburger Symposium on April 28, 2023, and at the SCS Fall Meeting on August 25, 2023.
The prize is given to senior scientists to honor their lifetime achievements in chemical research. The winner receives a certificate and a cash check of CHF 15’000. The 2023 prize was given to Dr. Alain De Mesmaeker, Syngenta Crop Protection AG (retired), for his exceptional research career in numerous research areas, always focused on scientific excellence, and for his ongoing commitment to human development and mentoring that has shaped and inspired multiple generations of sci-entists and leaders. The award lecture took place at the SCS Fall Meeting 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 2023 prize was given to Dr. Robin Fairhurst, Novartis Pharma AG, for his outstanding contributions to the discovery and optimization of several drug development candidates, many of which have reached the clinic and even the market. The award lecture took place at the SCS Fall Meeting 2023.
The prize is given to honor successful investigators with outstanding achievements. The winner receives a certificate and a cash check of CHF 7’000. The 2023 prize was given to Dr. Uwe Grether, F. Hofmann-La Roche AG, for his tremendous impact on medicinal chemistry, focused on the discovery and characterization of small molecules that modulate the activity of the endocannabinoid system for the treatment of various important diseases, and thus for his direct impact on the preclinical and clinical drug discovery portfolio at Roche,
and
Dr. Tomáš Šmejkal, Syngenta Crop Protection AG, for his high impact track record in process chemistry and technology that has truly enabled projects and have seen the journey from process research through development and ultimately to commercial scale implementation. Both award lectures took place at the SCS Fall Meeting 2023.
CHF 10'000 honors outstanding contribution to the field of metrology in chemistry and/or biology. The 2023 award was given to Prof. Ali Coskun, University of Fribourg, for his outstanding contributions towards the development of sustainable polymers for catalysis, energy and environmental applications. The award lecture will take place at the SCS Fall Meeting 2024.
CHF 5'000 is awarded to a promising young scientist for outstanding accomplishments in the field of experimental or theoretical photochemistry. The 2023 award was given to Prof. Lea Nienhaus, Florida State University (USA), for her nationally and internationally recognized research program in Light-Matter Interactions in Semiconductors probing the influence from the macroscale to nanoscale. The award lecture took place at the SCS Fall Meeting 2023.
CHF 5'000 honors a young and promising scientist working in Switzerland for an outstanding contribution to the field of metrology in chemistry and/or biology. The 2023 award was given to Dr. Michael Stravs, Eawag Dübendorf, for his outstanding scientific achievements, especially the new and innovative approach to combine state-of-the-art analysis technologies, artificial intelligence and reference data in near real time that is exemplary for similar problems in chemistry and biology. The award lecture took place at the CHanalysis 2023.
CHF 5'000 and a trophy is awarded to distinguished scientists to honor their contribution to fundamental and applied analytical science and the education of analytical scientists. The 2023 award was given to Prof. Uwe Sauer, ETH Zurich, for his pioneering work in the field of metabolomics. The award lecture took place at the Euroanalysis 2023.
CHF 5'000 honors outstanding scientific achievements of Master students, PhD students or Postdocs at Swiss research institutes that are working in the field of cancer drug discovery research. The 2023 award was given to Dr. Elena Zakhorva, University of Bern, for her outstanding work in discovering new peptide-based anti-cancer agents that you did during your PhD studies at University of Bern. The award lecture took place at the DMCCB Basel Symposium 2023.
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 2023 award was given to Dr. Stefan Dolder, Gymnasium und FMS Lebermatt, für sein grosses Engagement und seine Ideen zur Verbesserung des Unterrichts, insbesondere für das, mangels verfügbarer Software selbst entwickelte Mac-Zeichenprogramm MoleculeSketch zur Darstellung von chemischen Strukturen. Der Vortrag fand im Rahmen des ChemEdu Events 2023 statt.
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 Frau Fabiana Bächli, ZHAW Wädenswil, für ihre herausragende Bachelorarbeit «Mesoporöse bioaktive Glasnanopartikel für den Wirkstofftransport»,
and
Ms. Alicia Rodrigues Machado, HEIA Fribourg, for her outstanding Bachelor project: «Process design and scale-up studies using single-atom heterogenous catalysts for the synthesis of an API intermediate».
In 2023 the SCS Lectureship Award was given to four 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 SCS Division of Fundamental Research (DFR).
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 2023 Lecturer the SCS selected Prof. Markus Reiher, ETH Zurich. His group focuses on theory in chemistry with a special emphasis on so-calledfirst-principles methods, which are deeply rooted in quantum mechanics.
The Heilbronner-Hückel lecture tour 2022 of Prof. Alois Fürstner, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, was postponed from fall 2022 to October 2023. Prof. Fürstner visited ETH Zurich, University of Basel, EPFL Lausanne, University of Bern and University of Zurich from October 9-13, 2023, and talked about «Tinkering with Metal-Carbene Chemistry».
The DIAC Fellowship 2023 award was given to Dr. Kurt Püntener, from F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Basel, for his tremendous impact on process chemistry and outstanding contributions in delivering innovative and breakthrough solutions in route design, (bio)catalysis, and process development for more than 100 Roche pipeline molecules, including Oligonucleotides and Peptides. The three lectures took place at Syngenta Research Center Stein, University of Zurich and University of Geneva between September to November 2023.