The 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Royal Society of Chemistry's Belgium International section (RSC Belgium) took place on the evening of Friday 14 January 2022 via webinar meeting on Microsoft Teams.
Also in attendance were co-opted Committee members: Bo Dahlqvist and Jonathan Norris.
Twelve section members who were unable to attend the AGM sent their apologies and had asked the Chair to act as their proxy for the meeting if a vote was required. These members were: Deepak Pant, Brian Sutcliffe, Filip du Prez, Steven De Feyter, Lance Smallshaw, Albert Dijkstra, Marie-Beatrice Madec, Eveline Volcke, Joshua Holloway, Catherine Cazin, Tracey Ehiwe and Colin McCarney.
1. Apologies for absence
There no further apologies were noted.
2. Approval of Minutes of 2021 AGM
No corrections were suggested, and the meeting moved (Rita
Woodward), seconded (Susan Schamp) and hence unanimously adopted the minutes.
4. Committee Report on the Section’s 2021 Activities (Tim Reynolds – Secretary)
The Secretary presented the 2021 report.
“As in 2020 the activities of the section have been significantly impacted by the continuing COVID crisis. However, building on our success in 2020 in initiating webinar-based activities RSC Belgium was able to run a comprehensive programme of activities. During 2021 RSC Belgium managed to organise seven public lecture webinars, our AGM, a fund raising social, and our two annual school outreach events: the Chemistry Challenge and the Top of the Bench ‘European Eliminator’. We also welcomed our eighth Norman Lloyd scholarship recipient at Cardiff University.
Our 2021 AGM was run as a webinar event on Microsoft Teams on the evening of 29 January and we were fortunate to be joined over the ether by RSC President Professor Tom Welton of Imperial College London and RSC CEO Dr Helen Pain. The AGM was recorded and is now available, along with many of our webinar events, on our own dedicated YouTube channel. Please note that our first lecture event of 2022 will be given by Prof Welton on 24 February 2022 on the topic of 'Sustainable Chemistry'.
We kicked our lecture programme in 2021 on 11 February with Prof James Durrant also from Imperial College on developments in Sustainable Solar Fuels. This was followed on 18 March with a fascinating talk from Professor Annemie Bogaerts of the University of Antwerp on plasma-based catalysis and processes in particular for CO2 conversion.
On 22 April members and friends of the section enjoyed a talk
on ‘Edible Oils and Fats’ from long-time section member Dr Albert Dijkstra
a well-known expert in this field and on 27 May we welcomed back Professor
Nick Lane from University College London to explore the question: How does
chemistry come alive?
During the summer, while COVID restrictions were more relaxed, the section was once again able to hold an appropriately socially distanced fundraising event for our Norman Lloyd Scholarships at Setsuko Lloyd’s house in Lasne. A very sunny and enjoyable afternoon raised a total of €860 for the fund.
During the year, our seventh recipient of a Norman Lloyd scholarship at Cardiff University, Cara Watkins, worked hard and enjoyed the 1st year of her chemistry degree and at the end of the year we received news of eighth recipient, MartimGouveia Pereira, who started his degree course in the Autumn term. After the deduction of £1,000 for Martim’s award and including the funds raised in 2021 the Norman C Lloyd Scholarship Fund currently stands at £1,278.62.
September saw the results of our 2021 Chemistry Challenge announced. As for the previous year we had to organise a virtual event but received entries from the majority of our group of international and European schools in the Brussels area and beyond. The prize-winners from the Challenge, including this year’s overall winner and recipient of the coveted Keith Price Award, were announced at a very entertaining and informative webinar event with Dr John O'Donoghue of Trinity College Dublin on 'Chemistry in the Movies' on the evening of 23 September.
On the evening of 21 October RSC Belgium members and friends were treated to an inspiring webinar talk from regular Chemistry World columnist and author Dr Philip Ball on The Beauty of Chemistry.
Our final lecture event of the year was on 25 November with Professor Jean-François Gohy from the Université Catholique de Louvain on advances and opportunities for future battery technologies.
Our Top of the Bench (TOTB)regional heat was also, again, a virtual affair taking place in late November and early December. In 2021 only four teams from two schools had been able to complete and return results in our first attempt at a COVID-proof TOTB, but this year 13 teams from seven schools were involved – returning participation to pre-COVID levels – and including for the first-time teams from the European Schools in Luxembourg. For 2021 online written and hands-on practical exercises were set by RSC Belgium committee members Rita Woodward and Susan Schamp. As ever the competition was very close with some notable individual performances and excellent teamwork, but the overall winner was the Titanium team from St Georges International School – that school’s third win a row - who will be representing RSC Belgium at the TOTB finals in March 2022.
We hope to be running a full programme of events during 2022 – either virtual or physical depending on the evolving COVID situation – and look forward to seeing many members and friends on screen or face-to-face during the year. Details of forthcoming events can always be found on the RSC Belgium blog.
As mentioned, our next programmed event is with Professor Tom Welton on 24 February 2022 on the topic of 'Sustainable Chemistry'. Further events will be announced.”
There were no questions on the report, and it was unanimously
approved.
5. Financial Report of 2020 (Julie Tuppeny – Treasurer)
The treasurer presented the 2021 financial report and
accounts.
“Like previous years 2021 was planned to be another busy year, until restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic saw cancellations and lectures moved online for RSC Belgium Section (RSCB) and its committee.
Our two annual competitions for schools, the Chemistry Challenge Competition were well attended with 68 students taking part, and the Top of the Bench (TOTB) Eliminator Round.
On 1st January 2021, the net assets of RSC Belgium Section were €10,709. 91 The Annual Grant for 2021 was received in July 2021 from RSC UK of € 2,626.25 which was less than the 4,952.50 that was asked for.
Major items of expenditure during the year are listed below.
- € 706 to organise the
Chemistry Challenge of which €620 was prize money.
- € 236.97 to organise the TOTB eliminator round.
For the Year ending 31 December 2021, the net assets of RSC Belgium Section amount to €9,563.98 in the current account and €2,101.30 in the Savings account giving a total of €11,665.28.
Bearing in mind Belgian Law, the status of the RSC Belgium Section holds the three Officers personally liable for debts arising from the activities of the Belgium Section. A grant of €2,000 will be requested from RSC UK to cover all the activities planned for 2022.”
The meeting unanimously adopted the Treasurer’s report.
6. Chair’s Remarks (Bob Crichton)
The Chair thanked all members of the committee for their
hard work and support during another difficult year. In particular he thanked
Fabio for his technical support in running our successful webinars.
Bob hoped that the section would be able to run more face-to-face events in 2022, however the section needed to follow guidelines from RSC HQ as well as the local rules and we awaited their instructions.
7. Election of committee members and section officers
Two nominations had
been received for election to the committee as ordinary members.
- David Terrell
- Dharmjeet Madhav
As the number of nominations equalled the number of vacant positions, both candidates were elected to the committee for a period of two years.
At the first committee meeting of 2022 Bo Dahlqvist and Jonathan Norris were co-opted onto the committee. Full details of the 2022 committee membership are available here.
8. Auditing arrangements for 2022
Julie confirmed that accounts must be prepared and submitted
to RSC HQ by 7 February 2022. These accounts did not require a formal audit
prior to submission. If a review/ audit was required section member Lance
Smallshaw had agreed to assist.
9. Any Other Business
As noted previously the first event of the 2022 programme
will be on Thursday 24 February 2022 via Teams with Prof. Tom Welton of
Imperial College London on 24 February 2022 on the topic of 'Green and Sustainable
Chemistry'.
A question on the funding of the section by HQ was asked by Geoffrey Knight. Bob and Julie confirmed that the funding was through an annual grant and that this was not a loan, and the section did not have any debts.
The meeting Adjourned at 19:50. The first meeting of the 2022 committee took place on Tuesday 18 January 2022.
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