2024 RSC Belgium AGM and Dinner

The 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Annual Dinner of the RSC Belgium International section took place on the evening of Friday 19 January 2024 at the Les Amis Dinent restaurant in Wezembeek-Oppem. 

The AGM commenced at 19h35 with eleven section members present. In addition nine section members who were unable to attend the AGM sent their apologies and had asked the Chair to act as their proxy at the meeting.

The meeting first approved the minutes of the 2023 AGM that took place on 20 January 2023. No corrections were suggested, and the meeting moved (Julie Tuppeny), seconded (Rita Woodward) and unanimously adopted.

2023 activities

The section secretary, Tim Reynolds, then presented the 2023 report on teh section's activities.

“During 2023 RSC Belgium organised a Café Chimique event and six public lectures that were all face-to-face events with most recorded and then posted on our @RoySocChemBelgium YouTube channel. In addition, we held our 2023 AGM, a summer social trip to Ghent, our two annual school outreach events: the Chemistry Challenge and the Top of the Bench ‘Eliminator’, which was an in-person event again, plus four schools’ chemistry workshops with John O’Donoghue from Trinity College Dublin. Our ninth Norman Lloyd scholarship recipient enjoyed his first year at Cardiff University and we hope to hear the name of the tenth recipient very soon.

Our 2023 AGM and Annual Dinner was held on the evening of Friday 20 January at Les Amis Dinent restaurant in Wezembeek-Oppem. At the AGM Bob Crichton was re-elected as Chair, Tim Reynolds was re-elected as Secretary and Fabio Lucaccioni was elected as Treasurer. Three members were elected to the committee: Rita Woodward, Susan Schamp, and Julie Tuppeny. All positions are for a two-year term. Two committee members are in mid-term: Dr David Terrell and Dr Dharmjeet Madhav.

During the year, your section committee met just three times on 17 January (hybrid), 27 June (hybrid), and 5 September (hybrid) with one meeting scheduled for 14 November postponed.

Our 2023 programme kicked off on 9 February with a Café Chimique event at BSB on the topic of Sustainable Transport. This was followed on 23 March with a talk on sustainable e-fuels from Damien Debecker of UCLouvain.

Professor Ari Koskinen described new horizons in synthesis on the evening of 20 April and on 22 May Professor David Dexter, Director of Research at Parkinson’s UK, talked to us about ‘Therapeutic strategies for preventing Parkinson's Disease’.

Activities resumed on 9 September with a wonderful walking tour in late summer sunshine around Ghent led by Dr Paul Snell and including a (re)visit to our RSC Chemical Landmark for Kekule at the University.

September also saw a visit to Belgium by Dr John O’Donoghue of Trinity College Dublin and colleagues  Dr Fiona McArdle of the Atlantic Technological University Sligo and Dr Natalia Garcia Domenech from TCD. John gave us an updated talk on ‘Chemistry in the Movies’ on 28 September and he and the team also conducted four Current Chemistry Investigators schools’ workshops (two at BSB and two at St. Johns) on electrochemistry and electroanalytical concepts. This was the first time these workshops had been given outside Ireland and were a remarkable success. The idea of a workshop tour with John had been in the RSC Belgium planning for a few years now, but various interruptions - not least the COVID pandemic - had got in the way.

John’s Chemistry in the Movies talk was also the prize-giving ceremony for our 2023 Chemistry Challenge initiative undertaken over the early summer with the students working remotely at their schools. For the 2023 Challenge, seven schools took part (four European Schools and three International Schools) with a total of 74 students participating.

Our lecture programme continued with a talk from Prof Kevin Lam of the University of Greenwich on 12 October on Chemistry with Potential and concluded with a presentation on Hydrogen as an Energy Vector by Alexandra Kostereva of the European Gas Research Group on 22 November.

On Saturday 18 November we held our 2023 Top of the Bench (TOTB) regional heat at BSB. This year six teams from three different schools (BSB, ISF and St Johns) participated and after a very tight contest team Baekeland from BSB were declared winners and will represent Belgium at the UK National finals on 16 March 2024. Team Sodium our 2022 winners, also from BSB, had represented Belgium section at the London finals in March 2023.

Thanks as ever to Rita and Susan for developing the content for our educational activities and all the teachers and students who participated.

During the year, our ninth recipient of a Norman Lloyd scholarship at Cardiff University, Benjamin Condon , worked hard. The 2023-2024 academic year sees the tenth recipient of the award – whose name we hope to announce soon – and we also hope to organise a celebration of this milestone during 2024.

Youtube 

As mentioned earlier we now have a YouTube channel where you can find our videoed webinars. Some of our @RoySocChemBelgium ‘content’ is proving to be very popular. Our Top Three videos (as of noon yesterday - 18 January 2024) are at #3 Philip Ball with 1,181 views, second spot goes to Plasma-based CO2 conversion with 5,705 views, while Nick Lane remains top of the pops with a remarkable 19,891 views.

On a sad note, I’d like to mark the passing of one of our most enthusiastic and active supporter of the section’s activities Brian Sutcliffe. We will miss him and hope to mark his passing with an appropriate event during 2024.

We aim to run a full programme of events during 2024 and look forward to seeing many members and friends during the year. Details of forthcoming events can always be found on the RSC Belgium blog.”

There were no questions on the report, and the meeting moved (David Terrell), seconded (Andrew Dunn) and unanimously approved its adoption.

Finances

The section treasurer, Fabio Lucaccioni, presented the 2023 financial report and accounts.

“The 2023 balance sheet is presented by listing revenues and payments allocated to a series of categories pre-assigned by the RSC.

The overall balance at the end of 2023 on the current account is €5,799.05 and the global expenses (receipts minus payments) were -€5,915.49. The saving account overall balance is  €4,503,27.

During the year, the total income amounted to €3,941.06, mainly from a grant from RSC headquarters (€2,999.60) but also from the AGM and the annual dinner, as well as fees relating to the visit to Ghent in August.

Expenses for the year amount to €9,856.55 €. The main expenses concern: the six lectures and the “Café Chimique” organised during the year (€3,897.47), with a total audience of 177 people; our annual Top of the Bench and Chemistry Challenge activities and also in 2023 some Chemistry Workshops for an amount of €677.70 (involving 160 students); social events, which are the AGM and its dinner as well as the visit to Ghent (€2,130.45); and a transfer of money to the savings account (€2,400.00).

This year, and following an email from headquarter dated January 11, 2024, we do not need to have our accounts audited as our entries are less than £10,000.”

The meeting unanimously adopted the Treasurer’s report.

 Chair’s Remarks (Bob Crichton)

The section chair, Bob Crichton, thanked all members of the committee for their continuing hard work and support and looked forward to continuing success in the new year.

During the Annual Dinner the Chair presented Rita and Peter Woodward with some tokens of the committee’s appreciation for their efforts in providing refreshments for our evening talks over many years.

Elections

Two nominations for committee members had been received: Dr David Terrell and Prof Ari Koskinen. Committee membership is for a two-year term. As the number of nominations equalled the number of vacant positions, both candidates were duly elected.

Other current committee members in mid-term are Bob Crichton (Chair), Tim Reynolds (Secretary), Fabio Lucaccioni (Treasurer), Rita Woodward, Julie Tuppeny and Susan Schamp.

The committee thanked Dharmjeet Madhav for his contribution to the committee over the last two years.

At the first committee meeting of 2024 Bo Dahlqvist and Jonathan Norris will also be co-opted onto the committee.

The meeting adjourned at 19h52. The first meeting of the new 2024 committee will be arranged soon.

A copy of the draft minutes of the 2024 AGM can be downloaded here. These minutes will be submitted to the 2025 AGM for approval.

BSB win RSC Belgium's TOTB 2023

On Saturday 18 November, the 2023 RSC Belgium Top of the Bench (TOTB) regional heat was held at the British School of Brussels (BSB). Teams from BSB, the International School of Flanders (ISF) and St. Johns International School (St Johns) participated in the competition to represent Belgium at the UK final.

The TOTB heat 'kicked off' at 13h30. This year the contest was in three parts and was devised by RSC committee members Susan Schamp and Rita Woodward. The initial task was a group challenge involving a 30-minute written Chemistry Quiz involving creative thinking exercises. All group members worked together on this activity.

After a short break the main group practical activity took place. This was a 90-minute hands-on Chemistry Investigation.

Finally, after a longer break with some refreshments, the individual team members undertook a further 30-minute, multiple choice, age-appropriate written Chemistry Quiz. Each four-person TOTB team consists of two students from Year 9 (Grade 8), one student from Year 10 (Grade 9) and one student from Year 11 (Grade 10). The Year 9 students completed one quiz and the Year 10 and 11 students completed a second quiz.

Joining Rita and Susan in observing and judging the event were Olivier Schamp and RSC Belgium Chair Bob Crichton with section secretary, Tim Reynolds, also there to take the photos. Also present throughout the day were RSC committee member and Head of Chemistry at BSB, Jonathan Norris, RSC committee member and Head of Chemistry at St. Johns, Julie Tuppeny, and chemistry teacher Beatriz Rocha from ISF.

A close result

The competition was extremely keen and it was a very tight contest. In terms of determining the final winner of the event, the weightings for the three components were: Group Challenge – 20%, Practical Activity – 50%, and Multiple Choice – 30%.

After an extensive consultation by the judging panel, Team Baekeland from BSB were declared the winners and received the coveted Keith Price Cup (see below - the team are pictured with, from left to right, Rita Woodward, Susan Schamp, Bob Crichton and Olivier Schamp).

The Baekeland team will now represent the Belgium section at the UK National finals of TOTB that will be held on Saturday 16 March 2024 at Edinburgh Napier University. We wish them the best!

Our thanks as ever to Susan and Rita for developing the written and practical tasks for our Top of the Bench event and all the teams for their enthusiasm and hard work. Congratulations to the winners and everyone who took part.

Chemistry with Potential

On the evening of Thursday 12 October RSC Belgium welcomed Prof. Kevin Lam from The University of Greenwich back to Belgium to give a talk entitled: ‘Electrifying the Pharmaceutical Industry without the BANG! When Your Chemistry has got Potential’. Professor Lam was awarded his PhD at the Universite Catholique de Louvain under the supervision of our old friend Istvan Marko and explored the use of electrochemistry and photochemistry as green alternatives to activate organic molecules. This work resulted in the development of a new radical-based deoxygenation reaction (the Lam-Marko reaction).

Synthetic organic electrochemistry has its roots in the classic work of Faraday and Kolbe on the electrolysis of aliphatic carboxylic acids. Although numerous transformations have been developed since then, many of which have been successfully applied in various industrial processes, the potential of preparative organic electrochemistry remains underestimated. However, the growing impetus to find greener and more cost-effective alternatives to traditional synthetic methods has recently led to the development of novel electrosynthetic methods.

In his talk Kevin presented new, safe, green, affordable and efficient ways to generate highly reactive organic intermediates such as iso(thio)cyanates, isocyanides, orthoesters or even diazo compounds. He also discussed the scale-up of these processes using flow electrosynthesis to demonstrate their real-world application in the pharmaceutical industry by reviewing case studies carried out with pharma giants including GSK, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

The venue for this event was the Brel Theatre at the British School of Brussels (BSB) in Tervuren.

Youtube video

Kevin's talk was recorded and can be found on our dedicated Youtube channel or as an embedded video below. Enjoy!

Hydrogen as an Energy Vector

On the evening of Wednesday 22 November 2024 the section welcomed Alexandra Kostereva from the European Gas Research Group (GERG) to talk to us about the use of ‘Hydrogen as an Energy Vector'. As usual the talk was hosted by the British School of Brussels in Tervuren.

Alexandra is Operations Manager at GERG based in Brussels and her talk introduced the relevance of hydrogen as an energy vector, and present a major project that GERG and partners have finalised this year: THyGA (Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Applications​). This project looked at the impact of hydrogen/ natural gas blends on commercial and domestic appliances. It included a large testing programme with end-use appliances, and provided conclusions for future regulation and standardisation of this sector. Alexandra also outlined other aspects of the work of the European Gas Research Group in the energy sector.

Biography

Alexandra joined the European Gas Research Group (GERG) team in 2019 and has been actively involved in the full portfolio of its research activities including work on hydrogen, LNG, biomethane, and methane emissions topics. She has worked on several European-funded projects. In 2020, Alexandra completed a Blue Book internship at the European Commission’s DG Energy working on the European Methane Emissions Strategy.

Alexandra has a Master’s degree in Engineering from the French Grande Ecole Centrale Lille, with a specialisation in Energy, and a Master’s degree in Economics of Energy from Université Paris-Saclay.

YouTube Video

Alexandra's talk was recorded and can be found on our dedicated Youtube channel or as an embedded video below. Enjoy!

Therapeutic strategies for preventing Parkinson's Disease

On the evening of Monday 22 May RSC Belgium welcomed Professor David Dexter, Director of Research at Parkinson’s UK to talk to us about ‘Therapeutic strategies for preventing Parkinson's Disease’. The event was held at the British School of Brussels in Tervuren.

Parkinson's disease is the fastest growing neurodegenerative condition with some 10 million people affected worldwide. Classically, Parkinson's is defined by the presence of motor symptoms such as tremor, limb stiffness and slowness of movement but there are many other non-motor symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, cognitive decline which greatly impact on quality of life. Whilst there are drugs which treat the motor features of Parkinson's, these drugs lose effectiveness with time, are associated with significant side effects and importantly they cannot slow the progression of the condition. 

Over the last 20 years there has been a revolution in our understanding of what causes Parkinson's and this has translated into a growing pipeline of novel therapeutic approaches to slow/stop the condition. In addition, biomarkers have recently been discovered that can accurately predict who will develop Parkinson's and prevention trials are on the horizon.

Professor Dexter's talk covered the role of biomarkers for early detection and what treatment strategies are being trialled in Parkinson's.

Biography

Professor Dexter joined Parkinson’s UK as Associate Research Director, overseeing scientific programmes, in March 2017. In April 2023 David was promoted to Director of Research at Parkinson’s UK. As Director, he is responsible for the charities grants programmes, strategic partnerships, research communications and patient involvement programmes. He is also the biology lead for Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech, the drug discovery arm of Parkinson’s UK. David has 38 years research experience in Parkinson’s disease research, 23 years of which was spent at Imperial College London where he was Professor of Neuropharmacology and Deputy Head of The Division of Brain Sciences.

YouTube Video

Professor Dexter's talk was recorded and can be found on our dedicated Youtube channel or as an embedded video below. Enjoy!

Current Chemistry investigates the Movies

On 28 and 29 September RSC Belgium welcomed Dr John O'Donoghue of Trinity College Dublin and colleagues to Brussels to deliver some Current Chemistry Investigators school workshops and give a reprise of his 'Chemistry in the Movies' talk at our 2023 Chemistry Challenge prize giving event on the evening of  28 September.

The idea of a workshop tour with John had been in the RSC Belgium planning for a few years now, but various interruptions - not least due to the COVID pandemic - had got in the way. However, despite the last minute intervention of Storm Agnes, we eventually were able get him, along with colleagues Dr Fiona McArdle of the Atlantic Technological University Sligo and Dr Natalia Garcia Domenech from Trinity, to Brussels in 2023.

Current Chemistry Investigators 

John (pictured below) and the team conducted four workshops during their time in Belgium: two at the British School of Brussels (BSB) in Tervuren on 28 September and two at St. Johns International School in Waterloo on 29 September.

The workshops provided the students with hands-on activities based on simple electrochemistry and electroanalytical concepts through tangible scientific role models. It also provides researchers with valuable and beneficial experience in science communication, to help them develop skills to share their research to wider audiences. The project looks to create an appreciation for the role of chemistry research in everyday life, increasing interest in this vital area for the benefit of everyone’s future.

The Current Chemistry Investigators initiative is an informal education and public engagement project developed by Trinity College Dublin and the Atlantic Technological University Sligo to spark conversations with schools and community groups about the science of energy storage and chemical analysis. The project was developed through funding provided by the Science Foundation Ireland.

Cinematic science

On the evening of 28 September John gave us an updated and in-person version of his 'Chemistry in the Movies' lecture in the Brel Theatre at BSB.

This mixed media talk will took a scientific and filmographic look at how chemists and chemistry have been portrayed in the movies and on TV. Short clips and graphics were used to talk about the topic in an engaging and light-hearted format. The movies chosen for this discussion are based around a number of themes like problem solving, plot devices, chemical companies and people. Details about where and how to access the relevant movies were  also be provided (Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Youtube, Apple etc).

About John

John is the RSC Education Coordinator in the School of Chemistry at Trinity College Dublin. He coordinates the education and public engagement course for PhD researchers and teaches a “chemistry in society” module for undergraduate students. On behalf of the Royal Society of Chemistry he also supports trainee and established science teachers through the provision of continuous professional development workshops and the development of new teaching resources.

Chemistry Challenge 2023 results announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2023 were announced at our event on 28 September with Dr John O’Donoghue at the British School of Brussels (BSB) in Tervuren. This year the Challenge resumed its usual ‘in-schools’ format after two years as a virtual event due to the COVID pandemic and BSB students claimed the majority of the prizes!

For the 2023 Challenge, seven schools took part (four European Schools and three International Schools) with a total of 74 students participating. This was a most encouraging number, but still under pre-COVID levels. We look forward to increased numbers for the 2024 edition of the Challenge.

As ever, the Challenge was designed to test students’ chemical knowledge and initiative. This year most students found Section A questions particularly taxing apart from some True/False questions.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

- A chemistry multiple choice paper (Section A)

- A structured questions on chemistry (Section B), and

- A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based (Section C)

The top results were as follows:

Section A - Multiple choice

First prize for this section was won by Andrei Vascan from BSB who received a €50 award.

In joint second place were Hanseo Lee (far left below) and Annette Liflander (right below) also from BSB who each won €25 and, making a clean sweep for BSB, the third prize of €10 went to Kerem Teker (left below) from BSB.

Section B - Structured questions

In this section the first prize of €50 was awarded also won by Andrei Vascan of BSB with Laura Bartelloni (pictured right below) and Marianne Moody from BSB both picking up second prizes of €25. A third prize of €10 were awarded to Fanziska Vogel (left below) also of BSB.

Section C - Thinking Matters

Breaking the trend in this section, the top prize of €50 went to Melinda Koch of European School 1 in Luxembourg (ESL1) with Marianne Moody also claiming a €50 prize for BSB.

In second place was Alec Muller (pictured left above) of BSB winning him €25 and two third prizes worth €10 each were awarded to Annette Liflander and Aimee Willey (right above) both from BSB.

The Keith Price Prize

With a first prize in both Section A and Section B, this year's Keith Price Prize was claimed by Andrei Vascan (pictured below with RSC Belgium chair Prof Bob Crichton), who received an additional €100.

Well done to everyone who took part in this year's Chemistry Challenge! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. And, of course, we will be running the Challenge again in 2024 and look forward to further widening participation!