1. IUPAC AND WORLDWIDE ASPECTS OF THE CHEMICAL SCIENCES
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry serves as a
scientific, international, nongovernmental, objective body in addressing
the global issues involving the Chemical Sciences. In recognition
of the role of chemistry as a central science in a wide range of fields,
the term "Chemical Sciences" is used here to refer to chemistry, broadly
defined, and to those disciplines and technologies that make extensive
and significant use of chemistry.
The future mission and function of IUPAC should rest on the response
to the following current major trends in the Chemical Sciences:
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Globalization of the Scientific-Technological
Endeavor
One of the hallmarks of our era is the rapid economic, technological,
and communication expansion on the international level, which have
an outstanding impact on the enhancement and expansion of international
scientific and industrial activity in the chemical sciences.
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Changes in the Chemical Sciences and Technology
The science-technology chemistry world is undergoing a metamorphosis,
reflecting the dominance of interdisciplinary unification, with
the borders between the traditional research areas in chemistry
being eroded and the merging of basic research and industrial applications.
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Fast Expansion of the Chemical Sciences beyond
Their Traditional Borders
Modern chemistry spans the realm of material science, environmental
science, geological sciences, and biomolecular science, wherever
molecular information is central and essential. The impact of modern
chemistry on the broad fields of materials, health, and environment
is seminal.
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Mission-Oriented Service of Chemistry
It is a major responsibility of the world chemistry community to
contribute to the service of chemistry to international society
in the areas of health, environment, and education, and to global
issues of capacity building in the developing world.
With the major changes, which have occurred worldwide in chemistry
and chemical industry during the last decade, IUPAC has examined its
role, structure, and function as the organization principally responsible
for the promotion of the chemical sciences globally. IUPAC must redefine
its mission and define goals, strategies, and an operational mode
to guide its approach and future contributions to the shaping of the
chemical sciences in a rapidly changing world.
The two years since our last General Assembly have been active for
IUPAC. In the realm of our Science Policy, the major events were the
adoption of the Strategic Plan; the approval by the Bureau in September
1998 of the reorganization of the management of IUPAC's scientific
work, changing the Union's scientific structure from one based on
permanent commissions to one based on projects; the changes in the
responsibilities of the Division Presidents and Division Committees;
the establishment of three interdisciplinary interdivisional committees;
and the establishment and implementation of project approval and evaluation
processes.
Concurrently, the Union's scientific-industrial activities, which
should and will rest on the principles of quality, relevance, and
international dimensions, were perpetuated. These involve implementation
of the Union's new policy in the organization of the world-class IUPAC
Congress in Berlin next week and the initiation of the new program
on Conferences on New Directions in Chemistry, with the organization
of the first Workshop on Advanced Materials, together with the sponsoring
of 45 Symposia and Conferences in 1998-1999.
The Union's regular activities in contributing to the language and
scientific-industrial framework of chemistry continued with the publication
of 22 recommendations and reports in our official Journal, Pure
and Applied Chemistry, publication of nine books, and the important
publication of a special issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry
on the topic of Environmental Oestrogens, one of considerable industrial
impact.
In the context of activities with international societal impact,
the Union continued the CHEMRAWN Conferences program. IUPAC held a
joint, most fruitful, meeting with the African Association for Pure
and Applied Chemistry on Chemistry in the Development of Africa. In
dissemination of information, the publication of six issues annually
of the Union's bimonthly news magazine, Chemistry International, highlighted
current activities and general policy issues.
The IUPAC web site was greatly expanded. The web site not only contains
all the material in the IUPAC Handbook, but also a list and description
of the current projects being worked on by IUPAC Commissions and Committees,
current contact information for members of IUPAC bodies, a complete
list of IUPAC publications, title pages of recent issues of Pure
and Applied Chemistry, and the complete text of recent issues
of Chemistry International.
The web site already contributes toward the establishment of the electronic
communications highway in less developed countries in Africa. The
IUPAC web site has generated e-mail messages from many parts of the
world, including Africa.
