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President's Report on the State of the Union

3. INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES AND HORIZONTAL PROGRAMS

The response of IUPAC to important developments in modern chemical sciences requires promotion of interdisciplinary activities and closing of gaps in the scientific activities of the Union, particularly in the areas of Material Sciences and of Biological Chemistry. Three interdisciplinary, interdivisional programs were established in the areas of biomolecular chemistry, materials, and environmental chemistry. For each of these horizontal programs, one or two Divisions assume the primary responsibility for planning and execution of projects.

The Division of Organic Chemistry (III) has taken the lead in organizing work on biomolecular chemistry. The first product of this interdisciplinary effort is a microsymposium at the IUPAC Congress: Novel Porphyrinoids and their metal complexes. The lectures cover a broad range of subjects, from synthesis to biomimetic models to new materials to biomedical applications.

The Macromolecular Division and the Inorganic Chemistry Division have commenced a Strategic Initiative in Materials, to coordinate new and existing projects on materials science that require expertise from more than one IUPAC Division, and to act as a worldwide point of reference for issues related to materials science and IUPAC. An extensive outreach program has been undertaken, with an appeal for comments on what topics should be included in a future program of work in this area being published in a large number of national chemical magazines as well as in Chemistry International and on the IUPAC web site.

The Division of Chemistry and the Environment has taken the lead in coordinating the environmentally related activities of IUPAC. One example of this coordination effort is the organization of two special satellite meetings of the Congress jointly with the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker: "Contributions of Chemistry to Ameliorating Environmental Contamination" and "Contributions of Chemistry to Sustainable Food Production". These seminars will be held on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, 11-12 August, at the Freie Universit�t of Berlin.



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