European Young Chemists' Network
The European Young Chemists' Network is the young division of the European Chemical Society, and aims at promoting chemistry among young people, under the age of 35, that belong to a fellow European society.
History
Founded in 2006, the idea for a European Young Chemists' Network within EuChemS was formed during several young scientist meetings in Europe. On the 31st August 2006, during the 1st European Chemistry Congress in Budapest, a paper was written entitled Aims, Tasks and Goals of EYCN, which was seen to be the foundation of the EYCN.In March 2007, Jens Breffke and Csaba Janaky invited all societies to send their young representatives to Berlin in order to set the rules of EYCN. These were later confirmed by the executive committee of EuChemS. Meanwhile, EYCN reached out to all young chemists within the European Chemical Society framework to exchange knowledge, experiences and ideas. Since its establishment, chemical societies from 28 countries have elected young chemists-delegates to represent their young divisions at the EYCN.
Organization
The EYCN consists of a board with three executive board members and five complementary teams that have their own responsibilities, and each is managed by a team leader. The Delegate Assembly, a meeting of the national chemical societies' representatives, takes place annually and the board members and the team leaders are elected biennially. Being one of the most active divisions of EuChemS, the EYCN's main goal is to support and mentor students, early career researchers and professionals through awards, exchange programs and educational activities.The EYCN successfully collaborates with other early-career chemistry networks both within and outside of Europe. It has built a particularly prolific collaboration with the American Chemical Society - Younger Chemists Committee since 2010 and is actively cooperating with the International Younger Chemists Network.
In addition to the financial support from EuChemS, the EYCN is also supported by the EVONIK Industries.
Projects and Events
In order to bring science closer to a broader audience, the EYCN organizes the photography contest Photochimica since 2016, in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and the video contest Chemistry Rediscovered.The EYCN organizes also a variety of different events, including the biennial international conference European Young Chemists' Meeting, a symposium at the biennial ECC and the annual DA. There have been 15 DAs so far since the first in 2006 in Budapest, Hungary.
EYCN Board compositions
From 2006 to 2013 the EYCN Board and the relative teams were randomly changed every one to three years. After 2013, elections took place every two years. Each EYCN Board has improved the EYCN impact through several key contributions.- 2021–2023
- 2019-2021
Key achievements: Creation of a variety of webinar events and the EYCN podcast. Beginning of science policy interactions with EU institutions and stakeholders.
- 2017-2019
Key achievements: The webpage "" providing the basic information about chemistry in the academic and industrial field across Europe and the EYCN YouTube channel were established. The 2nd European Young Chemists' Meeting was organized in collaboration with the JCF Bremen.
- 2015–2017
Key achievements: The rules for the election process of the EYCN board and the attendance to the DA were established and the publication of a monthly was decided.
- 2013–2015
Key achievement: First participation of the EYCN at the EuCheMS Chemistry Congress in Istanbul, Turkey in 2014.
- 2012–2013
Key achievement: The EYCN was for the first time organized into teams, each with its own leader and delegates as team members.
- 2010–2012
Key achievements: Development of the EYCN's website and active participation at the 3rd EuCheMS Chemistry Congress in Nuremberg, 2010.
- 2009–2010
Key achievement: The corporate identity of the EYCN was developed.
- 2006–2009
Key achievement: Creation of the EYCN in Berlin from the representatives of 12 Chemical Societies.