The Morpheus Cup is back in Luxembourg

The fifth edition of the largest European Universities & Graduate Schools Championship will take place in Luxembourg City on May 22nd2019 at the European Convention Center. Supported by the European Commission since its first edition, held in 2015, the Morpheus Cup has attracted hundreds of students from campuses all over Europe, with the ambition of tackling the upcoming talent shortage. 

After being held in Paris in 2018, the European event returns to the Grand Duchy, where the competition began. The event already attracted more than 200 campuses and awarded many of them including Warsaw School of Economics, Mannheim Business School, HEC Paris, Autonomous University of Barcelona, University of Oxford, as well as students from Luxembourg, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and many other countries.  

The championship is divided into two sections, the Morpheus Prize, a remote call for projects, and the Morpheus Day, a full day of live challenges: students can decide whether they participate in one or both parts. This championship is a great opportunity for students to challenge themselves, showcase their skills in front of influential personalities and industry experts at European scale; gaining self confidence and credibility for their idea.   

The Morpheus Prize requires participants to submit a project or startup idea online by April 7th.  

Finalists will have the opportunity to pitch in front of an international jury composed of renowned personalities in tech, digital, business and sciences. Past editions welcomed jury members from Google Lunar XPrize, WarnerBros, Accenture, European Investment Fund, FC Barcelona, ESA, Canal+, Novak Djokovic Foundation, Alibaba, Forbes France, etc. This year's projects will focus on the notably growing tech fields, including Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Customer Experience, FinTech, HealthTech, E-commerce, HRTech, Augmented and Virtual Reality.  

The Morpheus Day invites students to participate in a full day of themed challenges and to solve business questions designed by international employers and brands on specific topics, including: Technology & ICT, Business, Marketing, Science & Engineering, Creative industries.  

Registration for students and recent graduates (less than 12 months) is now open on the Morpheus Cup website (http://www.morpheuscup.com/register-now) and it is completely free of charge. Moreover, the initial list of partners, jury members and employers will be unveiled soon online. 

The Top Reasons For Students to Participate in The Championship  

• It is the largest European Universities & Graduate Schools' Championship. 
• Chance to boost knowledge and develop an innovative project during the Morpheus Prize.
• Represent your School and Country internationally during the Morpheus Day. 
• Chance to showcase skills in front of leading brands looking for talents and renowned international judges. 
• Network and exchange ideas with European counterparts. 
• Free access to ICT Spring, the global Tech conference featuring renowned professionals in their fields.   
• Chance to win different awards, boost soft skills, and gain credibility and awareness for your idea/project.
  
  

About the Morpheus Cup  

One of a kind, the Morpheus Cup, organised by Farvest Group invites the greatest talents among European students to compete together through innovative projects and a day of themed challenges. More than 200 campuses from over 20 countries have sent their teams or projects supported by 80 employers and innovative brands.   

More information: http://www.morpheuscup.com

David Spichiger, SCS
13.02.2019

Do you know the European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN)?

The European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN) is the young division of the European Chemical Society (EuChemS), which gathers chemists under the age of 35 that belong to a European fellow society. The EYCN was founded in 2006. The idea of the EYCN within EuChemS appeared during several meetings of young scientists in Europe. On 31^stof August 2006, during the 1^stEuropean Chemistry Congress (ECC) in Budapest, a paper was written entitled “Aims, Tasks and Goals of EYCN”. In March 2007, Jens Breffke (Germany) and Csaba Janáky (Hungary) invited all societies to send their young representatives to Berlin in order to set the rules of the EYCN, which were later confirmed by the Executive Committee of EuChemS. Meanwhile, the EYCN reached out to all young chemists within the European Chemical Society framework to exchange knowledge, experiences and ideas.

Purpose of the EYCN

The EYCN has a board with four individual teams (Membership Team, Networks Team, Science Team and Communication Team) that have specific responsibilities, and each is managed by a Team Leader. 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 (best poster and best oral presentation prizes, the European Young Chemist Award - EYCA), exchange programs (congress fellowships, Young Chemists Crossing Borders - YCCB program) and educational activities (conferences, Career Days, soft-skills symposiums). 

How can you interact and profit from EYCN

(i) If you are organizing an event for young chemists please let us know at 

(ii) The EYCN issues a monthly newsletter. You can subscribe to it by filling in the online subscription form.

(iii) Become a board member of the Swiss Young Chemists' Association and activly participate as Swiss delegate at EYCN activities. Contact Jovana and Amin (EPFL) or Dmitry Vasilyev (EPFL) if you are interested.

(iv) check out other activities of EYCN on the website https://www.euchems.eu/divisions/european-young-chemists-network/

Network

It is important to say that the EYCN successfully collaborates with other early-career chemistry networks in Europe and beyond. It has built a particularly fruitful collaboration with the American Chemical Society - Younger Chemists Committee (ACS-YCC) and is now actively cooperating with the International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN).

In addition to the financial support from EuChemS, the EYCN has been supported for many years by EVONIK Industries.

Reaxys PhD Prize 2019 is open for submission. Deadline is March 22, 2019

The Reaxys PhD Prize recognizes accomplished young chemists for innovative and rigorous research. This global competition is open to anyone who is doing or has recently completed a PhD in any discipline of chemistry. Discover more about the world's highest accolade for ambitious early-career chemistry researchers. 

Eligibility

To enter, you must meet the following rules and requirements:

• You must currently be in a PhD program or have completed your PhD after January 1, 2018
• Your PhD topic must be within the chemical sciences. All areas of research are considered eligible.
• Only one candidate per research group can apply.
• You must submit your completed application on this platform.

What are the submission requirements?

Your application must include:

• An example of an accepted, peer-reviewed article that primarily showcases your work. NOTE: If you have previously applied, you must submit a new paper that features new and innovative research.
• Your curriculum vitae or résumé
• A personal statement
• A letter of recommendation from your PhD supervisor, including an overview of your qualifications, details of your achievements during your PhD studies, and a clear description of your role

Deadline

Please submit your application until March 22, 2019

Where can I get more information?

Visit our new webpage Reaxys PhD Prize and follow us on social media to stay informed.

David Spichiger, SCS
18.01.2019

2019 Chemistry Travel Award: Call open until March 31

Through the «Chemistry Travel Award», contributions towards the cost of participation at an international conference in the chemical sciences are granted to selected PhD students. The award is sponsored by the «Platform Chemistry» of the SCNAT and the Swiss Chemical Society. 

2019 «Chemistry Travel Award»

The award includes a contribution of CHF 1'000 towards the cost of an active participation (poster or oral presentation) at an international conference of three days or more between 15 May 2019 and 14 May 2020 in any field of the chemical sciences. Up to 48 awards will be distributed to selected doctoral students from Swiss research institutions. Selection will be based primarily on scientific accomplishments and on the submitted conference abstract.

• Only applications in English will be considered.
• The award can only be won once in a lifetime – winners of previous years are excluded.
• There is no limitation of winners per research group.
• The award money will be paid upon presentation of a confirmation of attendance from the conference.

The results will be communicated as soon as possible (around end-April).

The application package (as a single PDF file in the above order) should be submitted using the online application form before the deadline of 31 March 2019.

The award can only be won once in a lifetime – winners of previous years are excluded. There is no limitation of winners per research group.

Further information as well as the application form can be found at: www.chemistry.scnat.ch/travel_award

David Spichiger, SCS
11.01.2019