Minutes of the 34th General Assembly of the SCS

June 7, 2024, 13:00-13:30, University of Basel, Biozentrum. The minutes are published in CHIMIA 7-8/2024 and on the website.

1. Welcome; Approval of the Agenda

During the lunch break of the SCS Spring Meeting, Christian Bochet, President, and David Spichiger, Executive Director, opened the assembly and welcomed all members/attendees. The agenda was approved.

2. Election of the Vote Counter

At the beginning of the meeting, 34 SCS members were present and by the end of the meeting, 48 participants had attended the meeting. The meeting unanimously confirmed Marie-Désirée Schlemper-Scheidt and Richard Smith as vote counters.

3. Minutes from the 33^rd GA from April 14, 2023

The minutes were published in CHIMIA (2023, 77, No. 5, A357f).
The minutes were approved unanimously and without abstention.

4. Annual Report 2023

The annual report was published in CHIMIA (2024, 78, No. 1-2, A90ff). It was approved unanimously.

5. Financial Report 2023 and Audit Report

David Spichiger presented the financial statement. Operating incomes of CHF 1’854’196 and operating expenses of CHF -1’958’332 result in an operating loss before taxes of CHF -104’136. The portfolio at Bank von Graffenried followed the trend of the financial markets and contributed a surplus of +172’739. Considering taxes, non-periodic income, cost allocation to the funds and the building of 100’000 asset fluctuation buffer an operating loss of CHF -58’133 resulted.
The assets of all SCS funds increased by CHF + 72’971, including the new fund from the dissolved SASP.
As of 31.12.2023 the assets summed up to CHF 4’879’768.

Audit Report:
In the audit report from May 10, 2024, provided by BDO AG, Bern, no inconsistencies are mentioned, and the financial statement fulfills the legal requirements according to the SCS bylaws and the Swiss Civil law.

The assembly approved the financial statement 2023 and the audit report unanimously with no abstention.

6. Discharge the Organs of the Society

The assembly discharged the board members and the financial audit unanimously with five abstentions (board members).

7a. Elections: SCS Executive Board, ExB (and BoD)

The assembly confirmed unanimously the re-election of the following ExB members for the period 2025-2026:

• Christian Bochet, University of Fribourg, as president and member with signing rights in twos
• Yves Auberson, Novartis, as vice-president and member with signing rights in twos.

7b. Elections: SCS Board of Directors, BoD, and Financial Audit

The assembly confirmed the proposal of the respective divisions and elected the following persons into the board as members without signing rights:

• Davide Bleiner, University of Zurich, DAS President
• Fides Benfatti, Syngenta, DMCCB President
• Niklaus Künzle, Lonza, DIAC President
• Maksym Kovalenko, ETH Zurich, DMC President.

All elected persons accepted their election.

The following BoD member stepped down and the entry in the commercial register will be deleted with immediate effect.

• Eric Bakker, University of Geneva.
• Jean-Louis Reymond, University of Bern
• Roger Marti, HEIA Fribourg
• Esther Amstad, EPFL Lausanne

By the end of 2024 the following person will step down:

• Christophe Copéret, ETH Zurich

Christophe Copéret's seat will not be appointed for the time being and will remain vacant from January 1, 2025.

The assembly confirmed BDO AG, Bern unanimously as audit instance for the financials 2024.

8. Membership Fees

The annual membership fees 2025 were approved unanimously:

• Regular member: CHF 150.00
• Student member: CHF 50.00
• Retired member / unemployed members: CHF 80.00
• Institutional member (institutions): CHF 800.00
• SCS Partnership (institutions): CHF 3’000.00

Additional Fees for Divisions

• Industrial & Applied Chemistry: Regular CHF 20.00, Company CHF 100.00
• Photochemistry Section: Regular CHF 40.00, Student CHF 20.00

15% discount on collective memberships for academic research groups.

9. News and Strategic Projects

The Board of Directors decided on the following, strategic initiatives that will be pushed in the coming months:

• Review event portfolio to ensure relevance and quality
• Digitalize CHIMIA journals 1947-1989
• Establish SCS mentoring program
• Collaborate with Apprentas for non-formal education curricula
• Push IRISS and SSbD in Switzerland
• Further develop Ilmac Basel/Lausanne as an international platform for chemistry and life sciences
• Replace SCS membership database 

10.Event Outlook 2024

• In 2024 twenty-five conferences and symposia took place or will take place under the direct organization of SCS. In addition, five SCS Lectureship are planned and a dozen of smaller, local, events will be organized.
• The list of SCS events is available on https://scg.ch/events.

Planned Events 2025

• Swiss Snow Symposium, Jan 16-18, 2025
• EFMC-ISCB 2025, Basel, Jan. 29-31, 2025
• Swiss Industrial Chemistry Symposium, Basel, Jan 31, 2025
• Rigi-Workshop (SCNAT), Rigi-Kulm, Sun-Tue, Feb 2-4, 2025
• DMCCB Basel Symposium, Basel, Feb 6, 2025
• LS² Annual Meeting (LS2/DMCCB), Fribourg, Feb 13-14, 2025
• ANAKON (DAS), Leipzig, March 17-20, 2025
• CHanalysis, Beatenberg, March 19-20, 2025
• Freiburger Symposium, Fribourg, 3-4. April, 2025
• SCS Spring Meeting, Bern, April 2025 (date tbd)
• Bürgenstock Conference, Brunnen, May 4 - 8, 2025
• Ilmac 2025 Pre-Event, Basel, May 15, 2025
• SCS Seminar on IP (PhD focus), Murten, June 4-5, 2025
• Peptide Therapeutics Forum, Basel, June 5-6, 2025
• NPC, Zürich, June 2025
• Summer School on MatChem 2025, Fribourg, June 23-24, 2025
• Swiss MatChem Symposium 2025, Fribourg, June 25, 2025
• EuCOMC 2025, Bern, July 6-10, 2025
• Swiss Summer School on Organic Synthesis, Aug 17-21 or Aug 24-28, 2025
• SCS Fall Meeting, Zurich, September 4, 2025
• ChemEdu, Zurich, September 4, 2025
• Ilmac Conference Basel, Basel, Sep 16-18, 2025
• SWC Networking Event @Ilmac Basel, Sep 17, 2025
• Swiss Chemistry Science Night, Bern, Sep 19, 2025
• Biotrans2025, Basel, application in progress (date tbd)

11. Varia

No requests to speak were requested from the audience. The President thanked for the confidence and closed the meeting.

Basel, June 7, 2024

David Spichiger 
Executive Director

Prof. Christian Bochet        
President

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David Spichiger, SCS
01.06.2024

EuChemS Magazine, June 2024

EuChemS News, Policy News, Events, Awards
 
Find our monthly compilation of chemistry- and science-related European policy developments in this newsletter! You will also find EuChemS' activities and news here. Take a look at our Headline Stories or Read EuChemS Magazine online!

EuChemS News

• Young Chemists competition at ECC9 
• ECC9 coming up next month
• Chemistry graduate careers and diversity addressed by survey results
• EuChemS Secretary General attends PARC Consortium meeting

Policy News

• European Elections Conclude  
• UK’s Horizon association provides ERC with extra budget
• Critical Raw Material Act enters into force
• Commission adopts Net-Zero Industry Act

Read the full magazine on: https://www.magazine.euchems.eu/

 

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David Spichiger, SCS
18.06.2024

Invitation to the SCS General Assembly 2024

The Board of Directors invites all members of the Swiss Chemical Society and the delegates of its associated societies to join the 34^th SCS General Assembly.

SCS General Assembly 2024, June 7, 2024, 13.00–13.30 (lunch break of the SCS Spring Meeting 2024)
Biozentrum, University of Basel

 

Agenda GA 2024

1. Welcome Approval of the agenda
2. Election of the vote counters
3. Minutes of the 33^rd GA April 14, 2023, University of Zurich (published in CHIMIA Vol. 77, 5/2023, A357f  and on scg.ch)
4. Annual report 2023, published in CHIMIA 1-2/2024, A90ff  and on scg.ch
5. Financial statement 2023 and audit report (accessible for members only. Please login before clicking the link)
6. Discharge the board and  the financial audit of their duties 
7. Elections for the ExB and the BoD Election of the auditors
8. Membership Fees 2025
9. News and strategic projects
10. Outlook 2024/2025
11. Varia

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Céline Wittwer, SCS; 26.03.2024
Updated David Spichiger, SCS; 05.06.2024

SCS Scientific Award Program 2025: Call for Nominations

The call for nominations for the SCS Awards 2025 is open until September 30, 2024.
Please visit our Website for further details and hand in nominations electronically to

Werner Prize
CHF 10'000 and medal in bronze. Awarded to a promising young scientist for outstanding independent chemical research.

Sandmeyer Award
CHF 10'000 for individuals or CHF 20'000 for groups. Awarded to a person or to a group for outstanding work in industrial or applied chemistry.

SCS Industrial Science Awards
This program includes awards on three career levels with cash checks of CHF 7'000, 10'000 and 15’000. It honors active industrial scientists working in Switzerland for their outstanding contributions in industrial R&D.

Green & Sustainable Chemistry Award
CHF 10’000. Honors outstanding scientific discoveries that lay the foundation for environmentally friendly approaches and products. It is supported by Syngenta as founding partner and SusChem Switzerland as hosting institution.  

Grammaticakis-Neumann Award
CHF 5’000. The Prize is awarded to a promising young scientist for outstanding accomplishments in the field of experimental or theoreticalphotochemistry. 

Balmer Prize
CHF 2'000 for individuals and CHF 2'000 for the school’s chemistry department or CHF 3'000 for a group and CHF 1'000 for the school’s chemistry department. Awarded to a teacher working in Switzerland at high school (gymnasium) level for innovation in chemistry teaching.

Dr. Max Lüthi Award
CHF 1'000 and medal in bronze. Presented for an outstanding diploma thesis in Chemistry conducted at a Swiss University of Applied Sciences.

Simon-Widmer Award
CHF 5’000. Honors distinguished scientists for their contribution to analytical science and the education of analytical scientists.

METAS Award
CHF 5’000. Honors outstanding contribution to the field of metrology in chemistry and/or biology.

Cancer Drug Discovery Research Award
CHF 10'000 in total for 2-4 winners. The award (supported by RGCC International) honors outstanding scientific achievements of MSc, PhD students or Postdocs from Switzerland that are working in the field of cancer drug discovery research.

DIAC Fellowship
CHF 1'000 and lecture tour in Switzerland. The distinction is granted to distinguished scientists from Industry for significant contributions and innovations over many years in the field of industrial chemistry and chemical process technology in Switzerland.

scg.ch/awards

 

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Céline Wittwer, SCS
03.06.2024