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.

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, 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.
Chair: Antonio M. Rodríguez García ; Secretary: Maximilian Menche ; Treasurer: Jelena Lazić , Carina Crucho ; Communication team leader: Maxime Rossato ; Global connection team leader: Lieke van Gijzel ; Membership team leader: Miguel Steiner ; Networks team leader: Jovana V. Milic ; Science team leader: Katarina Josifovska , Robert-Andrei Țincu ; Advisor: Alice Soldà
Chair: Alice Soldà ; Secretary: Torsten John ; Communication team leader: Xseniia Otvagina ; Membership team leader: Jelena Lazić ; Networks team leader: Victor Mougel ; Science team leader: Hanna Makowska ; Advisor: Fernando Gomollón-Bel
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.
Chair: Fernando Gomollón-Bel ; Secretary: Camille Oger ; Science team leader: Oana Fronoiu ; Communication team leader: Sarah Newton ; Networks team leader: Michael Terzidis ; Membership team leader: Emanuel Ehmki
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.
Chair: Frédérique Backaert ; Secretary: Aurora Walshe ; Scientific team leader: Vladimir Ene ; External communication team leader: Lisa Phelan ; Membership team leader: Koert Wijnbergen ; Networks team leader: Anna Stefaniuk-Grams
Key achievement: First participation of the EYCN at the EuCheMS Chemistry Congress in Istanbul, Turkey in 2014.
Chair: Cristina Todasca ; Secretary: Aurora Walshe
Key achievement: The EYCN was for the first time organized into teams, each with its own leader and delegates as team members.
Chair: Viviana Fluxa ; Secretary: Cristina Todasca ; Relationship with industries: Lineke Pelleboer ; External communication: Guillaume Poisson ; Membership and internal communication: Aurora Walshe ; Website designer: Magorzata Zaitz
Key achievements: Development of the EYCN's website and active participation at the 3rd EuCheMS Chemistry Congress in Nürnberg in 2010.
Chair: Sergej Toews ; Secretary: Helena Laavi ; Relationship with industry: Viviana Fluxa ; Communications: Dan Dumitrescu ; Scientific affairs: Ilya Vorotyntsev
Key achievement: The corporate identity of the EYCN was developed.
Chair: Csaba Janáky ; Secretary: Emma Dumphy ; Treasurer: Juan Luis Delgado de la Cruz ; Sponsor relations officer: Jens Breffke
Key achievement: Creation of the EYCN in Berlin from the representatives of 12 Chemical Societies representatives.