Causes for optimism

The new RSC President is in a positive mood. Dave Garner, Professor of Biological Inorganic Chemistry at Nottingham University, took up the two-year presidential position after the Annual General Meeting in July. "We've just had an excellent Council meeting where we looked across all the activities of the organisation. Although there are some major challenges facing us, I believe the RSC is in a strong position to address these."

Dave Garner is keen to exploit synergies throughout the organisation. "A major strength of the RSC is the ability of staff and members to combine their expertise and viewpoints to work together. Chemists are capable of thinking in a joined-up way and to maximise the positive effects of this."

There are four main areas that he would like to concentrate on during his presidency: education, publicity, research funding and supporting industry.

Education

For Dave Garner, ensuring high quality, well-funded secondary and tertiary education is one of the foremost priorities for the RSC. Well-taught school pupils result in a healthy pool of chemistry undergraduates who then feed into the supply chain for trained chemists.
With UK business having powerful economic reasons to move their research bases overseas, the UK needs to produce high calibre scientists to stay competitive.

However, to inspire the next generation, more well qualified and highly motivated chemists must go into teaching. The lack of specialist science teachers, particularly at 'A' level, has been a major concern for some time.

He acknowledges that there is little the RSC can do on its own to persuade more graduates into teaching. "We need to convince the government to do more to help, which is why the RSC must concentrate on targeting messages to the appropriate people."

Getting the right messages out

The new President welcomes the enhanced publicity that the RSC has been generating over the past few years. One of the main target groups is policy makers - they need to be made fully aware of the major contributions that chemists and the chemical industry make to the economy.

He believes government departments could benefit from more joined up thinking of their own, to fully appreciate how investing education and research leads to a stronger industrial base. 

Some messages about the importance of science do seem to be getting through, with the UK government recently approving a 2.7% real rise (above the rate of inflation) in funding for science. He sees this as a welcome result, given the current economic gloom. 

Research funding challenges

The new model of funding adopted by the research councils, notably the EPSRC, represents a challenge for research chemists and we will have to adapt in order to compete effectively against other scientists for more of the 'funding pie'. 

The EPSRC has asked chemists to identify Grand Challenges in their area - ambitious large-scale projects with potential for great economic or societal impact. The RSC is currently charting similar areas with its Roadmap project.
Solving such challenges will require large groups of chemists working with each other and with colleagues in other disciplines. The RSC can help by encouraging cooperation at science interfaces. 

The President feels that chemists can succeed in this new environment, given the significant increase in interdisciplinary research that many are already involved in. 

But there are issues to be monitored. "With all the changes in the pattern of funding, it is vital that adequate resources are provided to permit original 'blue skies' research and enable young scientists to successfully initiate their research careers."

Industry outlook

As well as adapting their research teams, UK chemists will have to respond to the changing conditions in industry. Some of the effects can be ameliorated by ensuring that we have the best trained chemists possible and that the UK government and the EU do all they can to support their local chemical industry.

But while the large multinationals may relocate some of their centres overseas, the President is excited about the rise in SMEs and the growing number of academics taking out patents. "Students in these labs see their supervisors becoming more entrepreneurial and acquire some of this spirit too. So hopefully we are breeding a culture of innovation that will produce the chemical businesses of the future."

He is particularly keen to see chemists and chemical engineers, for too long trapped in separate cultures, to combining their activities more effectively.

Working with others

As well as looking at the challenges in the UK, the RSC is working more closely with other chemical societies to advance the chemical sciences worldwide. 

The RSC is already a partner in EUCheMS, which allows over 50 European societies to speak together in Europe on chemical issues. Garner thinks that a similar approach could be adopted with other regions.

"We recently held a very successful meeting with the American Chemical Society where we agreed to work on a number of projects together. For example, they were very impressed with our Chemistry for the Future project and we will be discussing with them on pooling our research and tactics on education." 

Future joint projects could focus on targeting policy makers, perhaps at next year's G8 meeting in Italy.

Making the most of our membership

As an RSC member for over 40 years, Dave Garner recognises all the hard work done by members who give their time for free. 

He hopes to give divisions, forums and local sections encouragement, and if necessary increased resources, to enhance their activities. "I want to encourage members to do the things that they are enthusiastic about."

Throughout his Presidency, he hopes to meet as many members as possible, and is keen to hear their views. "I invite members to contact me to raise a matter of concern, or to share good news, that you consider relevant to the RSC. Together we can use our chemical knowledge, resources and enthusiasm to enhance the quality of life in this fragile world."