Happy Commonwealth Day 2025 to all across the Commonwealth! In celebration of this important day, we provide an overview of the successes of Commonwealth Chemistry over the last 12 months.
As a reminder, Commonwealth Chemistry is a federation of chemical sciences societies across the Commonwealth, established in 2020. Representing 27 member societies from 26 Commonwealth nations, the organization is dedicated to advancing the chemical sciences through collaboration, education, and innovation. By fostering international cooperation among chemists, chemical engineers, and related professionals, Commonwealth Chemistry works to address global challenges and promote sustainable development through chemistry.
The last 12 months has been packed full of activity and we wanted to share a few highlights.
New President-Elect and Executive Board members for Commonwealth Chemistry
Dr Michael Forde (Trinidad and Tobago) began his term as President-Elect at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May 2024. He will take over as President of Commonwealth Chemistry at the next Commonwealth Chemistry Congress taking place in May this year when our current President Neil Coville (South Africa) will complete his term. We were also delighted to confirm the appointments of Ale Palermo (United Kingdom), Sarah Masters (New Zealand) and Ireshika De Silva (Sri Lanka) who began their terms as Executive Board Members in May 2024.
We have very recently concluded the 2025 Elections of Commonwealth Chemistry, which saw representatives of our 27 Society Members vote for their preferred candidates to serve as new Executive Board members. In addition to the elected representatives, the Commonwealth Chemistry Nominations Committee have appointed two new members to the Executive Board, further strengthening our Federation’s leadership across the Commonwealth. Our new Board members are as follow:
- Dr Genevieve Adukpo, Ghana (Elected Executive Board member)
- Dr Yang Farina Abdul Aziz, Malaysia (Elected Executive Board member)
- Professor Govindasamy Mugesh, India (Appointed Executive Board member)
- Professor Oluwole Familoni, Nigeria (Appointed Executive Board member)
Our new Executive Board members will begin their terms at the May 2025 Annual General Meeting of Commonwealth Chemistry.
5th Commonwealth Chemistry Posters Event
The 5th Commonwealth Chemistry Posters event in September marked a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to highlighting emerging scientific talent. The virtual event brought together over 200 early-career researchers from 37 countries across the Commonwealth, providing a platform for young scientists to present their ground-breaking research to a distinguished international audience.
The event not only celebrated scientific achievement but also facilitated critical networking opportunities. Young researchers had the chance to engage with established professionals, forming collaborative partnerships that could shape future scientific developments.
The posters in our online gallery were visited over 6000 times and 25 poster prize winners from 16 Commonwealth countries were identified thanks to our 31 expert judges. Over the last five years, almost 1,000 individuals from more than 30 countries have presented their research attended by more than 2,500 people. This virtual event is establishing itself as an annual fixture in a growing calendar of virtual events.
Commonwealth Chemistry Executive Board Meeting in India
The Commonwealth Chemistry Executive Board held an in-person meeting in Kanpur, India in September. The Board, composed of 13 expert chemical scientists from 12 different Commonwealth countries, came together to discuss strategic initiatives and future directions for Commonwealth Chemistry. The meeting enabled important progress to be made on securing the long-term financial sustainability of the Federation, selecting the 2027 Commonwealth Chemistry Congress host, and identifying ways to better engage member societies.
Commonwealth Chemistry Congress
The 3rd Commonwealth Chemistry Congress will take place on 11-14 May 2025 in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Now only two months away, we are very excited to bring together 225 delegates from 37 Commonwealth countries. The group of delegates includes 115 Early Career Chemists, 31 speakers from 16 countries, and close to 40 senior representatives of chemical societies across the Commonwealth. The event will feature UN Sustainable Development Goals-focussed scientific themes, poster presentations from our Early Career Chemists, as well as sessions on scientific leadership, open access publishing, Machine Learning and AI, transformation of chemical industry and on gender equality and reduced inequalities.
Following a competitive process, we are thrilled to announce the 2027 Commonwealth Chemistry Congress will take place in Agra, India, and will be hosted jointly by The Chemical Research Society of India and Indian Chemical Society.
Early Career Network (ECN) events
Our Early Career Network, launched in 2023, organised 3 webinars in 2024 including “Empowerment of Women Chemists in Commonwealth Countries”, “Fostering Research Collaboration and Networking” and “Accessing Advanced National Laboratory Facilities”, for which all recordings are available on-demand to all using the links. The webinars have collectively attracted over 600 registrants from 33 countries. The ECN Committee is planning new webinars on topics of interest to early career scientists for 2025.