(Written by Dr. Zheng Jiang and Dr. Chen Wu, Oxford)
At the Science and Technology Section of the People’s Republic China Embassy in the United Kingdom (London), the UK Section of the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS-UK) was officially opened on Nov 12, 2011. More than 30 attendees across the UK Chemistry and Chemical Engineering community participated in the opening ceremony, where distinguished guests and professors from academia and industry as well as science officials of the Chinese Embassy expressed their warmest congratulations to the establishment of the CCS-UK.
The Opening Ceremony of CCS-UK in London (12 November, 2011)
The president of the Chinese Society of Chemical Science and Technology in the UK (CSCST-UK) and the first John-Houghton Research Fellow of Sustainable Energy at Oxford Jesus College, Dr. JIANG Zheng, opened the CCS-UK and chaired the event on behalf of the CSCST-UK. Dr. Jiang welcomed the establishment of CCS-UK under the umbrella of CSCST-UK, appreciated the support from the Chinese Embassy and members of CSCST-UK and CCS. He briefly introduced the history of CSCST-UK and CCS, and the successful collaborations in the past 18 years of both organisations. The establishment of CCS-UK reflects the increasing influence of the Chinese community of chemist and chemical engineers from both China and the UK; the latter are now much represented by the well-recognised reputation of the CSCST-UK. The organisation will further broaden and improve the collaborations between the science communities in both China and UK. He said, the CSCST-UK could not make such achievements without the tremendous efforts from the founders of the CSCST, the support from the Chinese Embassy, solid partnership with Society of Chemical Industrial (SCI), as well as the endeavours from its 500 members and generous sponsors, such as Akzonobel, Shanghai Pujing, etc. Finally, he expressed his best wishes and strong support to the CCS-UK.
The Minister Counsellor of the Science and Technology Section of PRC Embassy in UK (London), Dr. Chen Futao, gave his warm congratulations to the CCS-UK and addressed the extensive collaborations between the Chinese chemical scholars in the UK and China, who have always played key roles in the bilateral collaborations in the fields of chemical science and engineering. Dr. Chen also highly valued the contributions and achievements by the members of the CSCST-UK in the past decades, which exhibited the intellectual value, diligence, and brilliant personality of Chinese chemical scholars. He is happy to know that the CSCST-UK is now developed to be the largest overseas Chinese chemical society in the western world from the first professional overseas Chinese society in the UK. He wishes the CCS-UK a continued success alongside CSCST-UK.
Following Dr. Chen’s speech, Dr. Dongsheng Wen, Reader in Future Energy in Queen Mary University of London and the nominated leader of the CCS-UK, described the working mechanism of the CCS-UK. The CCS-UK is the 2nd overseas branch of the CCS but the 1st formal overseas section, which will be co-operated by CSCST-UK and CCS. One of the main focuses of this newly established organization is to strength the academic collaborations, especially across different disciplinary, between UK and China via a number of channels such as collaborative project and PhD co-supervision.
Representing the initiators of the CCS-UK, Prof. Zhengxiao Guo, Pro-Provost of University College London, brought us back to the rich and coloured history of chemistry and major achievements made by Chinese and British in human history. He emphasises that the rising Chinese chemistry community and the strong base of chemical science in the UK forms a natural bond in catalysing major scientific discovery and innovation. Prof. Guo hopes, the CCS-UK would facilitate the China-UK bilateral communications and collaborations in chemical research and education.
On behalf the co-founders of the CSCST-UK, Prof. Zhanfeng Cui, Head of Oxford Chemical Engineering and the first Chinese professor at the University of Oxford, looked back to the history of CSCST-UK. He highlighted the contributions and long time partnership and friendship between the CSCST-UK and the SCI. He hopes that the CCS-UK, as a sub-department of the CSCST-UK, may actively assist CSCST-UK and be more involved to develop the important relationship among CSCST-UK, CCS, SCI and other organisations.
Prof. Peter P. Edwards, Head of Oxford Inorganic Chemistry Department and Fellow of the Royal Society, delivered his best wishes to CSCST-UK and CCS-UK. Prof. Edwards addressed the historic achievements and the international collaborations in chemistry by British and Chinese Chemists. He also encouraged bilateral collaborations between the CSCST-UK and the new branch of CCS in tackling the great challenges to the mankind: the sustainable development.
Both Dr. Dale Laidler, head of the Communications Department of AkzoNobel, and Dr. Cigang Xu, chairman of the SCI-CS, gave their warmest congratulations and best wishes to the CCS-UK. They both expressed their support to CCS-UK under the collaboration framework with the CSCST-UK.
The opening ceremony concluded with active discussions among the hosts and attendees. It marked a solid step for the promising future of the CCS-UK.
The CSCST-UK reserves all rights for modification.