Romanian Society of Rheology

The International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) is a worldwide celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind. Under the unifying theme “Chemistry – our life, our future”, IYC 2011 will offer a range of interactive, entertaining, and educational activities for all ages. The Year of Chemistry is intended to reach across the globe, with opportunities for public participation at the local, regional, and national level.

The goals of IYC2011 are to increase the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, to encourage interest in chemistry among young people, and to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry. The year 2011 will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize awarded to Madame Marie Curie – an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of women to science. The year will also be the 100th anniversary of the founding of the International Association of Chemical Societies, providing a chance to highlight the benefits of international scientific collaboration.
IYC 2011 events will emphasize that chemistry is a creative science essential for sustainability and improvements to our way of life. Activities, such as lectures, exhibits, and hands-on experiments, will explore how chemical research is critical for solving our most vexing global problems involving food, water, health, energy, transportation, and more.
In addition, the Year of Chemistry will help enhance international cooperation by serving as a focal point or information source for activities by national chemical societies, educational institutions, industry, governmental, and non-governmental organizations.
The IYC 2011 is an initiative of IUPAC, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. It involves chemical societies, academies, and institutions worldwide, and relies on individual initiatives to organize local and regional activities.

Get Involved
You can participate, too, sharing what you plan to do for IYC 2011. You are able to submit and share an idea on the official website, and record the details of the activity that you plan to host in 2011. To be eligible, an IYC activity and event must address at least one of the year’s objectives, which are as follows:

• Increase the public appreciation and understanding of chemistry in meeting world needs
• Encourage the interest of young people in chemistry
• Generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry
• Celebrate the role of women in chemistry or major historical events in chemistry, including the centenaries of Mme. Curie’s Nobel Prize and the founding of the International Association of Chemical Societies
Typical events or activities could be at the local, state, regional, or national level, and might include:
• Treating all levels of students, from preschool children to university students, to chemistry demonstrations at appropriate levels
• Organizing visits for members of the public to industrial sites, including manufacturers, chemical producers, or metal and petroleum refiners
• Publicizing the contributions that chemistry makes to the global economy by submitting articles to newspapers and magazines or developing television and radio programs
• Sponsoring poster exhibitions highlighting the usefulness and wonder of chemistry
• Organizing problem-solving projects through which students can use their knowledge of chemistry to develop solutions to local problems
• Publicizing the contributions that chemistry has made to improve lives, particularly recent developments in chemical research
• Holding career fairs at schools at which professionals show how they use chemistry in their jobs.
• Organizing hands-on activities and demonstrations to help participants gain an understanding of what it would be like to work in a chemistry-related field
• Interacting with government leaders to underscore the importance of a strong chemical enterprise

Visit the Ideas section to find out what people are thinking about, or browse the Activities section to see what people are actually planning.

2011 is Chemistry’s year, sharing its limelight with another international celebration – forests. The International Year of Chemistry (popularly abbreviated as IYC 2011) is an excellent window of opportunity for chemists, chemical educators, chemical scientists all over the globe. As the celebration involves sharing of ideas and later brainstorm them into understanding to a wider audience is already ongoing at various societies like the ACS, RSC and other related organisations.

IYC 2011 is a great opportunity to help the rest of the world understand the crucial role chemistry plays in meeting serious challenges. Topics are widely discussed with a thrust on Environment, Energy, Health and Materials. Being a follower of the every day events taking place in IYC , it definitely provides a focal point for the past successes and the future potential of chemistry- a central science.

The video shared below gives a clear message to a wider audience.

Also, you can watch a IYC2011 webinar HERE.