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In August the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Congress and General Assembly was held in Turin.  IUPAC is a voluntary organisation which aims to advance the worldwide aspects of the chemical sciences and to contribute to the application of chemistry in the service of mankind.  The RSC is actively trying to increase the awareness of IUPAC in the younger community and so this year six Young Observers were invited to attend and be involved on all decision-making discussions. These young observers included the 2007 IUPAC prize winner Dr Euan Kay from Edinburgh, who was awarded best PhD thesis for his work on Mechanized Molecules.  Professor Tony West from Sheffield (retiring president of Division II Inorganic Chemistry) spoke about a number of new elements from 112-118, which are being assessed before being named.  Professor Jung-II Jin (Korea) was elected as the new president of the IUPAC committee and the new vice president is Professor Nicole Moreau (France).  Professor John Cornish (Ireland) was elected treasurer.  The deliberations of this meeting will be published in future issues of Chemistry International.  The next congress and general assembly will be held in Glasgow in 2009 hosted by the RSC.
http://www.rsc.org/ConferencesAndEvents/RSCConferences/IUPAC2009/index.asp