VIC Events

34^th ANNUAL SYNTHESIS SYMPOSIUM

Friday 4^th December 2009

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Organic Chemistry Group (RACI, Victorian Branch) in conjunction with the School of Chemistry and the Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, will hold its Annual Organic Synthesis Symposium on Friday 4th December 2009. The Plenary Lectures will be presented by:

· Professor Scott Snyder, Columbia University, USA

· Professor Tadeusz Molinski, University of California San Diego, USA

Participants are invited to make submissions for oral and/or poster presentations on any aspect of organic chemistry.

Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the symposium at no additional cost.

HARTUNG YOUTH LECTURER 2010 – INVITATION TO RACI MEMBERS

Professor Hartung was the Professor of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne for over 20 years, until he retired in 1953. He was well-known for his fascinating demonstrations, which were designed to intrigue and challenge his students and inspire a love of Chemistry.

Needless to say, his lectures were very popular! In fact, Professor Hartung arranged to have the Masson Theatre set up so that images of his demonstrations could be projected onto a large screen to enable the hundreds of undergraduate students attending each lecture to easily see them. In addition, he wrote the book ‘Screen Projection of Chemical Experiments’ to show other chemistry lecturers how to do it!

In honour of Professor Hartung and his outstanding lecture style, ever since 1958 the Victorian Branch of RACI has sponsored Hartung Youth Lectures that are designed to challenge and captivate and inspire secondary school students to further their studies in Chemistry.

Each year a different topic that is of great interest to young people is selected. In 2008 our Hartung Youth Lecturer was Dr Rachel Caruso. Her lectures on energy production, with an emphasis on alternative energy sources, included live chemical demonstrations, little movies, animations to explain processes and intriguing images. They were a great success. In 2009 our Hartung Youth Lecturer was Dr John Reid, whose topic was ‘Chemistry with a bang! (The science of explosions)’. An explosives expert, John emphasised all the constructive uses of explosions. Over one thousand students from across Victoria and even some from NSW attended his lectures, which included live (but safe!) demonstrations and a number of video clips.

The RACI Hartung Youth Lectures are now held during National Science Week, which is celebrated in the third week of August each year. Next year the theme for this week is Biodiversity. It is expected that a minimum of five lectures will be delivered – one in Albury-Wodonga, one in Warrnambool, one in another regional centre such as Morwell, Bendigo or Geelong, and two in Melbourne. The lectures will be the same; repeating the same lecture enables a larger cohort of students to attend.

We would like to invite an eminent chemist to apply for the position of 2010 Hartung Youth Lecturer. The lecturer must be able to deliver an exciting and inspiring lecture in the tradition of Professor Hartung, which will suit Years 10 and 11 students in language, style and content. The applicant must, of course, be available in National Science Week and able to travel to the above regional centres in that week.

We especially encourage applicants whose field of work relates to the theme of Biodiversity, which could include related fields such as analysis of the water in our waterways or in our bays or oceans. However, the topic must lend itself to fascinating practical demonstrations.

The lectures are managed by the RACI (Vic) Education Group. Our group will provide guidelines and support the lecturer in their role. An honorarium is paid and expenses are reimbursed. To apply for this position, please send your proposal and a brief career overview to:

Mrs Jenny Sharwood, Secretary, RACI (Vic) Education Group

Email: jennysharwood@netspace.net.au

Phone/fax: (03) 9816 3786

Applications close Monday 7 December 2009.

Short-listed applicants will be asked to attend a meeting with the Group in late January 2010 to discuss their proposal. We will be advertising the event at the VCE Chemistry Teachers’ Conference on Friday February 12, 2010.