Swiss Chemistry Community Ready for IYC 2011

The Swiss Chemical Society, the Platform Chemistry of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) and SGCI Chemie Pharma Schweiz invited all organisations interested in making a contribution to the year. Roughly 60 organisations - universities, companies, museums and NGOs - responded, from which 33 participated at the kick-off meeting. Ideas for IYC 2011 activities were exchanged, as were possibilities of collaboration. The participants will realise IYC activities by integrating them in their regular programs or by mobilising additional resources. The organisers expressed their will to establish a web calendar by 2010, where all events scattered over Switzerland in 2011 can be browsed. The UN General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry on the initiative of IUPAC. The year aims at celebrating the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well being of humankind.