The Chinese Chemical Society’s annual convention in 95th academic year will be hosted by Department of Chemistry at the seventh floor of Shao-mo Memorial Gymnasium on November 24th (Friday). The Nobel laureate of Chemistry and ex-dean of Academia Sinica, Lee Yuan-Tseh, and other 60 or so domestic and international scholars are invited to give speeches and present papers. More than 3000 participants in the field of chemistry are estimated to attend the convention.

The theme of convention is “Interdisciplinary Biological and Material Chemistry,” a bi-focal new trend in the field of chemistry which was traditionally divided into the sub-fields of organic, inorganic, analytical and material chemistry. The whole annual convention will start with two panel discussions: “Toward New Directions and Projects of Chemical Studies in the 21st Century” by Director of Office of Natural Science, National Science Council, Cheng Chien-hong, and other five professors; “Education of Chemistry and General Education of Chemistry” by Prof. Wu Chia-li, Department of Chemistry, Tamkang University. In the opening ceremony next day, Director General of the Chinese Chemical Society and TKU’s Director of Office of Research and Development, Chen Kan-nan, President Flora C. I. Chang, and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Feng Chao-kang will present addresses.

Scholars invited to the convention include Prof. Masakatsu Shibasaki (Dean of College of Medical Research, Tokyo University), MIT Prof. Naniel G. Nocera, Prof. Laren M. Tolbert (Georgia Institute of Technology), all eminent figures in the field of chemistry. Among them, Prof. Tolbert is the deputy editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Chemistry Society, the best journal in the field of chemistry all over the world. Other 61 invited scholars and heads of business will give speeches in different sessions from the afternoon on 25th on a variety of 17 topics on nano-analysis, surface chemistry, supra-molecular material, and so on. Wang Bo-cheng, Chair of Department of Chemistry, pointed out, “Hosting this convention is the duty of Department of Chemistry to the academies.” Besides, TKU’s ex-dean of College of Sciences, Chen Kan-nan, is serving as the current Director General of the Chinese Chemical Society and many teachers are its director members. Wang also said that last time Tamkang held the convention exactly during the political turmoil caused by Taiwan’s severing official diplomatic tie with USA, and after 28 years Tamkang is very seriously anticipating the success of the convention.

A few novelties in this convention are worth mentioning: Doctoral students Chen Hsiu-huei and Chang Tseh-cheng will present speeches; the speech on “Awards for Graduate Thesis” is arranged into the formal proceeding to stimulate more participations; an exhibition of posters is put in a time no conflicting with the proceeding of the convention to make possible more participants’ viewing; for the first time there’ll be an exhibition of instruments co-organized by more than 70 companies and institutions. The most special may be Prof. Wu Chia-li’s nursing project, which can relieve participants’ care for their young kids.

The Chinese Chemical Society was instituted in Nanjing in 1932 with the aim to associate domestic and international scholars and call for the promotion of chemical science and the applications of related technologies. The society has more than 2000 members. The annual convention is a major event in the field of chemistry; in addition to reports on the society’s affairs, various awards are presented and discussions are held. (~ Han-yu Huang )