GLOBAL: International Year of Chemistry

16 January 2011

Eminent scientists from the world of chemistry, including several Nobel Prize winners, will participate in a colloquium on 27-28 January at the Unesco headquarters in Paris to launch a year-long programme of events celebrating chemistry and the vital role it plays in human and social development.

The International Year of Chemistry, proclaimed by the United Nations and led by Unesco and the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry, coincides with the 100th anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry to Marie Curie.

The UN General Assembly declared 2011 the International Year of Chemistry at its 63rd meeting in December 2008 with Unesco as the leading UN agency together with its partner, the International Union.

The broad objectives of the year are to:

* Increase public appreciation and understanding of chemistry in meeting world needs.
* Encourage young people's interest 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 Marie Curie's Nobel Prize and the founding of the International Association of Chemical Societies.

Throughout the year, there will be celebrations of the art and science of chemistry and its essential contributions to knowledge, to environmental protection, to improvement of health, and to economic development.

Unesco and the international union are promoting as wide an engagement as possible for IYC-2011.

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