Royal Society of Chemistry

RSC London Headquarters

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society, and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new Royal Charter and the dual role of learned society and professional body. At its inception, the Society had a combined membership of 34,000 in the UK and a further 8,000 abroad.^[2] The headquarters of the Society are at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. It also has offices in Thomas Graham House in Cambridge (named for Thomas Graham, the first president of the Chemical Society) where RSC Publishing is based. The Society has offices in the United States at the University City Science Center, Philadelphia, in both Beijing and Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India.^[3] The organisation carries out research, publishes journals, books and databases, as well as hosting conferences, seminars and workshops. It is the professional body for chemistry in the UK, with the ability to award the status of Chartered Chemist (CChem) and, through the Science Council the awards of Chartered Scientist (CSci), Registered Scientist (RSci) and Registered Science Technician (RScTech) to suitably qualified candidates. The designation FRSC is given to a group of elected Fellows of the society who have made major contributions to chemistry and other interface disciplines such as biological chemistry. The names of Fellows are published each year in The Times (London). Honorary Fellowship of the Society ("HonFRSC") is awarded for distinguished service in the field of chemistry.

President

The president is elected biennially and wears a badge in the form of a spoked wheel, with the standing figure of Joseph Priestley depicted in enamel, mainly in red and blue, on a hexagonal medallion in the centre. The rim of the wheel is gold, and the twelve spokes are of non-tarnishable metals.

The current president is Sir John Holman (2016–2018).^[4]

Past presidents of the society have been:

Membership grades and post-nominals

The following are membership grades with post-nominals (designatory letters):^[15]

• Affiliate: (no post-nominal) The grade for students and those involved in chemistry who do not meet the requirements for the following grades.
• AMRSC: Associate Member, Royal Society of Chemistry The entry level for RSC membership, AMRSC is awarded to graduates (or equivalent) in the chemical sciences.
• MRSC: Member, Royal Society of Chemistry Awarded to graduates (or equivalent) with at least 3 years' experience, who have acquired key skills through professional activity
• FRSC: Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship may be awarded to nominees who have made an outstanding contribution to chemistry (see Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry).
  • HonFRSC: Honorary Fellow of the Society Honorary Fellowship is awarded for distinguished service in the field of chemistry.^[16]
• CChem: Chartered Chemist The award of CChem is considered separately from admission to a category of RSC membership. Candidates need to be MRSC or FRSC and demonstrate development of specific professional attributes and be in a job which requires their chemical knowledge and skills.
• CSci: Chartered Scientist The RSC is a licensed by the Science Council for the registration of Chartered Scientists.
• EurChem: European Chemist The RSC is a member of the European Communities Chemistry Council (ECCC), and can award this designation to Chartered Chemists.
• MChemA: Mastership in Chemical Analysis The RSC awards this postgraduate qualification which is the UK statutory qualification for practice as a Public Analyst.^[17] It requires candidates to submit a portfolio of suitable experience and to take theory papers and a one-day laboratory practical examination.^[18]

GRSC

The qualification GRSC (Graduate of the Royal Society of Chemistry) was awarded from 1981 to 1995 for completion of college courses equivalent to a chemistry degree and overseen by the RSC.^[19] It replaced the GRIC offered by the Royal Institute of Chemistry.

Divisions

The society is organised around 9 divisions, based on subject areas, and local sections, both in the United Kingdom and overseas. Divisions cover broad areas of chemistry but also contain many special interest groups for more specific areas.

• Analytical Division for analytical chemistry and promoting the original aims of the Society for Analytical Chemistry. 12 Subject Groups.
• Dalton Division, named after John Dalton, for inorganic chemistry. 6 Subject Groups.
• Education Division for chemical education. 4 Subject Groups.
• Faraday Division, named after Michael Faraday, for physical chemistry and promoting the original aims of the Faraday Society. 14 Subject Groups.
• Organic Division for organic chemistry. 6 Subject Groups.
• Chemical Biology Interface Division. 2 Subject Groups.
• Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division. 3 Subject Groups.
• Materials Chemistry Division. 4 Subject Groups.
• Industry and Technology Division. 13 Subject Groups.

There are 12 subjects groups not attached to a division.

Local sections

There are 35 local sections covering the United Kingdom and Ireland. In countries of the Commonwealth of Nations and many other countries there are Local Representatives of the society and often some activities.

Publications

Thomas Graham House – from where the Society's publishing arm operates – in 2014

The society is a not-for-profit publisher: surplus made by its publishing business is invested to support its aim of advancing the chemical sciences.

In addition to scientific journals, including its flagship journals Chemical Communications, Chemical Science and Chemical Society Reviews, the society publishes:

• Education in Chemistry for teachers.
• A free online journal for chemistry educators, Chemistry Education Research and Practice.
• A general chemistry magazine Chemistry World, sent monthly to all members of the Society throughout the world. The editorial board consists of 10 academic and industrial chemists. It was first published in January 2004. It replaced Chemistry in Britain, first published in 1965. Its contents include news, articles of a general chemical nature, such as the history of chemistry and technological developments, book reviews and letters from readers. Its ISSN is 1473-7604. Chemistry World is supported by the Chemistry World Podcast, which is presented by Cambridge University scientist Dr Chris Smith, who also edits The Naked Scientists.
• Professional reference books across the chemical sciences.^[20]
• Books for students, including the Tutorial Chemistry Texts series of 23 books, edited by E. W. Abel, and the 8 books in the Molecular World series, whose coordinating editor is L. E. Smart.
• Books on the history of chemistry, such as a history of the Faraday Society.

Subscriptions to the journals are available individually, or "all-in", under a provision called "RSC Gold".^[21]

Burlington House

Burlington House

Established	2010
Location	Piccadilly, London W1, England
Website	www.rsc.org

The London offices of the Society are in Burlington House, Piccadilly. Events are hosted here for the public, RSC member groups and external organisations including monthly lectures on the chemical sciences that streamed live via the RSC's public engagement website – the Reaction. The free lectures take an interesting look at the chemical aspects of a wide range of topics from curry to the enjoyment of music.

The events have attracted notable science writers such as Philip Ball, Antony John Williams, and John Emsley to give public lectures. Most of these are available as archived video streams via the RSC's Reaction website.^[22]

History

Although opened as the Chemistry Centre in 2010, the building has been occupied by the Royal Society of Chemistry since 1857 (at which time it was known as the Chemical Society) – the heart of the Chemistry Centre is the RSC's Library and Information Centre which itself dates back to 1842. Over the years, the library for the RSC has received many gifts from notable fellows including Michael Faraday. The library became a centre for information on the chemical sciences during the 1st and 2nd world wars when extensive use was made on the chemical reference material available. In November 2014, the society announced that the centre would be rebranded as simply "Royal Society of Chemistry at Burlington House" and the name "Chemistry Centre" dropped.

Library and information centre

The society has a large library covering mainly chemistry-based subjects, including online access for members, housed at the Chemistry Centre at Burlington House. It is part of the Chemistry Centre and is a resource for RSC members, although the public are also welcome.

Benevolent fund

The staircase at the Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, designed by the partnership of Robert Richardson Banks and Charles Barry, Jr.

The Royal Society of Chemistry's benevolent fund supports the members and their families during difficult times, through advice and guidance, financial support and volunteer support.^[23] It dates back to 1920 when the Institute of Chemistry (later the Royal Institute of Chemistry) established it as a memorial to its members who died in the first world war. It had an aim "to help necessitous persons who are, or have been, Fellows or Associates of the Institute, their wives or children, and the widows and dependent relatives of deceased Fellows and Associates" through voluntary contributions from members. The benevolent fund's ethos of "members helping members" stems from the Institute of Chemistry's Council raising money for members in need from other members prior to the fund being formed.^[24]

In 1960, the benevolent fund introduced a volunteer visitor system, where members were asked to visit applicants, beneficiaries, elderly and housebound members in their area. Each local section was also appointed a fund representative.^[25]

A major review of the fund to modernize it took place in 2003-2004, forming a new strategy document that is updated every three years. It underwent another review in 2014 with the aim to widen its reach and provide a more holistic support wider than financial assistance to Royal Society of Chemistry members and their families.^[26]

The Benevolent Fund Committee, formed of volunteer members of the Royal Society of Chemistry, oversees the benevolent fund and meet every three months.^[27]

Prizes and awards

The RSC awards a variety of prizes and awards each year that include awards for excellence in any area of chemistry, in specialist areas or for achievement at particular stages of a chemist's career.^[28]

Medals are awarded centrally by the RSC and by the divisions of the organisation. There are also awards that are administered by RSC interest groups.

The centrally awarded medals include the Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prizes which are awarded to a British chemist who is under 32 years of age for promising original investigations in chemistry^[29] and the Corday-Morgan medals which consist of three separate awards made for the most meritorious contributions to experimental chemistry (including computer simulation).^[30] The Tilden Prize, previously known as the Tilden Lecture, consists of three awards annually to scientists in mid-career for advances in chemistry.

Previous winners of the Harrison-Meldola Prize (known as the Meldola Medal and Prize prior to its merger in 2008 with the Edward Harrison prize) include Christopher Kelk Ingold (1921, 1922), Cyril Norman Hinshelwood (1923), R.H. Stokes (1946), D.H. Williams (1966), and J. Evans (1978).

Corday-Morgan medal recipients include Derek Barton (1949), Ronald Sydney Nyholm (1950), Frederick Sanger (1951), John Cornforth (1953), Rex Richards (1954), and George Porter (1955).

The Faraday Division annually awards the Marlow Award for contributions to physical chemistry or chemical physics by members of the Faraday Division under the age of 32.^[31] Recent recipients include Andrew Orr-Ewing, (1999), Jonathan A. Jones, (2000), Helen Fielding (2001), Jonathan Essex (2002), Daren Caruana (2003), Jonathan Reid (2004), Julie Macpherson (2005), Fred Manby (2006), and Alessandro Troisi (2007).

Coat of arms

The RSC has its own coat of arms. Two forms exist: the full coat of arms has lion and unicorn bearers, and the Latin motto "Pro scientia et humanitate" (For the sake of knowledge and for the benefit of mankind). The smaller version uses just the central shield, which is similar to that in the Royal Institute of Chemistry's arms.

• 

  coat of arms

• 

  shield

• 

  Arms on the society's Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical Science medal

Other resources

The Interactive Lab Primer is a site developed to provide tips to a variety of chemical experimentation skills.^[32] The site covers basic lab safety tips, demonstrates primary lab techniques, introduces a couple common lab apparatus in lab, and provides other references.

The society's ChemSpider is a database of chemicals and chemical properties.

The society operates a blue plaque scheme, "Landmarks of Chemistry", erecting plaques at places associated with notable chemical events or people.^[33] Recent plaques are hexagonal.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal Society of Chemistry.

• Official website
• History of the RSC
• Chemistry Centre
• The society's blue plaques at OpenPlaques
• Royal Society of Chemistry’s interactive Periodic Table
• History of the RSC Library and Information Centre

Coordinates: 51°30′32″N 0°08′20″W / 51.5089°N 0.1390°W / 51.5089; -0.1390

Science and technology in the United Kingdom
Economy of the United Kingdom
Official bodies and personnel	Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence Council for Science and Technology DESG (Defence Engineering and Science Group) Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Food and Environment Research Agency Government Office for Science Chief Scientific Adviser Innovate UK Intellectual Property Office List of UK government scientific research institutes Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology Science and Technology Select Committee UK Research Councils Arts and Humanities Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Economic and Social Engineering and Physical Sciences Medical Natural Environment Science and Technology UK Space Agency
Industry sectors	Aerospace British space programme Automotive Computers Nuclear technology Pharmaceutical Renewable energy Telecommunications
Non-governmental bodies	Education and museums Science museums National Museum of Science and Industry National Space Centre Universities List Golden triangle Russell Group Societies and professional bodies British Mass Spectrometry Society British Science Association Engineering Council Institute of Physics Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine Royal Academy of Engineering Royal Aeronautical Society Royal Astronomical Society Royal Entomological Society Royal Institution Christmas Lectures Royal Society Royal Society of Chemistry Science Council Royal Society of Biology Other Campaign for Science and Engineering EngineeringUK Science Media Centre Wellcome Trust
People	Engineers Inventors Nobel laureates Science writers Scientists Technology writers
Places	East London Tech City M4 corridor Science parks Silicon Fen Silicon Glen Silicon Gorge Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Other	Innovations and discoveries Science and technology awards Science and technology magazines JANET National Science Week
Category Commons