Empowering Women in Chemistry: A Global Networking Event

In 2011 women from more than 40 countries came together in a global networking breakfast as part of the International Year of Chemistry celebration. You can view the video synopsis put together by UNESCO and shared at the opening Ceremony of IYC in 2011.

As part of the celebration of the centenary of IUPAC in 2019, we are inviting scientists and students around the world to join in a Global Women’s Breakfast. The event is titled “Empowering Women in Chemistry: A Global Networking Event”. It will be held on a single day – February 12, 2019.  Organizations of all types, e.g., universities, companies, national chemistry societies, government laboratories, and other scientific organizations, as well as individual groups of chemists, are invited to participate and register their event on the IUPAC100 website using the on-line form.  The Global Women’s Breakfast is expected to assist women chemists in expanding their network of contacts, perhaps leading to new career opportunities for research, employment, or education. Where a local young chemists network exists, this is an excellent opportunity for a young person to take responsibility for the local arrangements.

• The global women’s breakfast event will be launched in New Zealand on the morning of February 12, 2019, and progress through the Asia-Pacific region into Europe, Africa and finally onto the American region. The global map of registered breakfast events on the IUPAC100 website will be used along with social media to track the progress of events in real time around the world with the final events occurring in the Pacific region. Individual breakfast meetings will be asked to post a short video during their event to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtags #IUPAC100 and #globalbreakfast. All posts will be displayed on the IUPAC website. Individuals attending the events are also encouraged to post photos and videos or blog posts. Breakfasts are further encouraged to contact each other by skype (or similar VOIP technology) to share news, presentations, and to network with each other.
• Organizers are encouraged to bring their own creative ideas to designing their networking event, thereby addressing the needs of their local community. In addition to networking locally, groups are encouraged to take reach out and connect in advance with other groups participating in the breakfast. Potential program ideas are: to celebrate outstanding women scientists in their organization or country; to organize a career fair or career training; or to bring together women from different stages of their careers to learn from each other. Organizers can share their ideas and preparations with other groups via social media using the event hashtags listed above.
• Individual breakfasts make their own arrangements for provision of breakfast items, however local sections of national chemical societies are encouraged to provide support, particularly to facilitate the attendance of younger chemists. Local sponsorship arrangements are encouraged, e.g., from food and beverage companies, scientific suppliers and patent agencies, as well as from academic, private and government agencies promoting the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) agenda.
• We will prepare some short videos that can be played at individual breakfasts, and for networking purposes, we can provide individual breakfasts with details of other breakfasts in the same global region.
• Breakfast events can be as simple as small group of people (4 to 5) getting together informally for tea or coffee with cake, croissant or toast, and sharing experiences. Alternatively, larger groups may wish to develop a more formal run sheet of events for the duration of their breakfast function. It is entirely up to each breakfast group to decide which format best suits their own needs, ideally using a Twitter handle to connect to one or more breakfast groups around the world.

Be part of the fun and plan a breakfast event celebrating IUPAC100 in your own location! Submit an expression of interest or register the event using the online form link below. We would like as many women chemists as possible to be involved in the global breakfast networking event. Please share this opportunity with women chemistry networks and women chemists in your region, and encourage them to join in the global handwave of celebration on February 12 of 2019.

If you have questions about the Global Women’s Breakfast event, or need more information, please send an email to Mary Garson or Ed Gallo at globalbreakfast@iupac.org

Post to Twitter @IUPAC or on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtags #IUPAC100 and #globalbreakfast.

Let us know how you are preparing for #IUPAC100 on Instagram – Use the Hashtag and see it here!

• Past Breakfast Gallery
• Additional Details

Women have made enormous contributions to the advancement of chemistry over the last 100 years, but they rarely take time to celebrate these achievements. We invite chemists and students from around the world to come together on February 12, 2019 for a global breakfast celebration entitled, “Women Celebrating a Chemical Moment in Time”. Groups and organizations are encouraged to participate in a virtual global handshake to be organized by IUPAC, extending around the world to highlight the achievements of women in chemistry. The global celebration will be the world’s largest gathering of female chemists. We encourage each group to bring their own creative ideas to designing their event. We invite groups to register their breakfast event here at iupac100, to share your preparations and excitement leading up to February 2019, and tell us about women chemists who have inspired you. Post to Twitter @IUPAC or on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #IUPAC100 and #GlobalWomensBreakfast.