IUPAC Strategic Areas are goal-oriented, long-term areas of focus that bring together expertise from across the Union to address major challenges for chemistry and society.
Strategic Areas provide a framework for focusing IUPAC’s project portfolio and resources on topics where international collaboration, scientific consensus and IUPAC’s unique expertise can deliver the greatest impact. They connect IUPAC’s core strengths in nomenclature, terminology and standards with digital transformation, sustainability, outreach and emerging priorities across the chemical sciences.
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- What are Strategic Areas?
- Core deliverables
- How Strategic Areas work?
- From Strategic Areas to IUPAC Projects
- Current/Preliminary Strategic Areas
- Language and Standards of Chemistry
- Delivering Green and Sustainable Chemistry
- Propose a Strategic Area
- How Strategic Areas are selected
- What are Strategic Areas?
What are Strategic Areas?
Strategic Areas identify where IUPAC seeks to focus its scientific expertise, international network and project resources to generate meaningful global impact.
They address challenges that extend across traditional disciplinary boundaries and are best approached through international collaboration. Rather than representing individual disciplines, Strategic Areas bring together expertise from multiple IUPAC Divisions, Standing Committees, National Adhering Organizations, industry and the wider chemical community.
Strategic Areas are designed to remain agile and responsive to developments in chemistry and society. Their relevance and performance are periodically reviewed and reaffirmed to ensure continued alignment with IUPAC’s mission, emerging scientific priorities and global needs.
Core deliverables
How Strategic Areas work?
From Strategic Areas to IUPAC Projects
Strategic Areas provide direction; IUPAC Projects turn that direction into action.
Projects bring together international Task Groups to produce defined and verifiable outcomes. Projects within Strategic Areas are expected to demonstrate clear strategic alignment, cross-disciplinary collaboration, realistic milestones and measurable impact. Particular emphasis is placed on the quality and diversity of Task Groups, industry engagement, FAIR data readiness, digital standards and transparent processes for achieving international scientific consensus.
> ACCESS Project submission form and guidelines
Current/Preliminary Strategic Areas
Language and Standards of Chemistry
This Strategic Area safeguards and advances IUPAC’s unique international role in developing the language and standards of chemistry. It supports projects related to nomenclature, terminology, symbols, conventions and standards, while ensuring that these outputs evolve to meet the needs of modern science, including digital and machine-readable environments. The area brings together expertise from across IUPAC to ensure that chemical information remains clear, internationally agreed, interoperable and fit for future generations of scientists and digital systems.
Delivering Green and Sustainable Chemistry
This Strategic Area brings together IUPAC expertise to advance chemistry’s contribution to sustainability and global societal challenges. It provides a framework for internationally coordinated projects that connect chemical science, standards and best practices with sustainability priorities and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through collaboration across disciplines and sectors, the area aims to translate chemical knowledge into internationally relevant tools, recommendations and outputs that support sustainable development.
Propose a Strategic Area
IUPAC periodically invites its community to propose Strategic Areas that identify major long-term opportunities or challenges where international coordination and IUPAC expertise can make a distinctive contribution.
A Strategic Area proposal should present a long-term vision rather than a single project. It should identify the global need being addressed, the IUPAC expertise required, the communities and stakeholders involved, and the types of outputs and impact that could be generated.
SUBMIT your idea and complete this Strategic Area Proposal Form
[See Calls for Project Proposals and Strategic Areas, posted 17 Sep 2026]
How Strategic Areas are selected
Strategic Areas emerge through consultation with the IUPAC community and external stakeholders and are assessed according to their potential to address important and emerging needs in chemistry.
IUPAC mission and unique value — Does the area address a need where IUPAC can make a distinctive international contribution?
Cross-divisional breadth — Does it mobilize expertise across different areas of chemistry?
Vision and emerging trends — Is it forward-looking and relevant to major developments in the chemical sciences?
Community and industry relevance — Is there clear value for the global chemistry community, NAOs and industry?
Digital and sustainability alignment — Does it contribute to FAIR data, digital standards and/or relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals?
During the transition period, the Science Board has identified initial areas as Preliminary Strategic Areas. The Science Board is soliciting suggestions and feedback on further Strategic Areas to be ratified at the 2027 Council Meeting in Montreal for the 2028-2029 Biennium.