The IYC 2011 – Overview - ChemistryViews

The International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) was a worldwide celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind. Under the unifying theme “Chemistry—our life, our future,” IYC 2011 offered a range of interactive, entertaining, and educational activities for all ages.

Opening and Closing Ceremony

The Official Opening Ceremony was held in Paris, France, on January 27/28. The Closing Ceremony of the International Year of Chemistry was held in Brussels, Belgium, on December 1st.

Selected Events

ChemistryViews.org reported on the events around the world and published own activities. Below you will find some highlights, for all activities please see the theme section.

ChemistryViews.org ran a Video Competition on chemistry in everyday life. Enjoy the remarkable winning films of the competition.
Also we had the very successful Women in Chemistry IYC Interview Series and introduced interesting women from around the world throughout the year.
One highlight of the IYC definitely was the global chemistry experiment “Water: A Chemical Solution”, which turned out to be the World’s Largest-Ever Chemistry Experiment.
Many countries and postal authorities joined in the celebrations by issuing postage stamps related to chemistry.
The German radio station Deutschlandfunk introduced a weekly radio show on extraordinary molecules, called “Molecule of the Week” or M3 – Mraseks Molecule Mosaik. We introduced the show, highlighted some single molecules and interviewed the artist Tobias Stengler who illustrated the radio series.
Numerous events took place all over the world and many good ideas to bring an understanding of chemistry closer to everyday life came to our attention. For example, we invited the Chemical Society of Hong Kong professors in chemistry to share their greetings on the IYC 2011 on a special webpage, 79 Australian chemistry professionals and 38 Tasmanian printmakers worked together to pictorially interpret each of the 112 elements, and the Swiss Chemical Society (Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft, SCG) celebrated the IYC 2011 with every cup of coffee!

Chemistry has traditionally been a male-dominated discipline, and women have had very few role models. Not only have there only been four female Nobel Laureates in Chemistry to date, but there are not many scientific articles authored by women. Throuought the year several journals, including Angewandte Chemie, published issues dedicated to female chemists—with all the manuscripts having a woman as principle author.
Last but not least we invited you to celebrate the IYC with Wiley. Throughout the year, Wiley has celebrated this unique event with thematic months, events, and special offers.