23 Jan 2014
Two of SCI's active members, Alasdair Taylor and Andy Kerridge, are keen to reinvigorate SCI activities in the Midlands Regions. Both are long standing SCI members and residents of the Midlands and have expressed an interest in forming an organising committee to represent the region.
However, two does not make a committee, and so they are looking for other volunteers willing to be part of the committee. Successful committees need 8-10 members at a minimum to function effectively and also to be representative of the interests of the region's members.
So, if you are interested in volunteering, we would like to hear from you.
Committee membership does not need to be onerous or particularly time consuming. If you're not sure what might be involved, please see our list of FAQs below.
FAQs for RIG committee membership
- Why should I want to support a regional group (RIG)?
- What does being a committee member mean?
- Why would I want to be a committee member?
- How do I register my interest?
- What happens next?
Some background:
SCI has 18 Technical Interest Groups (TIGs) covering pretty much all aspects of chemistry using industry from food to fire safety. You are already part of at least 1 Technical Interest Group (TIG) as part of your membership. Whether you are active in this TIG or not, it will keep you in touch with developments in your field of interest; and with others having similar interests around the country and often around the world.
A Regional Interest Group takes a different perspective and enables those interested in all aspects of chemistry and chemistry related sciences within a region to come together and put together events which
a)inform and stimulate interest in chemistry and chemistry related sciences in the region
b)encourage students and researchers via competitions
c)enable those working in different areas to meet and explore potential areas for cross-collaboration
d)bring together SCIs unique and multi-disciplinary membership to share ideas
all of which meet SCI's charitable objective to advance the science of applied chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit.
Meetings are typically held 4-5 times a year. Some committees meet more frequently, some hold some of their meetings as conference calls.
The meetings could take place during the day or early evening, whatever best suits the committee. Meetings might take a couple of hours.
Reasonable travel costs can be claimed back.
Being a member of an organising committee offers great opportunities to network, linking between academia, public bodies and business. You will contribute to the work of the committee and can work with others to plan, budget and run events. For those at an early stage of their career, this can be a significant addition to a CV, showing ability to organise, interact and contribute to discussion as well as wanting to learn more about the bigger picture of the chemistry using world.
Contact communications@soci.org by 21 March to provide your name and location. You can also specify how you would like to be involved.
Please remember that only SCI members can serve on an SCI committee, so if you are not a member yet, you will need to join, using the form accessible below.
Once we have got all the replies (hopefully many) we will contact everyone who has expressed an interest and get an inaugural committee meeting set up. The next steps then depend on those who have expressed an interest. However, if there is insufficient interest, we will understand and drop the idea (for now).
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