Chemistry International
Vol. 24, No. 1
January 2002
Structure of
the U.S. Young Observer Program
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The program
consists of the following discrete steps:
1. The
decision by the U.S. NAO Committee for IUPAC, i.e. the U.S. National
Committee for IUPAC-USNC under the auspices of the National Academy
of Sciences, to have a Young Observer program was taken about 18 months
prior to the upcoming General Assembly.
2. The
program is intended to provide several things:
- Selection
of chemists or chemical engineers under 45 who were leaders in their
field and showed an interest in establishing international connections
and involvement in IUPAC .
- Partial
financial support to attend the General Assembly (USD 2000). (This
figure varied for past General Assemblies, depending on support availability
and the General Assembly location.) l Contact with appropriate IUPAC
chairpersons to introduce the Young Observers and request permission
to attend their meeting.
- Identification
of a mentor for the Young Observers who works with them before the
General Assembly, sends them material relevant to their interests,
and generally meets with the Young Observers several times during
the General Assembly.
- Orientation
for the Young Observers as a group by members of the USNC at the meeting
site prior to their attending meetings.
3. The
program requires that each applicant:
- Provide
a rationale of why the applicant wishes to attend an IUPAC General
Assembly and an indication of interest areas among the specific meetings
being held at the General Assembly.
- File
a report after attending the General Assembly giving their candid
impressions of the meeting. These
reports have been very useful in pointing out areas of strengths and
weaknesses of the Young Observer program, as well as some observations
about IUPAC and its operations.
4. A
subcommittee of the USNC handles the funding and publicity, receives
and judges applications, and makes the selection of Young Observers
to be recommended to the full USNC for approval.
5. Since
the selection process is competitive, decisions are made on the basis
of the written application.
6. Funding
for the program is raised in parallel to the publicity and application
steps. The level of funding obtained determines how many Young Observers
can be selected. Funding is raised from industry, foundations, and government
agencies. Summary reports of previous Young Observer programs are used
to "sell" the program to the funding agencies.
7. Final
selection of the Young Observers for the General Assembly is made about
six months prior to the General Assembly. This allows time for the contacts
to be made with committee chairpersons to ensure that the selection
of meetings to attend will work out. Also during this six-month period,
mentors are identified and contacted. Much of this work is done through
the staff office for the USNC.
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/oia/iupac.nsf/
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