RACI E-News April 2016

Dear RACI NSW Branch Members,

This month saw the opportunity for RACI members from across NSW to come

together at the Presidents’ Dinner – it was a great evening! I had the great pleasure

to present various awards and congratulate the achievements of a number of our

youngest and most senior members of the NSW Branch. Special thanks to Dr

Michela Simone who presented an abbreviated version of her Nyholm Youth Lecture

“Sugars, Drugs and Rock & Roll”. More information and photos can be found within

the newsletter.

This brings me to the awards for 2016. Members across the state are invited to

actively nominate appropriately qualified people for both National and State RACI

awards. Honouring those who extend themselves both on behalf of the RACI and

the chemistry profession is important. Nominations most awards are due by 30 June

2016, details within this newsletter.

There is good news for postgraduate students. After representations from a coalition

of young chemist groups and detailed discussions at both the National Assembly

and Board meetings, the Board has proposed that postgraduate student fees be

reduced as of the new membership year:

The renewed membership fee is set at $70

for new P/G members and those returning after a membership lapse the fee

be set at $90

The fee changes will be effective from the new membership year.

There are several exciting events planned for the month of May. An opportunity to

network with Young Chemists follows after an event being held by the Analytical

Group on 5 May; the Polymer Group is holding a lecture by Dr Markus Muellner on 30

May; and the Bioactive Discovery and Development Group holds its launch event

on 31 May. There is also joint “Planetary Parliament” event to be held on 10 May

between RACI, ANSTO, AIP and Royal Society. All are welcome – its going to be a

fun night!

On 20 May the NSW Branch will host a meet-and-greet for members and the RACI

Board. All members and non-members are welcome to attend both this and a

brainstorming event immediately prior where we hope to generate new and

exciting initiatives for the NSW Branch.

Enjoy the read.

Joseph Bevitt RACI NSW President

"Nurture the passion, discover the possibilities"

Inside this Issue 1 Message from the

President

2 Calendar of Events

3 NSW Branch Committee

4 Outreach events – volunteers

5 Call for award nominations

6 Pharm Group Protecting your GMP facility environment Seminar Review

7 Western Sydney Section event

8 RACI Board Meet and Greet 20 May 2016

9 Polymer Symposium

10 IUPAC Conference

11 Rowe Scientific

12 Are You up to Standard?

13 Planetary Parliament

14 NSW BDD Group Launch

15 Presidents’ Dinner 2016

16 Position Vacant

17 Chemistry in the media

RACI E-News APRIL 2016 PAGE 2

Calendar of Events 2016

Registration details can usually be found on the RACI Events website: www.raci.org.au/events.

If you have an event you would like to publicise please contact raci-nsw@raci.org.au.

2016 RACI NSW BRANCH COMMITTEE Office-bearers and Elected Members

Outreach Events – volunteers needed

The RACI NSW Branch Office regularly seeks volunteers to help with attending stalls

during university open days and science teacher (AISNSW and STANSW) events. It is

a great way to meet members and prospective members and promoting our

school competitions to science teachers. If you know of any events that the RACI

can attend to promote its service or are an RACI member and would like to

volunteer to attend a stall, please contact raci-nsw@raci.org.au.

Date / Day Time Event Venue Details

5 May

Thursday 12.30pm

Analytical and Environment

Group Seminar Traceability

and GHS Labelling followed

by Young Chemists

networking event

NMI Lindfield raci-nsw@raci.org.au

10 May

Tuesday 6.00pm

Joint RACI/ANSTO/AIP/RS

Planetary Parliament

CSIRO Life

Sciences Centre,

North Ryde

http://bit.ly/1SUBPBb

17 May

Tuesday

6.00pm for

6.30pm

Western Sydney Section

Free Lecture by Dr John

Kalaitzis

Western Sydney

University

Campbelltown

Campus

http://bit.ly/1XXEQiq

20 May

Friday

6.30pm –

7.30pm RACI Board Meet and Greet University of NSW raci-nsw@raci.org.au

30 May

Monday

11.00am –

12.00pm

NSW Polymer Group

Free Lecture by Dr Markus

Muellner

University of

Sydney http://bit.ly/1SCJ5wb

31 May

Tuesday

6.00pm –

9.00pm

NSW Bioactive Discovery and

Development Group NSW

Launch

ATP Innovations

Atrium; National

Innovation

Centre, Eveleigh

http://bit.ly/1o85PuY

20 June

Monday

6.30pm for

7.00pm

Physics in the Pub

AIP Event

3 Wise Monkeys

Pub, 555 George

Street, Sydney

http://bit.ly/24ogJNK

L to R: Joseph Bevitt (President), Tania Notaras (President-Elect), Robert Ryan (Hon Secretary),

Luke Hunter (Hon Treasurer), Lidia Matesic, Dave Sammut, Mohammad Choucair, Andrew Jones,

Roger Read (Immediate Past-President)

RACI E-News APRIL 2016 PAGE 3

Call for Award Nominations

The Royal Australian Chemical Institute annually invites nominations for all relevant RACI Awards.

The NSW Branch calls for nominations to be received no later than 5pm, 30 June 2016 for:

The Archibald D. Ollé Prize, which is a national award for a published treatise, paper or journal article

on any topic of interest to the Institute. The award is administered by the NSW Branch. This award is

open to members at a national level.

The Pat Rodgers Postgraduate Student Prize, an award established for a student member of at least

12 months standing for research in any area of chemistry, chemical science or chemical technology

undertaken at a university in the state of New South Wales. The Prize is to be awarded to the

applicant who is judged to have conducted the most outstanding research in the 12 months

previous to the application closing date.

Nominations and supporting documents for these awards must be submitted to the RACI NSW Branch

Office at raci-nsw@raci.org.au, no later than 5pm, 30 June 2016.

NATIONAL AND DIVISIONAL AWARDS

Nominations are open now and nominations and supporting documents must be submitted to the RACI

National Office at awards@raci.org.au. A detailed list of RACI National and Divisional Awards can be found

on the national web site. http://www.raci.org.au/events-awards/awards.

Nominations are open now and nominations and supporting documents must be submitted to the RACI

National Office at awards@raci.org.au, no later than 5pm, 30 June 2016. Student Travel Bursary applications

close 5pm, 31 May 2016.

Seminar Review – Monitoring & Protecting your GMP Facility’s

Environment (20th April 2016) Scott Colbourne, Chair of the RACI NSW Pharmaceutical Science Group

Our RACI NSW Pharmaceutical Science Group hosted a compelling and sometimes daunting look into the

hoops we all jump through to keep things clean.

The seminar covered numerous topics including:

- Regulatory requirements

- Risk based investigations into excursions

- How to audit your environmental program

- A real life case study

- The many facets to gowning (even including a little modelling of the garments)

- How to clean your cleanroom

As chair of the group I would like to thank all the people involved in speaking, you were all excellent.

Also a special thanks to Will Glover who organised the event.

One piece of information I will take away, is that I am mortified to find out that I shed 5.7 mg of skin every

minute.

RACI Western Sydney Section Event 17 May 2016 Genomics-driven Discovery, Biosynthesis and Engineering of Microbial Natural Products

Speaker: Dr John Kalaitzis, School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW Date and time: Tuesday 17 May, from 6.00 (refreshments & networking). The talk will commence at 6.30pm.

Venue: Western Sydney Unversity, Campbelltown Campus (Building 22, Conference Room 5)

No registrations are necessary.

Further information: http://bit.ly/1XXEQiq

RACI E-News APRIL 2016 PAGE 4

RACI Board Meet and Greet 20 May 2016 Date: Friday 20 May 2016 6.30pm – 7.30pm

Location: UNSW

The NSW Branch is hosting an opportunity for all RACI members to meet the RACI Board.

W Members are invited to meet the RACI Board on Friday 20 May 2016 from 6.30pm - 7.30pm at UNSW. This is

a great opportunity to meet the Board and to network with other members. The event is free of charge. For

more information or to register your interest in attending for catering purposes please email raci-

nsw@raci.org.au.

NSW Polymer Group Research Seminar 30 May 2016 Polymer Architectures as Scaffolds and in vivo Probes

Dr Markus Muellner, University of Sydney Date and time: Monday 30 May 2016, 11:00 to 12:00

Venue: Western Sydney University, Parramatta North campus, Building LY, Room LY.LG.04

Further information: http://bit.ly/1SCJ5wb

23rd IUPAC Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry ICPOC is a biannual conference, with the previous two

being held in Durham, UK (ICPOC21, 2012) and Ottawa,

Canada (ICPOC22, 2014). Physical organic chemistry of

this conference series is viewed as 'a broad church'

encompassing not just the traditional physical organic

areas of mechanism, reactivity and structure but

extending into biology, materials science and systems

chemistry. Accordingly, the streams of this conference

will be:

Physical Foundations of Organic Reactivity

Mechanism and Bioorganic Chemistry

Supramolecular and Systems Chemistry

Confirmed speakers include 2013 Nobel Laureate Prof

Arieh Warshel, and the world's most cited chemist, Prof

George Whitesides. More information can be found here: http://www.icpoc23.unsw.edu.au/

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Position vacant

SCIENTIFIC OFFICER – RACING NSW Analytical Chemist

State-of-the-art laboratory located in Sydney CBD

Full-time / Non-ongoing (maternity leave) position

The Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory (ARFL) is a division of Racing NSW which undertakes as an

integrity function the analysis of blood and urine samples from horses and jockeys in NSW and interstate.

The facility uses highly sophisticated mass spectrometric equipment, including high-resolution accurate

mass instrumentation to detect and confirm the presence of prohibited substances in samples to legally

defensible criteria. ARFL is a NATA accredited laboratory.

Racing NSW invites applications for the full-time / non-ongoing position of Scientific Officer in the drug

testing laboratory section of ARFL.

The main requirements of the position are for the extraction and analysis of test samples to detect the

presence of prohibited substances in accordance with the Rules of Racing. Associated duties include; the

general checking of test results, confirmatory analysis of samples, operation of mass spectrometers and

routine instrument maintenance.

The successful candidate must have a degree in Chemistry with a minimum of 5 years demonstrated

industry experience in both liquid and gas chromatography mass spectrometric analysis of drugs from

biological matrices with experience in method validation and quantitative analysis.

Strong technical and interpersonal skills and the ability to work within a team environment with scientific and

technical staff as well as working autonomously is essential. Experience with LCMS and GCMS instrument

troubleshooting is desirable.

Send applications to: John Keledjian, General Manager ARFL JohnK@racingnsw.com.au

Close: Friday 1 July 2016

We invite employers to supply 150-word maximum job advertisements, along with a small company logo

and clear contact details or weblink. Please email raci-nsw@raci.org.au.

For enquiries: RACI NSW Branch Office: (02) 9663 4960

RACI National Office (Vale St, North Melbourne): (03) 9328 2033

Chemistry in the Media

What does nuclear radiation do to the human body? http://ab.co/1UkWj5u

Scientists have sequenced the genome of iron-breathing microbes: http://bit.ly/1QEou8x