Antonio Lagana, Perugia IT, December 6, 2008: The end of another fruitful year for the European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) and its Association (ECTNA) is approaching. The present issue of the Newsletter is therefore the proper place to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the members of the association and for thanking them for the work done in the year 2008. For the same reason this issue of the Newsletter is also the proper place for outlining the future perspectives of the Association and of its services to the Thematic Network. As we shall see in more detail in the following lines, ECTNA is firmly committed also for the year 2009 to make its past achievements sustainable and to pursue new goals ...

Read the report online.

The next ECTNA Administrative Council meeting and ECTN Management Committee meeting will take place on February 6-7, 2009 in Thessaloniki GR.

Contact:    or visit us at: www.chemistry-eurolabels.eu

News from the front ...

Contact:    or visit us at: www.echemtest.net 

Working Groups News

- General Chemistry 1&2 : German and Italian translation process started for the whole database
- Biological Chemistry 3: very good progress achieved by the  (see report below).
- Computational Chemistry 4: transfer to the Web achieved, a global proof-reading will be conducted to harmonized the presentation of the content.

Testing Centres

- General Information: several requests arrived in the current quarter asking for use of EChemTest in their Institutions (benefits, technical hints, procedure, content, skill or knowledge assessment, etc ...)
- Technical update: the first administration account has been created with the new version 4 platform for the Thessaloniki Testing Center, others will soon follow.

News from Helsinki Testing Centre by Nina Aremo, Jorma Koskimies and Kristiina Wähälä / 4.12.2008
The Helsinki EChemTest Center has worked actively to examine the applicability of the test in analysing new 1st year student populations. In Helsinki, all new chemistry students (110 students / year) have been tested by EChemTest level 2 during the last three years. The levels of difficulty of the test questions seem to be appropriate because overall more than 60 % of all participating students passed the test but only a few students scored at higher than 90% level. The Center has excellent facilities for such work, including a computer classroom for 100 persons. EChemTest level 1 sessions have also been conducted with high school students.

This autumn all foreign students studying in Helsinki in Advanced Spectroscopy in Chemistry (ASC) Master’s degree programme were tested (level 2). Also, a group of new students from the University of Oulu took the test recently. In January, a further group of first year students in the University of Turku will take the test. In the near future we are hoping to test all new students in the Finnish Eurobachelor® awarding Universities twice during their first year studies. In this way we will be able to observe the progress – if any – of the chemistry knowledge of the students.

Feedback from students has been mainly positive. The students find EChemTest easy to use and the questions not too easy. Some students find the test very useful for self evaluation at the beginning of the studies. A major problem is the calculator provided by the software which is found difficult to use and does not work properly. The students would like to use traditional pen and paper to study some problems first.

News from Lyon Testing Centre by Pascal Mimero / 6.12.2008
As already advised in the October issue, CPE is now regularly running an evaluation session at the beginning of its cursus in September for all new incoming students (158 in 2008), involving General Chemistry 2 and a combined test composed of Analytical Chemistry 3 / Organic Chemistry 3 questions (all French). Later in the year during the 1st quarter (for 2nd year) and the 2nd Quarter (for 3rd year), other EChemTest sessions are run in English combined with the ChemEPass test covering the Chemical Engineering domain.

We are currently considering an extended use of EChemTest and cooperation with ChemEPass. A first meeting is schedule mid-December with Anthony Smith (Head of the International Relations' Office and ECTN Coordinator), and Sebastien Gagneur (ChemEPass Manager); a second meeting will be scheduled in January with the pedagogical CPE staff to build an evaluation plan using both EChemTest and ChemEPass.

News from Perugia Testing Centre by Carlo Manuali / 2.12.2008
In the last month a new Computer Room for the Testing Centre of Perugia has been activated. This new room is located at the Department of Mathematics and Informatics of the University and it consists of 15 new personal computers equipped with an high-speed connection to and from the server in which is located the main EChemTest system. The room is reserved for the Official Tests once or twice per month and is regulated by a strict human procedure to access in. The computers have been installed following a set of rules taking into account the Digital Security (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting - AAA protocol) in order to arrange the operative environment according to the type of exams that will be performed in the future (e.g. Certification Exams).

News from Thessaloniki Testing Centre by Evangelia Varella / 6.11.2008
The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ran its first students session of tests in November with the Chemistry and Cultural Heritage Level 4 test from the new Perception 4 server platform.

Henryk Koroniak, Poznan PL (E.U.)
 

Dear Colleagues,

It is our great honour and privilege to invite all ECTN members and associates to Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University, host of the European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) Annual Conference, which will be held on April 15-18th, 2009.

Poznań is an old and beautiful city, one of the largest academic centres in Poland. Every year thousands of students pursue their studies here. They have become part of Poznań’s life and tradition. Also, Poznań is the place where Poland was born over a thousand years ago. This may also give you the special feeling of being in the very heart of Poland. For some of you, this may be the first visit in Poland – so collect unforgettable memories from our country. To those of you who have seen Poland years ago, it may be nice to see Poland grow and get more beautiful every day.

For more information and registration see our homepage www.ectn2009.amu.edu.pl.

Contact the Editor: 
Professor of Chemistry
Adam Mickiewicz University
Chairman of the Organizing Committee
of ECTN Annual Conference Poznań, 2009.

Evangelia Varella, Thessaloniki GR (E.U.), December 2, 2008: The 3rd Residential Summer School on Conservation Science will take place at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, on July 19 to 31, 2009. The two previous schools were held at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, in July 2006; and at the University of Palermo, Italy, in July 2008.

It is anew a joint initiative of the European Chemistry Thematic Network, Working Group on Chemistry & Cultural Heritage, and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, this time organized as a multilateral Lifelong Learning / Erasmus Intensive Programme.

The school is addressing chemistry and conservation science students wishing to acquire a solid knowledge on the ways natural & material sciences are applied in the safeguarding & authentication of material heritage. It is focusing mainly on acquainting students with instrumental techniques; at offering a sound expertise in modern education tools; and at providing networking opportunities.

A multinational team of experts from Erasmus and Tempus countries are delivering theoretical and hands-on lectures on important aspects of the topic, covering both basic information and research case studies. The courses are held in English. Beside the lectures and practical work students have the opportunity to attend an English course for chemists; as well as to practise on online questions already offered or expressly prepared in the frame of EChem Test, and dealing with chemical knowledge connected to conservation science.

 

http://culture.chem.auth.gr/SummerSchool2009

Contact the organizer: 

Reiner Salzer, Dresden DE, December 6, 2008: We like to provide details about the Conference

Chemistry and the Bologna process – current status and further needs

which will be held from September 08 - 10, 2009, at the Technische Universität Dresden / Germany. The conference will be organized by ECTN together with TU Dresden, the German Rector’s Conference and the German Chemical Society. This conference summarizes the achievements of the European Chemistry Thematic Network and looks ahead to the Bologna Process beyond 2010. (...)

Read the announcement online, the conference website is www.ectn-dresden.net, it can also be accessed via www.ectn.info.

Contact the organizer: 

Pascal Mimero, Lyon FR (E.U.): The NewsLetter, your NewsLetter, will change in 2009.
Decision has been made by the Administrative Council and Management Committee to issue 3 NewsLetters per year instead of 5 today.

 

We would like to improve the quality and the density of the information provided to better serve the community. The ideal schedule will be :

- end of the first quarter (March / April)

- end of the second quarter (June / July)

- and mid of the fourth quarter (November / December)

 

And of course in case of valuable and important information, such as a specific conference or summer schools special circulation, one or two dedicated issues might be inserted, on an exceptional basis, in the current edition programme (in case of an extra edition, a warning will be made in one of the 3 standard editions).

Contact the Editor: 

Kristiina Wähälä, Helsinki FI, December 4, 2008:

A nice report about the ERASMUS-student session of Helsinki ECTN meeting published in the Helsinki University Bulletin (journal in English) HUB issue 2, 2008, page 22. Here is the link to the e-version of the printed journal.

Download the article (PDF / 1.6 Mb) or
  read the interactive journal online at http://www.helsinki.fi/hub/2_2008/helsingin_yliopisto_hub0208.htm

Contact the sender: 

Masato Ito, Soka JP (Asia), December 2, 2008: CEJ web site moved and is now located at http://chem.sci.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp/cejrnlE.html.
Contents page and other relevant pages have also moved. Please visit the new site and renew your bookmarks.

Chemical Education Journal (CEJ) is published by the Society of Computer Chemistry, Japan. Its Asian version in English is published in collaboration with ACEN.

ACEN (Asian Chemical Education Network) is a project of FACS (Federation of the Asian Chemical Societies, http://www.facs-as.org/).
 

--------------------------------------

Contact the Manager: 

Dr. ITO, Masato M., Professor
Faculty of Engineering, Soka University
TEL: +(81)42-691-9448 ; FAX: +(81)42-691-9312
Manager of ACEN home page in Japan & mailing list
http://www.t.soka.ac.jp/chem/acen/
--------------------------------------

Ingo Eilks, Bremen DE, November 12, 2008: The Dortmund / Bremen symposium on chemical and science education has a fine tradition which goes back to the year 1981. In 2008 the 19th summer symposium took place at the Technical University of Dortmund on May 22 – 24. About 100 participants from over 20 different countries joint this year’s conference on “Promoting Successful Science Education – The Worth of Science Education Research” organized by BERND RALLE (Dortmund) and INGO EILKS (Bremen) to discuss the following questions ...

Read the announcement online.

Contact the authors:   or 

Evelyne Garnier-Zarli, Créteil FR, September 18, 2008: Appel d'offre AUF, Bourses Doctorat et Post-Doctorat 2009-2010
 

Please find below the link to get all information about the international contract solicitation of the AUF Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (Francophonia University Agency), for Doctorate and post-Doctorate fund covering the 2009-2010 period.

http://www.auf.org/communication-information/appels-offres/appel-international-a-candidatures-2009-2010-bourses-de-doctorat-bourses-de-post-doctorat.html

Deadline for application: December 22, 2008.

Pr. Evelyne Garnier-Zarli
President of the CIRUISEF (Conférence Internationale des Responsables des Universités et Instituts Scientifiques d'Expression Française), Institutional Network of AUF.
Doyen honoraire de la Faculté des Sciences et Technologie de l'Université Paris 12 Val-de-Marne
UMR - IRD n°137 BIOSOL, Université Paris 12 Val-de-Marne, 61, av du Général de Gaulle - 94 000 Créteil - FRANCE
tél : 00 (33)1 45 17 14 70 ; fax : 00 33(1) 45 17 19 99

 

Contact the President:  ;