The last meeting of the GDCh executive board 2016-2019 took place at the invitation of Bayer (and our new treasurer Mr. Fleßner) on the plant site in Bergkamen. Since the majority of the current board could not attend the meeting, it was not entitled to vote (for the first time ever), important decisions were therefore postponed to a conference call. Fortunately, the newly elected board members appeared in full to be informed about the former years and make plans for the future. For several tasks, the new board will try to take up the work that has been started and to push it even further. For example, internationalization, digitalization and the external impact of the GDCh have been identified as key areas where the greatest potential for development is seen (and by which we must ultimately measure our success). If you want more information about the meeting itself, please have a look at our memory protocol! Of course, there was also the opportunity for a factory tour and a dinner together to get to know each other better, in case this was not fully possible during the 6 hour session. After this meeting we are looking forward to the next four years with optimism and full of energy!

 

Memory Report* | GDCh Board Meeting | December 03, 2019 | Bayer AG, Bergkamen

*the memory report was written from a subjective point of view by Frank D. and Katharina U., the official minutes will be published in the Nachrichten aus der Chemie  issue XY 2020 after approval in the December meeting of the Board.

 

  • Date of a conference call for the adoption of the necessary resolutions

Unfortunately, there was no quorum at this GDCh board meeting because the majority of the still acting board was not present. Therefore, the resolutions were moved to a separate telephone conference.

  • Report on the current financial situation

Mr. Kilz explains in detail the preliminary financial results already presented at the general meeting. This is intended to give the new members of the GDCh Board of Directors for the period of office 2020 to 2023 an understanding of the GDCh from a business or non-profit perspective.

  • Report on the consultation of the GDCh Section Chairs with the President on October 28 and 29 in Würzburg

Every year, representatives of the specialist groups meet in Würzburg to report on current developments and plan for the future, similar to the retreat of the OVVs and regional speakers.

Mr. Früh (representative of the sections in the GDCh Executive Board) reported on a successful meeting of the section chairmen. In addition to the lectures, there were productive discussions in Würzburg about networking projects, for example with the Young Chemists Forum. More is to be planned for the next meeting of the FG.

Furthermore, the FG Macrochemistry is planning the "Year of Polymers" 2020. 2020 will see many additional events, such as the "Celebration of 100 Years of Macromolecular Chemistry" (more information at https://macrochem.org/).

During the meeting in Würzburg, Dr. Thomas Früh (Arlanxeo) was re-elected for the years 2020 to 2021 as speaker of the sections on the GDCh board.

  • Report on the meeting of the local association chairmen and spokespersons of the regional Young Chemists Forums with the President on October 11 in Frankfurt
    (known as "the Maritim Hotel retreat")

See additional report in our forum.

The President and Mr Koch will give a brief account of what has happened. Mr. Karger adds some projects that have already been implemented after the meeting - the Young Chemists' Forum is setting a good example!

  • Preparation for the establishment of a commission to revise the contribution rules

The commission for the revision of the fee schedule will be set up after application from the membership at the general meeting in Aachen. It will be headed by the new treasurer Timo Flessner, further members are Frank Dissinger, Volker Kilz, Gerhard Karger, Thomas Früh, Holger Bengs, Henrik Kelz (the applicant from the general meeting)

  • Review WiFo 2019, Aachen, and outlook WiFo 2021, Munich

We look back on a successful event in Aachen in September. New concepts, such as a session of several specialist groups on microplastics were very well attended. In particular, the number of participants, at around 1,500, fell short of the figures for previous events. A summary of the WiFo highlights can be found at www.gdch.de/gdch/wissenschaftsforumchemie/wifo-2019.html

"Experiment Future - Value Thinking in Chemistry" was praised in terms of content but fell short of expectations in terms of the number of participants and visibility in science, the public and politics.

  • Report of the Commission "Equal Opportunities in Chemistry

Dr. Hildegard Nimmesgern, Chairperson of the GDCh Commission on Equal Opportunities in Chemistry, informs with a report about the activities in 2019.

The new Hildegard Hamm-Brücher Prize for Diversity will be awarded for the first time on the occasion of the GDCh Scientific Forum on Chemistry in September 2021 in Munich.

  • GDCh Goals for 2020

Three major topics are formulated as crucial for the future, where the GDCh has to catch up and act: Internationalization, digitization and public image. These will be defined as focus topics for next year and concrete measures will be discussed at the first meeting in 2020.

  • Introduction to the online tools of the GDCh Executive Board and overview of important GDCh activities

The online information system of the board of directors is a platform on which all meeting documents, minutes, calendars, etc. are available for download.