From September 23rd to 25th the first get-together of the Jungchemiker board and the local representatives took place in Bad Ischl in Upper Austria. Some of the 16 participants (see image below) met one another for the first time at the seminar and therefore the seminar was not only held for the sake of exchanging information, but also for getting to know each other better.
On the first evening and the next morning the focus was on planning future Jungchemiker talks. Simon Albertini presented an example of a Chemistry a_side talk (see image below) as a model for the board's ideas behind this lecture series. With this starting point, quality criteria were established and new concepts were developed together for future events. While the principles of the Chemistry a_side series were kept the same, the Talking Business series was slightly changed. It comes now with the new name "CaB-Talks" (Chemistry and Business Talks) to stress the fact that they are about careers in chemistry. The first talk of this new format has already been organised by the representatives from Graz.
The agenda in the afternoon of the second day was sponsorship and events of the local representatives. In the first part legal issues concerning sponsorship were discussed. Then key questions were analysed which have to be cleared before looking for sponsors. Finally, an exemplary exchange of messages was played through to show the problems which may appear when dealing with sponsors. In the second part the local representatives showed their past projects and plans for the future (see images below: first row an the left: representatives from Graz, first row on the right: representatives from Innsbruck, second row on the left: representatives from Linz, second row on the right: representatives from Vienna), inspiring the others to host similar events at their place.
Hard work aside, some hours were used to build up team spirit. In the first evening the participants showed their knowledge in a pub quiz with some peculiar questions to answer. In the second evening even more teamwork was required to succeed at the "marble run", a challenge which can only be accomplished by playing well as a team.
The morning of the last day was all about the future. First, strategies were designed to gain more members (see image above). Soon there was a consensus that the biggest amount of attention could be attracted by organising several interesting events per semester. To convert this also into an increasing number of new registrations, clear advantages for members are necessary, for example at event registrations, excursions etc. Finally, the seminar was closed with an outlook on the future of the Jungchemiker, in particular on the changes in the board (see image below: our new chair Martin Wieser) and on the internal adjustments to facilitate the nationwide cooperation of all Jungchemiker institutions.
Special thanks go to our former chairwoman Veronika Huber (see image below) who was in charge of organising the get-together.
Our sponsors helped us bearing the expenses for travelling, accommodation, meals and seminar materials. We thank the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy of the Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck, the Vice-rector's Office for Research of the Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck, the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Technical Chemistry of the TU Vienna, Plansee SE in Reutte, the FCIÖ, SGS Fresenius and VWR International.
Join the pubquiz of the Young Chemists Linz at the KHG bar for a nice drink and some tricky questions!
The Young Chemists are hosting a get-to-know-you event and games night on October 22 at CCB at approximately 20:00 for all students, but especially freshmen, to meet new people and socialize.