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34-ICCC
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This
meeting, representing the Golden Jubilee of the International Conference
on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC) and held at the University of Edinburgh,
was attended by approximately 1 300 delegates, from a total of 51
different countries, giving a truly international flavor to the
proceedings. Although the weather for the opening ceremony was unseasonably
cold and wet (even by Scottish standards!), the hospitality was
warm, and all participants were made to feel very welcome.
The lecture rooms and poster areas were located within the buildings
of the University of Edinburgh George Square Complex, with the plenary
lectures being held in the enormously impressive and atmospheric
McEwan Hall. The audiovisual facilities on site were of an excellent
standard, and the stewards on duty in the various lecture rooms
are to be warmly commended for their helpfulness and their efficiency
and skill in keeping everything running smoothly.
The scientific sessions, all with speakers of high quality, were
split into six separate themes, comprising Structure and Dynamics,
Materials, Biotechnology and Medicine, Technological Advances, Chemistry
of Life, and Joe Chatt Chemistry. In all, there were 10 plenary
lectures, 234 invited or contributed talks, and 970 poster presentations.
All of the sessions were well attended and promoted lively discussions,
especially the poster sessions. The plenary lectures were given
by Profs. G. J. Leigh (Sussex, England, UK), S. Shinkai (Kyushu,
Japan), C. D. Garner (Nottingham, England, UK), J. Reedijk (Leiden,
Netherlands), S. B. Wild (Australian National University, Canberra,
Australia), M. Poliakoff (Nottingham, England, UK), L. Fabrizzi
(Pavia, Italy), H. W. Kroto (Sussex, England, UK), H. Schmidbaur
(Munich, Germany), and K. N. Raymond (Berkeley, California, USA).
Prof. Reedijks plenary lecture was the Olivier Kahn Memorial
Lecture, and it highlighted the scientific contributions of the
late Prof. Kahn. In addition to the wide range of new science being
discussed, there was an interesting display of memorabilia from
previous ICCC meetings, beginning with the first, held in 1950.
The social program was very well organized, with a wide selection
of trips on offer to explore various parts of the delightful Scottish
countryside (including, of course, a distillery visit). In addition,
there was a welcoming buffet on the opening night of the conference
and a memorable wine reception within the battlements of the imposing
Edinburgh Castle, with splendid views over the city and its surroundings.
As well as IUPAC sponsorship, the meeting benefited from financial
help from Astra-Zeneca, Avecia, Elsevier, EC COST Program, ICI,
Infineum, Lancaster, and Unilever. The Royal Society of Chemistry
(through the Angela and Tony Fish bequest) and Elsevier were generous
in funding student bursaries and support for younger delegates.
Prof. Peter Tasker (Chairman of the Organizing Committee), Prof.
Peter Sadler (Chairman of the Scientific Committee), and their colleagues
are to be highly commended for producing a conference of the highest
quality in terms of the science, the speakers, and the organization.
Dr. J. H. Cameron
Chemistry Department
Heriot-Watt University
Riccarton, Edinburgh
Scotland, United Kingdom