July 8th- 10th, St Pauls School, London
I hope you have enjoyed the microscale chemistry articles that Adrian Allan and I presented in issues, 53, 54,57, 60, 65, and 69. If you are teaching chemistry do have a look at them. Other authors have also submitted ideas in issues 16 and 39.
It is a new way of looking at practical chemistry but reports from teachers and technicians in the UK say that it adds to classroom control, lesson planning, pedagogy, STEM, and the introduction of practical chemistry to students with special educational needs. With a dearth of specialist teachers, many UK pupils are denied access to hands-on chemistry, with teachers (often teaching outside their specialism).. These techniques can address this. More importantly, it begins to address to students and teachers the environmental (green) aspects of chemistry and the need to aspire to the UN Sustainability Goals.
In July 2024, I attended the IUPAC conference in Thailand. I brought four other educators from the UK to the International Microscale; see https://www.rsc.org/news/2024/october/five-go-to-thailand . We presented our ideas in a 3-hour microscale chemical exhibition, together with many other countries. It was an incredible event and we ai to replicate this at the symposium. Professors Supawan Tantayanon(Thailand) and Jorge Ibanez (Mexico) stated that we need a location for the next international symposium in two years (2026). Over dinner, the UK team spoke about it, and my colleague Matthew Smith, Head of Chemistry at St Paul’s School in London, proposed that his school would be ideal for the event; and it certain is.
Do look at the website https://sites.google.com/view/13ismc26/home
On page 1 we ask if can register interest. Already, nearly 200 names from around the world and the UK have expressed interest.
On page 3, the FAQ page, we try answer to questions but you might have more so do let us know.
On page 4 you can supply proposals but do be quick. If any of you are doing these experiments, you are already an entrepreneur. The exhibition will be in labs; you will be able visit tables and see what others have done or why show us how you have worked at this level.. Workshops will provide more instruction. We have the basic equipment and the chemicals. You need to bring special equipment and submit a risk assessment. But perhaps you have done research in this area and so the talks are the place for you. A general; proposal can be made now and later we might ask for more detail.
On page 6 is the gallery featuring many of the activities about in our SIS articles. It is an ever-growing exhibition of photos and GIFs.
So combine a holiday with new innovative practical chemistry and come to London in July 2026
