Professor Patricia Forbes from the University of Pretoria has been elected as the National Representative of the Analytical Chemistry division of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

Prof Forbes, a Full Professor who holds the Rand Water Research Chair in the Department of Chemistry, said, “It is an honour to represent South Africa in this prestigious international forum”. Those studying chemistry come to hear about IUPAC as undergraduate students, as IUPAC is the world authority which sets the nomenclature and terminology used in chemistry, including the naming of new elements in the periodic table. IUPAC has been creating the common language of chemistry for more than a century.

One of the contributions of IUPAC national representatives is involvement in projects initiated by the different divisions.

Prof Forbes is a member of a project team looking into the current status of analytical chemistry education worldwide. “The aim is to better understand the status quo and how this translates into educational requirements in the analytical sciences to ensure that the university chemistry curriculum meets the needs of both chemistry graduates and future employers”, said Forbes.

“As the project objectives state, this is important as a deep and fundamental understanding of analytical chemistry is required to foster the next generation of analytical scientists with the insight, capacity and creativity to contribute to novel developments and disruptive technologies in this field. Prof Forbes noted that it is insightful to compare the local situation to that of her global counterparts concerning funding availability, proportion of professorships in analytical chemistry, and the quality of analytical chemistry education. “It is vital for Africa to have a voice on these international platforms,” Prof Forbes concluded.