The Elsevier Foundation Launches the Next Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge

The Elsevier Foundation has announced the launch of the 2017 Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. In accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Challenge aims to stimulate chemists to design innovative and sustainably sound products, processes and business models which will help to sustain and protect the world’s population, especially in developing countries. The Challenge forms an important part of the Foundation’s newly established programs and partnerships to ensure healthy lives, reduce inequality, achieve gender equality and bridge the North South divide in scientific collaboration.

Proposals for the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge will be accepted through September 15. After a thorough review process the top 50 proposals will be selected. The jury, consisting of expert scientists in the field and policymakers, will select the top five. These contestants will be invited to pitch their ideas at the second Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference held in Berlin in May 2017. The first prize Challenge winner will receive a €50,000 award, and the second prize winner a €25,000 award.

“We can’t underscore enough the critical role that chemistry has in developing a more sustainable future. Chemists have a responsibility to develop and support new products, resources and processes which will not only be green but also sustainable,” said Prof. Klaus Kümmerer, Professor of Sustainable Chemistry and Material Resources and Director of the Institute for Sustainable and Environmental Chemistry at the Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany. Dr. Kümmerer is also Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier’s journal Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacyand Co-Editor ofCurrent Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry.” Throughout 2015 and 2016, Leuphana University has been a proud contributor to the Challenge and we hope that it will continue to bring innovative ideas, experts and communities together to jointly develop solutions for the many environmental challenges faced in developing countries.”

“We have been able to build off of the substantial and impressive work of the 2016 Elsevier Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge, which celebrated the first set of winners in April 2016 at the first International Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference in Berlin. We are really proud to be able to continue to support this important competition in a rapidly expanding field – and we hope that many of the proposals will come from low resource settings, helping to further bridge the North South participation divide in sustainability research.” said Ylann Schemm, Program Director of the Elsevier Foundation.

“Working with the Elsevier Foundation will foster the further growth of the Challenge and enable us to not only stimulate new research in an emerging field, but also to expand our positive impact on the environment and communities in developing countries,” said Rob van Daalen, Senior Chemistry Publisher at Elsevier and founder of the first Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge.

The Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge is open to individuals or organizations from all countries operating in the nonprofit sectors. Projects can be in any field of green or sustainable chemistry so long as they are applicable for use in developing countries.

The Challenge will open for submissions on June 1, 2016 and the deadline is September 15, 2016. More information, including the official rules and entry forms, can be found on the Elsevier Foundation website.  Follow the conversation on social media: @ELSchemistry and #GreenChemChallenge.

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About the Elsevier Foundation
The Elsevier Foundation is a corporate not-for-profit 501(c)(3), funded by Elsevier, a global provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The Elsevier Foundation provides grants to knowledge centered institutions around the world, with a focus on diversity in STEMM, health information delivery, research in developing countries, nurse leadership and sustainability. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than 100 grants worth over $5 million to non-profit organizations working in these fields. Through gift-matching, the Foundation also supports the efforts of Elsevier employees to play a positive role in their local and global communities. www.elsevierfoundation.org

About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions — among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey— and publishes over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 35,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. www.elsevier.com

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