Tom Shields, former MD of Kemfine and Avecia Fine Chemicals has agreed to take over as Chair of the Investment Group from Sandy Dobbie with immediate effect. Tom has been a member of the group since its inception and also sits on the CSS leadership team.

The CSS team would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Tom and wish him every success in his new role.

Sandy Dobbie of Chemical Sciences Scotland and Chris Gilmore of ScotCHEM have welcomed the recently announced addition of 31 PhD Studentships in chemistry at Scottish universities.

This initiative provides a boost for the future of Scotland’s £3.5bn chemical industry, attracting the best and brightest into research at universities across Scotland.

As part of its Remade Scotland programme, the Scottish Government is to offer grants of up to £25,000 for pilot projects concerning heat recovery using energy from waste (EfW) or waste to energy plants (WtE).

The combined forces of BERR Chemicals and Bioscience Units are now looking at opportunities for investment and growth in industrial biotechnology.

New recommendations on investment in Industrial Biotechnology were outlined by Dr Ian Shott of Excelsyn, Chair of the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Growth Team (IB-IGT)at a meeting held last month in Edinburgh.

Scottish Enterprise and the Royal Society of Edinburgh have launched the new Enterprise Fellowship Programme. With applications for the programme now being accepted from industry experts as well as academic circles, this is a perfect opportunity to enhance your commercial credentials.

Applications for Round 12 of the Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme are now being accepted.

The Proof of Concept programme aims to help researchers successfully export ideas and inventions from the lab to the global marketplace by supporting leading-edge technologies from Scotland's universities, research institutes and NHS Boards.

Speak to the team to help you move your research from lab to marketplace.

A brand new one-day event hosted by the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) at the SCI, Belgrave Square, London on April 24th, 2009, aims to help Chemical Science and associated industries to cope under the economic pressures of the current recession.

By gathering together experts from Government and industry with business analysts and other finance professionals, this major conference will provide an outlook on the economic situation facing the industry.

The Chemical Sciences industry directory is an essential resource for the Scottish chemical sector. This extensive resource demonstrates the extent and diversity of the Scottish Chemical Sciences sector at a local and international level.

Do you want your academic institution, company or professional organisation to be part of the online directory for the Scottish chemical sector?

Contact us to add details of your organisation to the directory.

The 2009 NMP call from The Seventh Framework Programme opened and its first stage deadline was February 17. The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) is designed to support a wide range of participants from universities, through public authorities, to small enterprises and researchers in developing countries.