National Committee for Chemistry

The National Committee for Chemistry (NCC) fosters chemistry in Australia, links the Academy to Australian scientists and relevant scientific societies, and serves as a link between Australian and overseas chemists, primarily through the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

The NCC shapes future directions for chemistry in Australia through strategic planning for the discipline, undertaken jointly with the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. The committee also works to actively strengthen the relationship between Australia and IUPAC, by facilitating large IUPAC conferences and meetings in Australia. Through these activities, the committee facilitates community-wide strategic planning initiatives, promotes the national value and benefits of chemistry, and manages relations between Australian chemists, the Academy and IUPAC.

The National Committee published Chemistry for a better life: The decadal plan for Australian chemistry 2016–25 in February 2016. This report presents the strategic vision for Australian chemistry for the next decade and is the first step in advancing Australia’s most important, value-adding manufacturing sector. It identifies the key challenges, barriers, and opportunities for Australia in the 21st century and proposes solutions that can help Australia reach its potential as a world-class international manufacturing hub. The Committee is currently undertaking a mid-term review of their decadal plan.

Governance

• Terms of reference

Reports and activities

• Submission—University Research Commercialisation Scheme, April 2021
• Submission - Critical Technologies Policy Coordination Office stakeholder consultation, April 2021
• Submission–2030 Strategic Plan for Science, June 2017
• Decadal plan for chemistry (2016-2025), published February 2016
• IYPT/IUPAC100 Digital Art Competition for Schools

 

Related groups and organisations

• International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)
• Royal Australian Chemical Institute
• Society of Crystallogaphers in Australia and New Zealand (SCANZ)

Members

• Chair: Professor Katrina Jolliffe FAA
  • The University of Sydney, Professor of Chemistry
  • Research expertise: Supramolecular chemistry, organic chemistry, peptide chemistry, sensing and transport of anions
• Committee member: Professor Frances Separovic FAA
  • The University of Melbourne, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Deputy Director of the Bio21 Institute
  • Research expertise: Biophysical chemistry, membrane biophysics, solid-state NMR spectroscopy
• Ex-Officio – RACI: Professor Pall Thordarson
• UNSW Sydney, School of Chemistry and the UNSW RNA Institute
• Research expertise: Supramolecular and Systems Chemistry with emphasis on peptides, polymers and RNA
• Observer: Emeritus Professor Mary Garson AM
• The University of Queensland, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences
• Research expertise: Natural products chemistry, IUPAC background
• EMCR representative: Dr Sara Kyne
• The University of New South Wales, School of Chemistry
• Research expertise: Green chemistry, catalysis, chemistry education, science education
• Committee member: Professor Steven Langford
• University of Technology, Sydney; Head School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
• Research expertise: Photovoltaics; neuroscience; biotechnology; materials science; nanobiotechnology; neuroscience
• Committee member: Dr. Yvonne Mah
• BASF, Business Development Manager, Plastic Additives
• Research expertise: Industrial chemistry, polymer chemistry, women in chemistry
• Committee member: Dr. Paul Newell
• The Government of Western Australia, A/Director of Operations - Compliance and Enforcement
• Research expertise:  Government regulation and enforcement, contaminated sites and remediation, forensic investigation, chemistry, illicit drugs, HAZMAT response, toxicology, training, environmental chemistry, chemical diversion, illicit drug intelligence, law enforcement, international science.
• Committee Member: Professor Zaiping Guo FAA
  • The University of Adelaide, School of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology
  • Research expertise: Electrochemistry, energy, functional materials, nanomaterials. Composite and hybrid materials
• Committee Member: Dr Daniel Priebbenow
  • University of Monash, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Research expertise: Advancing the manufacturing of medicine through new chemical reactions of small molecules, pharmaceutical and agrochemical science.
• Committee Member: Dr Helena Wang
  • University of Melbourne, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
  • Research expertise: Design of functional porous materials, carbon sustainability, renewable hydrogen, critical minerals and battery recycling.