International Year of Chemistry to be celebrated at Pittcon 2011

Pittsburgh, PA – Next year has been declared the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) by the United Nations. The year-long celebration has the goal of increasing public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs and encouraging interest in chemistry among young people.

Pittcon 2011 announced today that it will be supporting the IYC, and the conference’s Technical Program will include sessions on how chemical research is critical for solving the world’s most vexing problems involving food, water, health, energy, and transportation.

The show will also sponsor Science Week in the city of Atlanta, where the conference is taking place, from March 13-18. Science Week will offer student workshops for elementary and middle school students, teacher workshops for continuing education, and, for high school students, a lecture/demo presented by TV science personality Lee Marek — all at no charge to those who sign up to participate. In addition, faculty who attend a teacher workshop will qualify for a $1,000 grant to buy science equipment for their school.

More details on the International Year of Chemistry are available at www.chemistry2011.org and PIttcon 2011 at www.pittcon.org.