President's Letter - September 2022
Written by Dr Susan Northfield, MRACI
Published 20 September 2022
Dear RACI Victorian Branch community,
I begin this month’s letter with acknowledgment of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II last fortnight. The Royal Australian Chemical Institute sends our condolences to His Majesty King Charles III, all members of the Royal Family and the British public.
The countdown is on to the Branch AGM on November 9th. The AGM will be immediately followed by the 2022 Awards Night. Both events will be held at Graduate House in Carlton. We hope you can join us in person, but for those who are unable to attend, the AGM will have an online attendance option. The AGM as always is free to attend, but we do require your registration. If you can stay on to attend the Awards Night, you will enjoy a lovely three course meal, drinks, and a chance to celebrate the winners of our Branch Awards, and the Victorian members who are marking milestone years as RACI members. You can register for one or both events via this link . Prices for Awards Night tickets are listed on the website, but please note that Award winners are provided a free ticket.
Speaking of the Victorian Branch Awards – don’t forget that applications are open NOW for all the 2022 Branch Awards. The Branch Awards are our way of acknowledging RACI members who have contributed significantly to the chemistry community across the last twelve months. I encourage you all to take a look at the Awards on offer and consider who you will nominate for or more of the accolades. Applications close on October 10th!
You may have noticed that this year the Branch has been actively engaging on the topic of Diversity and Inclusion. Specifically, we have been offering training opportunities that are free for our members. So far, we have had multiple sessions on inclusive leadership, and another on Deaf Awareness. In each case we have brought in external experts to share their knowledge and training. For those who have attended, we call on you to fill in a brief feedback form to help us shape future offerings in this training space. We can also advise that there is another opportunity upcoming to hear from Acknowledge This, who run training workshops to provide context, address barriers and practice positive people cultures. If you are interested in their workshops, please fill in this expression of interest form and we’ll get back to you.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to remind you that our Hartung Youth Lecturer for 2022 was announced during National Science Week in August. The announcement included a YouTube video and provided an expression of interest form for Schools to complete if they are interested in having the lecturer visit to give their engaging chemistry presentation in person. This year, the Hartung Youth lecturer is A/Prof Rajesh Ramanathan. Please share this opportunity with your networks. And if you are interested in a sneak peak of his presentation, Rajesh will be a guest speaker at the Retiree’s virtual lunch in October. You can register for that event here .
A reminder that if you have any feedback you would like to provide to the Branch, please click on this link and fill in the Google Form. The information you provide will be used by the executive team for strategic planning for the Branch for the year(s) ahead.
Best wishes to you all!
Dr Susan Northfield
RACI VIC Branch President
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