Chemical information provider Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a division of the American Chemical Society, has announced the selection of 15 Ph.D. students in the chemical sciences for the 2012 SciFinder Future Leaders in Chemistry programme. Each of these students demonstrated academic excellence, a commitment to research and an appreciation of chemical information. Their exceptional essays and impressive letters of recommendation distinguished these students from among the hundreds who applied.
Since 2010, the SciFinder Future Leaders in Chemistry programme, formerly the SciFinder Academic Exchange Program, has served as an intensive mini-university where graduate students from around the world exchange ideas and experiences in chemistry and informatics. In only the third year of the programme, applications were received from 32 countries around the world and more than doubled in number from last year, resulting in an acceptance rate of just over four percent. This year's class joins an elite group of scientists who have unique perspectives on how chemical information is vital to the advancement of research.
Participants in the 2012 SciFinder Future Leaders in Chemistry program have the unique opportunity to share their insights on chemical information and learn from their peers. During their visit to the CAS campus in Columbus, Ohio, participants get a behind-the-scenes look at how CAS builds and maintains the most authoritative chemistry databases as they meet and exchange ideas with the CAS scientists and engineers responsible for SciFinder, projected to be the world's best chemical information research tool. As in past years, participants will also visit prestigious Central Ohio research organisations such as The Ohio State University, Battelle Memorial Institute and TechColumbus.
In addition, participants will join an expected 12,000 chemistry professionals in Philadelphia, Penn., to attend the 244th ACS National Meeting & Exposition and listen to scientists present new research, hear the latest information in their areas of interest, and network with other chemists.
