Reports from Prof John Webb

发布时间：2016年05月05日 来源：中国化学会

Prof Webb reported on three projects:

• Workshop/training Course on Maintenance of Scientific Instrumentation, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia (December 1999), an activity of the ANAIC Network of UNESCO and FACS.

The Workshop on Science Laboratory Management was held at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) from December 13 - 17, 1999. Thirty participants attended, from the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Science Pedagogy (Education). Of the participants, ten (10) were women and twenty (20) men. The scope of the Workshop included:

• safety,
• stock control,
• preparing and writing notes for student experiments,
• planning of budgets and managing budgets,
• documenting obsolete and malfunctioning equipment,
• maintenance and storage of laboratory chemicals, glassware and instrumentation,
• demonstration of typical experiments,
• writing project proposals requesting assistance or equipment from donor agencies.

NOTE: This latter topic was a specific request by Dr. Barom.

The Workshop Team consisted of three resource persons: Professor John Webb and Mr. Doug Clarke from Murdoch University in Perth, Australia and Dr. Kim Pich from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Professor Webb and Mr Clarke have presented similar Workshops in many countries of South-east Asia. Dr. Pich, a Khmer Australian, had previously worked at the RUPP prior to his studies in Australia. This local experience, plus his fluency in Khmer, was invaluable to the Team.

A Resource Book of 80pp was provided to all participants covering these topics.

• EURASIA Conference on the Chemical Sciences, Brunei, February-March 2000.

The Sixth Eurasia Conference on Chemical Sciences was held at the University of Brunei Darussalam, Brunei from 27 February-2 March 2000. The Conference included a strong emphasis on chemical topics of high priority for the chemists and general community of Brunei. Thus, chemical education and the chemistry of haze were highlighted in the scientific program as were applied chemistry and the chemistry of natural products. Overall, 111 delegates from 24 countries attended the conference, ranging from Europe through Asia and including South Africa and Brazil. There were 23 delegates from Brunei Darussalam Delegates associated with Brunei presented 19 papers, or 18%, out of a total 106 oral presentations. Delegates associated with Brunei presented 6 posters, or 43%, out of a total 14 posters. The four plenary lectures were:

School chemistry in the 21st Centurty: Is it heading the way of the dodo?

Peter Towse,

Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, University of Leeds, UK

New processes for palm-based products

Choo Yuen May,

Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia

Bioactive natural products-an exciting source of new pharmacophores

Atta-ur-Rahman

H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Pakistan

The Chemistry of Forest Smoke and Haze

Peter Brimblecombe

School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK

The Conference was opened by the Minister of Education with a welcome also by the Vice-Chancellor of the University. The local press covered the Conference extensively through the week, providing a wide promotion of the Eurasia Conference, chemistry and the chemistry profession. This and the strong support of the Minister and the Vice-Chancellor have delivered to chemistry in Brunei a strong platform for future development.　

• Regional Conference on the Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, hosted by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI), The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Defence Science and Technology Organisation(DSTO) together with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons(OPCW), May 2001. The KIB expressed an interest in attending this meeting, since they had previous links to the Chinese military regarding toxic plants. The meeting suggested that Prof Webb keep KIB informed and also link the activity's Web page to that of ChIN.

Prof Zaman referred to the OPCW-supported meeting to be held in Montevideo, November 16-19,1999, involving selected group leaders working on natural products chemistry. The meeting is organised by the International Foundation for Science (IFS) to focus attention on the issue of priorities and intellectual property issues in this area of science.