How the RSC is Supporting Innovation Across the Chemical Industry

Interview conducted by Skyla BailyApr 4 2023

insights from industryJessica EvansIndustry Member Experience Lead Royal Society of Chemistry 

AZoM had the pleasure of speaking with Jessica Evans from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) about their membership community and the incredible work they are doing to support the chemical industry. 

Please could you introduce yourself and your professional background?

I'm a chemist by background. I did a chemistry degree at Reading, and then I did nearly four years in an analytical testing lab. I then decided I still wanted to use chemistry but in a more people-facing role; I'd had enough of mainly talking to glassware! I made the jump then to working for the Royal Society of Chemistry in the membership team, and that's where I've been since 2019. I’m now the industry member experience lead, so I’m really focusing on supporting our industry-based members.

Could you describe the wide range of work that the RSC does in its mission to foster positive applications of chemical sciences?

We are really here to put chemistry at the front and center, and by definition, chemists at the front and center of trying to make the world a better place. This comes from connecting people to each other. It’s all about innovation and pushing the boundaries.

I think a lot of people do know us best as a publishing house historically, and that certainly remains a really big part of what we do, but it’s not the only thing that we're involved in. It's all about developing and recognizing professional capabilities, and I think the more that people can work together and create partnerships, the better. Really having that influence and that wide-ranging community is what means that we can influence wider society as well.

We are also really involved in the educational side of things and inspiring the next generation of chemical scientists. 

Could you give some examples of the outreach activity that you do?

It's super varied. We have what's called the Outreach Fund, to which anyone can apply with an idea for something that will raise the profile of chemistry in any setting, be that in school or public engagement. People do workshops. There are fun seminars. We have a whole workshop series at the moment with our public engagement team. The really nice thing is it's about putting people's ideas into action.

What is so significant about the professional community that the RSC fosters?

I think the really important things are that it's very inclusive, it's very welcoming, and it’s open to all. Anybody can be a member of our community, no matter if they have a slight interest in chemical science based on something they studied a long time ago, or if they are the people who are right there at the forefront doing innovative chemistry every day. It's really varied, and the nice thing is that we have people at all career stages and in very different roles, quite often doing things that people don't think of as chemistry. A very common phrase that I hear is, "Oh, I'm not a chemist." And people absolutely are - they just don't put themselves in that category, which is really interesting.

Equally, we have people who are now doing much more interdisciplinary work, but their foundations are in chemistry, so they still get that help and support from us.

Do you need a qualification in chemistry to join the RSC?

No. So, that is obviously a route to our professional categories, but people can also and increasingly do come from what we call an experiential route.

People can join through one of the professional awards that we can support people to achieve after years of experience, as the knowledge and skills they've gained during that time are commensurate to somebody who has studied chemistry. We see that increasingly people are coming in via that slightly different route to what was historically deemed the way. So no, it is not a prerequisite to have a chemistry degree.

What are some of the ways that the RSC supports the chemical industry as well as academics?

In particular, my new role, which is a new role for the organization, is looking at the experiences that industry-based members are having. I think it really shows the value that the organization is putting on industry-based members.  We know from our data gathering that actually the majority of our members are in industry, so it’s important to be giving time and space to ensuring the support we can provide is accessible and clear.

I think it represents a really fresh focus for industry moving forward. They are giving me the time and space to properly dedicate to making sure that the support we have is accessible and clear.

We also want to tackle the misconception that you have to be in a lab wearing a lab coat to be in our community, which just isn't the case. People are doing all sorts of things. In particular, online, we now have our member stories page, which profiles lots of members doing lots of different things across lots of different sectors.

We're also here to support companies who are at different stages of their journey. We have lots of support for startups and help them find things like funding. We also put them in touch with people who've been there and done it, acting as mentors, right through to really global organizations.

We accredit some of the biggest names in the chemical industry, and we really help them with their talent development and with their professional recognition because, obviously, that's really important in a big company where there's that danger of getting a bit lost in the crowd.

I would hope that people will increasingly see that there is support available no matter what career stage they are at and no matter what stage their company is at as well.

One of the most pertinent discussions in the chemical sector currently is the concept of green chemistry and a push toward sustainability and circularity. How significant is this issue, and what are some of the ways the RSC is approaching it?

It is a biggie, and we're certainly increasingly our focus. With the companies that we support, particularly in the startup SME space, a lot of them are doing amazing work that is going to make a real impact in this area.

We have lots of thought leadership pieces and things that are then turning into actions. One of the things that we have recently been involved with is a project called Sustainable Labs, where we invited members of the chemical sciences community to share their views and experiences of minimizing the environmental footprint of their research, which I think is really interesting because labs can be incredibly resource-heavy environments to be working within.

The responses from this form the basis of our new Sustainable Laboratories Report, and this will then inform the ongoing efforts to support the community in their goals to create greener labs. So, there are all sorts of initiatives that will be coming out, and it shows our commitment to helping other people make their research and development a more sustainable space.

We are also giving a focus to polymers in liquid formulations, which have the potential for real-world impact, making millions of household and industrial projects that contain these PLFs more sustainable. And that was all done with a task force that was made up of industry partners; they've been really crucial in driving that work forward.

There will be a roadmap being launched in July. It will show where we've got to and where we would like to go. We had a really nice campaign that was run last year, for example, about people going and finding their old tins of paint, showing that these materials are here in abundance and the things that we can do to make that more sustainable moving forward. This has the potential to be really significant I think, and ultimately it’s really about involving our community.

The RSC will be contributing to the show program at ChemUK this May through a presence at the conference, keynote talks, and a members’ reception. Could you describe your presence there in further detail?

We've got a really involved program. It's going to be great. I'm delighted that Gill Reid, who is now our president, will be joining us again to give a keynote, which is really exciting. She's just a fantastic advocate for all the good work we do.

We are also going to have a member's reception again on the first evening, which is a really nice networking space for people just to stay and enjoy some refreshments with other members at the end of a busy day. And then we've got a variety of talks. We've got people joining from across the organization, and also one of our accredited companies, Johnson Matthey, will be talking on the second day about their accredited program.

We've also got career consultations happening on the stand; the stand is bigger and better than ever.

Get Your Free Visitor Pass for ChemUk HERE

What are the subjects of some of the talks that visitors can look forward to hearing?

Our members from Johnson Matthey have just recently achieved RSC accreditation, which is all about influencing a program of structured training and development that leads their employees to the professional awards that we offer, so they will be talking about that process because they just achieved that at the end of last year. They're quite new in the journey, but they've really gone UK-wide with the accreditation, which is fantastic and really shows their commitment. So, we wanted to invite them to share the journey, share the process, share best practices, and hopefully, a few tips and tricks for other people who might be thinking about going for something similar.

On the first day, one of my colleagues from our strategic partnerships team, who will be coming to talk about our Broadening Horizons program, which is in the I&D space. Then, we're going to be offering careers consultations to members so they can come and have a chat with one of our advisors on the stand. This is not really a talk, but I think it shows the breadth of resources that we're taking with us to offer to members.

Why do you think it is important for the RSC to take part in conferences such as ChemUK?

I think it's really about showing the value that the RSC puts on being out and about with our industry community, especially given the last few years. You just can't replicate that in an online format. It's just not the same. It’s all about us meeting with our members but also about members being able to network with each other.

The number of times on stand you find yourself talking to a couple of people who are then having a conversation with each other… it’s just really nice to see and to be able to facilitate that collaboration. We are able to do far more if our community is really tight-knit and up for the challenge. In terms of Gill coming, and there's going to be quite a big RSC presence, I just think it shows the effort that we want to put out there.

We will be there en masse for the two days, which we’re looking forward to, and we’d really encourage everybody to come and have a chat and find out what it's all about. That's members, non-members, and anyone in between. We're there to have those conversations.

Are there any recent notable opportunities or developments from the RSC you wish to spotlight?

My colleague Ian, who as I say is from our strategic partnerships team, will be coming to give a talk on industry challenges and in particular will focus on our Broadening Horizons program. This has come about because of the Missing Elements report that was published last year, which identified the huge lack of people from Black and minoritised ethnic backgrounds working within the chemical sciences, which needs real attention. And not only for the people who are in the community now but the next generation coming through; it’s about them having the opportunities that others are afforded.

We wanted to take real action, and the Broadening Horizons program is the result, where we are again partnering with industry who are offering skills sessions and placements for black and ethnic minority students. And just the way it has grown in a very short time is amazing. We have industry partners banging down the door, wanting to get involved. It's the kind of thing where you think, "I can't quite believe there wasn't anything already like this," but there just really wasn't. We’re really proud of having done the research, seen the issue, and now put something in place that’s seeing real success. I think that’s going to be a fantastic talk at ChemUK.

Another one to highlight comes out of our various member surveys. We know that continuing professional development is really important for our members, and being able to track that, so we have just recently launched our new Pathfinder tool, which is all about enabling CPD. We know that people want to keep track of their learnings, and any new skills they are developing, so I think it is going to be an invaluable tool.

What do you imagine the chemical sector and chemical science community will look like over the next decade?

I think that we can all see there is going to be a big element of re-skilling for people across the sector, which I think sometimes can feel like a bit of a scary prospect. But I think we can see that as a real opportunity for people, and obviously, we are here to help and support people in that journey. Chemists have so many transferrable skills, so quite often they are working across different areas and using different things to do their work already. We recently produced a report called Chemistry’s Contribution, which looked at different workforce trends and the economic impact, with a big consideration given to how COVID impacted that too.

We’ll continue to partner with big industries, that’s really important, but for us, really developing our offering for SMEs to make sure that we can keep providing that support as people are coming through is crucial. That's a big focus, I would say, for my work in the next couple of years certainly.

There are lots of opportunities upcoming, and we just want to make sure that we're doing all the right things to support people wherever they're heading next. Chemistry was really highlighted as a way for us to build back the economy in this country.

About Jessica Evans 

Having trained as a Chemist and following 3 years working within a laboratory setting, Jessica joined the membership department at the Royal Society of Chemistry. Her role as Industry Member Experience Lead involves partnering with and supporting companies of all sizes and varieties to help them achieve a framework for continuing professional development, setting a pathway to the RSC professional recognition awards and aiding their recruitment and retention of talented chemical scientists.