Manchester and District

Welcome to the Manchester Section, the oldest Local Section after Liverpool, both of which were formed in 1918.   

The Manchester Section serves the area of Greater Manchester and outlying areas, such as High Peak, Macclesfield and Northwich and Rossendale. Within the district there are four universities, several further education colleges and a still significant chemical industry.  The Manchester Local Section seeks to engage with and support its members with any activity that aims to advance the chemical sciences, from all sectors that it serves. 

What do we do?

The Committee seeks ways to promote chemistry and provide interesting events for members and their families. We seek to fund events that range from schools lectures, demonstrations and competitions, skills training for teachers, scientific lectures and competitions for undergraduates, public lectures, social activities, charitable and professional affairs.

The Committee also supports RSC initiatives such as Chemistry Week, Chemistry at Work, My Next Move, careers and employment guidance, and retirement seminars. 

I have an idea, how can I get it funded?

If you're a member who would like to organise an event within the Manchester region, please fill out the proposal form and email to the Local Section secretary, who will present your project to the committee at the next available meeting.

How is the committee structured?

The Local Section is structured into five separate sub-committees, each with a specific remit covering Scientific, Educational, Professional, Social and Younger Members activities, so there is ample opportunity for any RSC chemist to help as a Committee and/or a sub-committee member.

I'd like to see what the committee does?

If you're interested in becoming more involved with the RSC or the Local Section, members are welcome to attend our committee meetings, which are hosted four times per year in the John Dalton Buildig at Manchester Metropolitan University.  Please complete the contact form below.

Travel Bursaries

The Manchester & District Local Section of the Royal Society of Chemistry is making available small grants (£400) to support members in their career development through attendance at international conferences. Awards are competitive, and will be made only to Student Members or Younger Members (under 35) of the RSC studying, working, or domiciled within the area covered by Greater Manchester and outlying areas, such as High Peak, Macclesfield, Northwich and Rossendale. We encourage applications for fee-paying virtual conferences.

Awards are specifically for attendance at international conferences (in person or online) where members will be presenting a talk or poster. Alternative sources are available for UK RSC conferences.  View alternative sources of funding available for UK RSC conferences.

Awards are intended to complement other sources of funding, and to act as leverage to secure such other funds.

A limited number of awards are available annually. Please fill in the travel bursary form, which includes details of where to email the completed form, by one of two deadlines:

• first Friday in March
• first Friday in June

Applications should be accompanied by a statement of support from the academic or industrial supervisor of the applicant, and should concern conferences in the calendar year of application. Awards will be made on the conditions that a short report on the conference is submitted to the next meeting of the Local Section, that their support is acknowledged in the talk/poster, and that certification of conference attendance is submitted alongside the report.

Decisions will be communicated within two weeks of receipt of applications. They will depend upon the academic or professional standing of the conference and applicant, the relevance of the conference to the research project or professional duties of the applicant, and the case made as to professional development in the application and supporting statement.

Activities

Educational Resource for Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling

The committee have recently funded some educational kits linked to a lithium-ion battery recycling programme of activities for 9-11 year olds. In collaboration with the Applied Materials Chemistry Group, we have purchased a number of resources boxes to distribute to primary schools to teach year 5 and 6 students about the process of battery recycling. The kits accompany a free downloadable resource that can be found on the Applied Materials Chemistry Group webpage.

The committee are offering the kits to primary educators free of charge on the condition that users fill out a feedback slide and return to the committee once the resources have been used. If you work in primary education and are interested, please complete our online expression of interest form.

2021 Christmas Lecture

Did you miss our 2021 Christmas Lecture? Would like to watch it again or share it with friends? You can find the video of our Christmas Lecture online now!

Community

We also encourage you to connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter (@RSC_Manchester).

Quick links

Forthcoming events

Forthcoming events organised by the Manchester and District Local Section.

Support for Local Sections

Useful information and resources for all RSC Local Sections.