By: John W Wilson, University of Pretoria and Duan Biggs, Griffith University

It is becoming increasingly difficult for people – particularly those from the developing world and the global south – to move around the globe. The UK voted “yes” to Brexit. Donald Trump wants to build a wall on the US border with Mexico. Hungary is also mulling a wall to keep “outsiders” from crossing its borders.

The attitude of citizens in higher income countries towards immigrants is hardening. Visas are harder to come by, no matter the purpose of your travel. And, as research we conducted in late 2015 reveals, scientists from the developing world are among those caught in the cross hairs.

Barriers to travel

As part of the research we conducted an online survey to examine the impact of visa requirements on scientific collaboration. Some of the respondents were postgraduate students; others were active researchers and academics in fields like biology, earth sciences, applied mathematics and engineering. In total, 232 people representing 46 citizenships – from Canada, Chile, France, Malaysia, New Zealand and Kenya, to name a few – took part in the research.

We found that researchers from countries defined as developing by the International Monetary Fund perceive current visa rules as a major impediment to professional travel. Their peers from developed countries did not experience visa rules as a significant barrier.

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ECS would like to formally commend the University of South Carolina for being presented the Outstanding Student Chapter Award this year at PRiME 2016! The chapter has proven an incredible asset to the organization, and it was an honor to recognize its prodigious achievements.

The Outstanding Student Chapter Award was established in 2012 to recognize distinguished student chapters that demonstrate active participation in The Electrochemical Society’s technical activities, establish community and outreach activities in the areas of electrochemical and solid state science and engineering education, and create and maintain a robust membership base.

The award consisted of a recognition plaque, $1,000 toward student chapter funding, and chapter recognition in Interface.

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David Cliffel is the Professor of Chemistry & Department Chair at Vanderbilt University, where he leads research on the electrochemistry and analytical chemistry of nanoparticles and photosynthetic proteins. He has recently become a new Technical Editor for the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, concentrating in the Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry, Electrocatalysis, and Photoelectrochemistry Topical Interest Area.

What do you hope to accomplish as the new Technical Editor of JES?
I’d like to improve the connection between what’s happening – as far as vibrant science – at the meetings and have that reflected in the quality of the papers in the journal. I think my role is really to facilitate the extension of the quality of the meetings into the journals.

How important is the peer-review process to the integrity of scientific publications?
Peer-review is the heart of how science gets evaluated and how important discoveries get communicated to the rest of us. The review process is still the best method we have of being able to evaluate the quality and importance of what’s really happening in our field. The reviewers are a critical part, and in JES, the key aspect is that our reviewers are in electrochemistry and that may or may not be the case in any other journal. One of our greatest assets is the quality of our reviewers’ knowledge in electrochemistry.

What kind of impact have you seen open access have on academic publishing?
Open access really has expanded the rest of the world’s ability to access high-quality journals. It’s also opened up technical papers to a larger part of the scientific audience and expanded what the audience is reading. That has been a very exciting thing. My open access papers are getting read by high school students and I’m getting emails from high school teachers about what’s the new paper that just came out in an area they happen to be searching in. Open access drives scientific knowledge and the spread of scientific knowledge to people who never had access before.

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We are currently accepting nominations for the prestigious honor of Fellow of The Electrochemical Society. This award was established in 1989 for advanced individual technological contributions in the field of electrochemical and solid-state science and technology and for active membership and involvement in the affairs of The Electrochemical Society. The award consists of a scroll, lapel pin and eternal bragging rights.

Now is the time to look around the room at your colleagues, recall that Division Member who you shared a meal with at our last bi-annual meeting or the committee member who you work with to further the ECS mission and question whether s/he is a Fellow. You may be very surprised at who has achieved this recognition and who has not.

Find out how to apply and view the full list of ECS Fellows and take a moment to nominate the 2017 class.

Read the rules and submit a nomination form today.

Application Deadline: February 1, 2017

Upcoming Call for Nominations

Society Awards

Fellow of The Electrochemical Society: recognizing advanced individual technological contributions in the field of electrochemical and solid-state science and technology, and active ECS membership. Certificate and gold lapel pin. February 1, 2017.

Vittorio de Nora Award: recognizing distinguished contributions to the field of electrochemical engineering and technology. Gold medal, wall plaque, $7,500, complimentary meeting registration, awards dinner, and Society Life Membership. April 15, 2017.

Henry B. Linford Award: recognizing excellence in teaching in subject areas of interest to the Society. Silver medal, wall plaque, $2,500, complimentary meeting registration, awards dinner and Society Life Membership. April 15, 2017.

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The last week of October is International Open Access Week. As ECS did last year, we are celebrating by giving the world a preview of what complete open access will look like when we have completed our Free the Science campaign. From October 24th through October 30th we are taking down the paywall to the ECS Digital Library. Over 132,000 articles will be freely available to anyone who wants to read them.

We had great success with this last year. During Open Access Week the Journal of The Electrochemical Society saw a 51% increase in usage.

Please spread the word. From October 24th through the 30th anyone will be able to read any of the content in our digital library for free.  We hope to make this the “norm” in the future through our Free the Science initiative.

Aloha!

As we are getting ready to go to PRiME 2016, we thought of some things we didn’t want you to forget!

Registration opens on Saturday at 1600h and at 0700h on Sunday at the Convention Center. When you go, you’ll only need to enter your last name at the kiosk and your badge will be printed for you.

Before you leave home, go here and log in and add a Short Course or a ticketed event.

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The Electrochemical Society is pleased to announce, as part of the on-going ECS Monograph Series, the publication of two new editions of ECS monographs, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Please join ECS in welcoming authors Christofer Leygraf, Mark Orazem, and Bernard Tribollet, as they sign copies of their monographs on Wednesday, October 5, 2016, 1830h in Hall 2, HCC, followed by a short Q+A session and book raffle! Two copies of each of the below monographs will be raffled off (must be present during the book signing to win)! Drop your business cards off at the ECS Publications booth any time during Registration hours in order to enter to win a copy of these monographs!

Atmospheric Corrosion, Second Edition, by Christofer Leygraf, Inger Odnevall Wallinder, Johan Tidblad, and Thomas Graedel

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, Second Edition, by Mark Orazem and Bernard Tribollet

Questions? Please contact bethanne.stuebe@electrochem.org 

This Collection’s digitization was made possible by a generous grant from the Army Research Office and is fully free online for digital download.

Seventeen new issues of ECS Transactions have just been published for the PRiME ECS Meeting.

The papers in these issues of ECST will be presented in Honolulu, Hawaii October 2 to October 7, 2016. ECST Volume 75, Issues 1 to 17 can be found here.

New for 2016: these issues of ECST can also be purchased in the NEW ECS ONLINE STORE as full-text digital downloads. You can also purchase these issues as a CD/USB combo in the online store. Please search for ECST issues from the PRiME meeting in the ECS online store here.

While at the ECS Meeting in Hawaii, please stop by the ECS Publications Booth. There, you can purchase additional CD/USB copies of the PRiME issues and get additional information on all ECS Publications. The ECS Publications booth is located in the Honolulu Convention Center, Hall 2 and is open during all Registration hours.