PhosAgro/ UNESCO/ IUPAC Partnership in Green Chemistry for Life

Research in green chemistry and associated areas in biochemistry, geochemistry, biotechnology, ecology and healthcare give young scientists ample opportunity to demonstrate their inventiveness and provide important input to sustainable development. With this in mind, the Green Chemistry for Life project was launched in 2013 by UNESCO’s International Basic Sciences Programme (IBSP) and PhosAgro, the largest producer of phosphate-based fertilizer in Europe, in close cooperation with the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). 

PhosAgro/UNESCO/IUPAC research grants in green chemistry programme offers research grants of up to US$30,000 each to scientists aged 39 or under,  for  innovative research projects that respect the 12 principles of green chemistry, to assist them in implementing their work.

In addition to seeking to harness the talents of young scientists and the fruits of their research for the advancement of green chemistry. The programme sets out to raise awareness among decision- and policy-makers, industrialists and the public at large of the great opportunities green chemistry offers in contributing to address the multitude of pressing societal needs.

1. Prevention of waste to avoid treating or cleaning up waste after it has been created;
2. Atom economy through new synthetic methods designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product;
3. Less hazardous chemical syntheses designed to use and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment;
4. Design of safer chemicals able to carry out the desired function while minimizing their toxicity;
5. Avoiding wherever possible or minimizing the use of auxiliary substances (e.g. solvents, separation agents, and others), and introducing safer solvents and auxiliaries that are innocuous when they have to be used;
6. Design for energy efficiency of chemical processes to minimize their environmental and economic impacts and if possible, to introduce synthetic methods to be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure;
7. Promotion of the use of renewable raw materials or feedstock instead of depleting ones whenever technically and economically practicable;
8. Reduce derivatives through minimizing or avoiding the use of blocking groups, protection/deprotection, and temporary modification of physical/chemical processes that require additional reagents and can generate waste;
9. Catalytic reagents as selective as possible;
10. Design for degradation of chemical products at the end of their function into innocuous degradation products not persisting in the environment;
11. The development of analytical methodologies needed to allow real-time analysis for pollution prevention, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances; and
12. Inherently safer chemistry for accident prevention substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process to be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.

Source: "Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice," Paul T. Anastas and John C. Warner. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Chair

Professor John CORISH

School of Chemistry, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland

Members of the Jury

Professor Berhanu ABEGAZ MOLLA

Former Chairperson of UNESCO International Basic Sciences Programme (IBSP), Former Executive Director, The African Academy of Sciences (AAS)

Professor Nguyen Van HUNG

Vice Rector, University of Sciences and Technology of Hanoi, Institute of Marine Biochemistry, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology

Dr Boris LEVIN,

Deputy of CEO, PhosAgro

Professor Vladimir S. LITVINENKO

Rector, the Russian National Mineral Resources University (University of Mines), Saint-Petersburg

Professor Nicole J. MOREAU

Chairperson of the Scientific Board of UNESCO International Basic Sciences programme, Former President of IUPAC

Professor PATRIC MOYNA

Professor emeritus, Facultad de Quimica, Montevideo, Uruguay, former member of Committee on Chemistry for World Needs (CHEMRAWN) IUPAC

Dr Dogo SECK

Administrateur Général Centre Régional de Recherches, en Ecotoxicologie et Sécurité Environnementale (CERES-Locustox,) Cité Recherche Scientifique et Technique du Sénégal

Dr Alexander F. SHARABAIKO

Deputy General Director: Finance and International Projects, PhosAgro

Prof. Natalia P. TARASOVA

Former President, IUPAC, Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology

Professor Pietro Rosario TUNDO

UNESCO Chair on Green Chemistry,Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

Professor VANIA ZUIN

Professor, the Federal University of São Carlos, visiting academic at the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence (University of York, UK)

Professor Vladimir T. ZHAROV

Executive Secretary of the ISJ, PhosAgro/UNESCO expert (chemical sciences, international co-operation in the basic sciences)

Monitoring Bureau of the International Scientific Jury: Green Chemistry for Life

Professor John CORISH, Chairman of the Jury

School of Chemistry, Trinity College, University of Dublin

Dr Alexander F. SHARABAIKO

Deputy General Director: Finance and International Projects, PhosAgro

Professor CHRISTOPHER BRETT

Past president of IUPAC, Department of Chemistry University of Coimbra, Portugal

Dr Amal KASRY

Chief, Section of Basic Sciences, Research Innovation and Engineering, UNESCO

Professor Vladimir T. ZHAROV, Executive Secretary of the Jury

PhosAgro/UNESCO expert (chemical sciences, international co-operation in the basic sciences)

UNESCO

Green Chemistry for Life, Natural Sciences Sector

7, Place de Fontenoy

75352 Paris Cedex 07

France

Tel (+33-1) 45.68.08.38

E-mail: green.chemistry@unesco.org