NSF Town Hall: National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago, IL

We invite you to meet and speak with National Science Foundation (NSF) staff members at the NSF Town Hall to be held at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, March 26, 2007, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Chicago Convention Center, McCormick Place, Room S100BC. The following NSF staff members plan to be available to meet with you informally: Luis Echegoyen, Janice Hicks, Ron Christensen, George Kenyon, Eileen Lewis (Division of Undergraduate Education), Charles Pibel, Joe Templeton, Margaret Cavanaugh, and Chantel Sabus.

As part of the NSF Town Hall, Dr. Katy Börner, an Associate Professor of Information Science from Indiana University, will talk about mapping science globally and mapping chemistry locally. The presentation is scheduled to begin at noon. Information scientists estimate that knowledge is doubling every 18 months, at a greater rate than even a decade ago. Thus, today’s chemists require the latest methods of information science in order to effectively understand and lead changes in chemistry. “Mapping science” is a new scientific approach using advanced algorithms to correlate data from science and engineering databases such as publications, grants, patents and conferences, and to visualize the information for easy comprehension by users. This approach promises to provide insight into rapidly evolving science and engineering areas and relationships among them, and to provide a new platform for creative thinking and rapid integration of knowledge. There will also be an interactive display entitled “Places and Spaces: Mapping Science Exhibit” available for viewing March 26 - 28, 2007, at the Chicago Convention Center, McCormick Place-Lakeside (outside the Exposition Hall). The exhibit has been shown at the New York Public Library and at the New York Hall of Science. More information regarding the exhibit is available on page 28 of the March 5, 2007, issue of Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN) and at http://scimaps.org.

The Town Hall is an excellent opportunity to share information and perspectives on developments in the chemistry community and at NSF. Refreshments will be available.