WISC: Women and Inclusion in Supramolecular Chemistry

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WISC is excited to announce we are changing our name to Women and Inclusion in Supramolecular Chemistry! This has been some time in the making and a decision that has involved a lot of reflection about who we are, what we do, and how our name should reflect this.

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When WISC launched in 2019, we decided to start small by taking an area-specific and intersectional approach, as well as “calling in the community” to support the retention and progression of women[1] in supramolecular chemistry.[2] Thanks to the support from the community, WISC has grown significantly over the last six years and we have started new initiatives driven by the needs of our community.

 

As a result, we have expanded our focus to include supporting marginalised groups and those with caring responsibilities of all genders through:

• research projects on managing research during COVID[3] and 1st Generation scientists[4]

• comment pieces on issues related to parenting[5-7] and accessibility in chemical laboratories[8]  

• the launch of the Parenting and Disability/Chronic Illness/Neurodivergence Community Clusters and the planned launch of a 1st Generation Community Cluster as well as other new initiatives

 

We believe that our new name reflects what we have been doing from the very beginning. As such, our new name represents the past, present, and future of WISC, honouring both how WISC started and our intersectional focus on inclusion.

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What does this name change mean going forward? Our events and resources will continue to be open to everyone as they always have been and everyone is welcome to join our Community Clusters. We plan to continue using the abbreviation WISC and now the “I” stands for Inclusion.

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We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to WISC over the last few years. WISC would not be where it is today without this support. We have big plans this year to celebrate this new era in WISC’s history and we hope you will join us for events and new initiatives. Please check out our website and social media for the latest news and we also welcome feedback from you about what you would like to see from WISC.

 

[1] WISC uses an inclusive definition of women from the Women in Academia Support Network (with permission, https://www.facebook.com/groups/905644729576673/about; @wiasnofficial). We are a place for those who identify as women, including trans women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who are significantly female-identified to share their experiences of professional and family life.

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[2] C. Caltagirone, E. R. Draper, M. J. Hardie, C. J. E. Haynes, J. R. Hiscock. K. A. Jolliffe, M. Kieffer, A. J. McConnell, J. S. Leigh, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 11572-11579. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202015297.

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[3] J. S. Leigh, J. R. Hiscock. S. Koops, A. J. McConnell, C. J. E. Haynes, C. Caltagirone, M. Kieffer, E. R. Draper, A. G. Slater, K. M. Hutchins, D. Watkins, N. Busschaert, L. von Krbek, K. A. Jolliffe, M. J. Hardie, Chem, 2022, 8, 299-311. DOI: org/10.1016/j.chempr.2022.01.001.

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[4] M. Yacoub, S. Koops, P. Axelithioti, C. Caltagirone, E. R. Draper, C. J. E. Haynes, C. K. Hind, M. Kieffer, L. K. S. von Krbek, A. J. McConnell, S. Pike, A. G. Slater, J. R. Hiscock, J. S. Leigh, Chem. Sci. 2025, DOI: 10.1039/D5SC00205B.

[5] J. S. Leigh, D. K. Smith, B. A. Blight, G. O. Lloyd, C. T. McTernan, E. R. Draper, Nat. Rev. Chem. 2023, 7, 67-68. DOI: org/10.1038/s41570-022-00459-6.

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[6] J. S. Leigh, N. Busschaert, C. J. E. Haynes, J. R. Hiscock, K. M. Hutchins, L. von Krbek, A. J. McConnell, A. G. Slater, D. K. Smith, E. R. Draper, Nat. Rev. Chem. 2022, 6, 673-675. DOI: org/10.1038/s41570-022-00427-0

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[7] A. G. Slater, C. Caltagirone, E. R. Draper, K. M. Hutchins, N. Busschaert, J. S. Leigh, Nat. Rev. Chem. 2022, 6, 163-164. DOI: org/10.1038/s41570-022-00362-0.

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[8] O.  Egambaram, K. Hilton, J. S. Leigh, R. Robinson, J. Sarju, A. G. Slater, B. Turner, J. Chem. Educ. 2022, 99, 3814-3821. DOI: org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00328.

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