Chinese Life
Scientists Society in the UK Annual Report
(2007-2008)
Qihe XU, MD, PhD
The
year of 2007-2008 is extraordinary for CLSS-UK
and its members.
In the past year, although
our homeland China suffered an unprecedented
snowstorm attack in the South and a catastrophic
earthquake in Sichuan, it still proudly achieved
a healthy economic development featuring both
speed and quality and, even more excitingly,
made a century dream come true by successfully
hosting a record-breaking Olympic Games in
Beijing!
In the past year, CLSS-UK
members breathed the same air and shared the
same boat as our motherland. Despite the
economic recession, the downturn of house
market, the record-high mortgage rate and the
increasing energy and living costs in the
western world, we have never forgotten our
missions and the expectations from our beloved
people. We are proud of ourselves for our work
and studies with flying colours; we have
passionately contributed to the rescue and
reconstruction efforts in China and to the
Beijing Olympic Games; and meanwhile, we have
devoted ourselves to the reforms and
construction of our own society, the CLSS-UK.
In the past year, CLSS-UK
braved rain and turmoil and has achieved a lot
with great proud and relief. Before I deliver
this annual report, I would like to express my
sincere thanks to all CLSS-UK members for their
great support, and in particular to our standing
and executive committee members for their hard
work and great efforts. Without all of us
standing united, we would not have our CLSS-UK
as it is today, nor can we expect a brighter
tomorrow of the Society.
This report
comprises two parts: summary of the past year
and prospects of the coming future.
Part
I: Summary of the Year 2007-2008
1.
Society development
1)
Establishment of representative Standing and
Executive Committees:
In order to improve the work of CLSS-UK and to
allow more members to be involved in the running
of the Society, our calls for new standing and
executive committee members opened to all
members. At present, we have thirty committee
members from England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. Balanced in senior and junior
members, the committees retain excellent
traditions while enjoy new blood and refreshed
energy. With the Standing Committee as the
ultimate decision-making authority, the Society
is administered by Chairman, Vice Chairs and the
Secretariat. In addition, all committee members
have clearly assigned jobs, e.g. fund-raising
co-ordinator, treasurer, web master, newsletter
editor, media coordinator, regional special
representatives, meeting organising committee
chairman and assistants.
2) Foundation of
senior members’ club:
On April 6, 2008, the inauguration meeting of
the Academy of Life Sciences for Chinese in the
UK (ALSC-UK) was held in the Education Section
of the Chinese Embassy in the UK. The
organisational structure and the procedure of
electing ALSC-UK Fellows were decided and
Founding President, Vice Presidents, Nomination
Committee and Selection Committee were elected.
Twenty-three Founding Fellows of the ALSC-UK
were nominated and approved in early September
and the fellowship award was officially
announced on September 13 in Oxford during the
14th Annual Meeting of the CLSS-UK.
3) Preparation for
founding a CLSS-UK alumni’s club in China:
Organisers have been appointed and discussion is
currently undergoing to set up the club in the
framework of the Western
Returned Scholars Association.
4) Website
construction: Dr.
Hongwei ZHANG and his team have rebuilt the
CLSS-UK website and enriched its contents and
functions, including online forum, online
registration to CLSS-UK newsletters and an easy
switch between Chinese and English versions of
the website, making it a brand-new gateway for
members and outsiders to interact with the
Society. This has proven crucial in improving
service to members and in promoting the
fund-raising and partnership campaign of the
CLSS-UK.
5) CLSS newsletter:
Dr. Youli Hu and this team have organised and
released CLSS Newsletters periodically to
registered members. The Newsletters cover
society activities, bulletins, job vacancies,
introduction of research breakthroughs and have
played an important role in keeping members
informed and in enhancing the transparency of
the Society.
6) CLSS committee
newsletter: Dr. Xin
FANG is in charge of the periodical CLSS-UK
committee newsletter. The newsletter informs
committee members progresses and plans of the
society and has played an indispensible role in
coordinating the committee as a whole.
2.
Society activities
1) The First CLSS-UK
North UK Life Sciences Symposium (Edinburgh):
In order to increase communications and exchange
of experience among members in the north UK, the
first CLSS-UK North UK Life Sciences Symposium
was held successfully at the Confucius Institute
of Scotland in the University of Edinburgh on 28th
June 2008. The meeting organisers included Dr
Hongwu MA and other committee members in the
North UK. Thirt-five CLSS-UK members from
Scotland, Northern Ireland and North England
attended the symposium.
2) The 14th
CLSS-UK Annual Meeting (Oxford):
Organised by Dr. Zhidao XIA and his team, the
14th Annual Conference of the CLSS-UK
were held in Oxford for 2 days. During the
conference, the Standing and Executive
Committees of the CLSS-UK held a joint meeting
and the first
fellows’ meeting of the Academy of Life Sciences
for Chinese in the UK were also successfully
held. Strategic partners of the CLSS-UK,
including 10 famous biomedical companies from
the UK and China and Xinhua News Agency attended
the meeting. For the first time, the CLSS-UK
annual meeting has combined self-sponsorship and
CLSS-UK scholarship to maximise member
attendance. In addition to £2000 from members in
the form of registration fees and payment for
accommodation, the CLSS-UK has invested £8000
into the conference. The sponsorship model, the
amount of investment, the quality of
presentations, the duration of the conference,
the number of sponsors and exhibitors have all
set new record in the history of the CLSS-UK.
3) Sichuan
earthquake rescue efforts:
On May12, a strong earthquake occurred in
Sichuan, which caused a huge loss of life and
properties. The CLSS-UK announced the news to
our members at the first time point and called
for donation to the affected area through a
number of different channels. Representing
members of the CLSS-UK, the leaders of the
Society went to the Embassy to express deep
condolence to victims of the earthquake and
handed over a collective cheque of £2,020 to the
devastated area through the Chinese Embassy. The
CLSS-UK also organised a teleconference to
discuss the issues related to the prevention of
epidemics after the earthquake so as to provide
advice to the related authorities in China. The
Chinese government expressed great appreciation
and compliments to all these efforts from
CLSS-UK.
3. External
exchange and collaboration
1) Strategic
partnership and fund raising:
Thanks to the great efforts by Dr. Qihe XU, Dr.
Xiongzhong RUAN and Dr. Zhidao XIA, the CLSS-UK
has developed strategic partnership with Suzhou
BioBay, Suzhou Genepharma, Invitrogen, Peprotech,
Promega, BD Biosciences, VWR, Cancer Research
UK, Tebu-Bio. This has greatly increased the
reputation of the CLSS-UK and also has helped
fund-raising to support activities of the
society.
2) Chinese New Year
Party of the Chinese Students Scholars
Association in the UK (CSSA-UK):
The CLSS-UK contributed £300 to the party and
consolidated the strategic partnership with CSSA-UK,
an organisation representing all Chinese
students and scholars in the UK. The win-win
partnership between CLSS-UK and CSSA-UK and
their collaborations in sharing publication
channels and in organising donation to the
Sichuan earthquake-affected area have set a good
example for collaboration between sister Chinese
organisations.
3) Public media
release: The CLSS-UK
has strengthened reports on its missions and
activities. Due to the excellent work by Mr.
Honggang ZHOU, the CLSS-UK has widely introduced
its activities not only in traditional media
such as newspapers and journals, but also in
modern media such as internet.
Part
II: Future work plan
The CLSS-UK has achieved a
lot in the past year but many difficulties and
challenges remain.
1. To improve
membership database and mailing list to optimise
information exchange, allowing as many as
possible members to take part in activities of
the Society and to exercise their rights and
responsibilities.
2.
To cultivate talents and train future leaders
for the Society.
3. To update the
constitution and regulations of the Society,
realising both democracy- and regulation-based
administration.
4. To further
improve the website, BBS and Newsletters of the
Society to increase transparency.
5. To
apply for a charitable status for the Society.
6. To
improve and expand the existing strategic
partnership campaign to achieve a bigger impact
and a better financial condition of the Society.
7. To
reinforce academic activities, not only annual
general meetings but also local and
international meetings.
8. To
Support the healthy development of the ALSC-UK
and CLSS-UK alumni’s club in China.
Closing
remarks
As the forerunner of the
Chinese revolution Mr Sun Yat-sen said, “The
Revolution has not yet succeeded. Comrades, you
must carry on!”.
Thank you! |